NASCAR Silly Season Update: From JR Motorsports to JGR, Insider Lets Slip Massive Xfinity Shake-Up Amidst Floating Rumors

After nearly a month-long hiatus, the Xfinity Series will resume its bubble battle in Michigan next weekend. And with the 2024 Cabo Wabo 250, drivers who still want a guaranteed playoff berth have only five races left to make it happen. However, just before that excitement intensifies the second tier, the 2025 silly season has knocked on its door to throw us a few curveballs with rumored driver movements.

NASCAR spotter Freddie Kraft sent the mill churning with disclosures that signal some major changes at teams like Joe Gibbs Racing, and JR Motorsports next year. But that’s not all. If what Freddie hinted at on the August 12 episode of Door Bumper Clear turns out to be true, then NASCAR might witness a major moment that is sure to shake up the broader background of things in all 3 National Touring Series in 2025.

With NASCAR Xfinity playoffs on the line, driver rumors make the air on DBC

The Xfinity Series has exceeded its early tag christening a developmental league. And these days the competition is just as exciting, if not more, than that on display at the more publicized events of its Cup cousins. Just last month before the Olympics break, Riley Herbst of Stewart-Haas Racing. the race team scheduled to shut down forever in 2025, won his first Xfinity race of the 2024 season beating teammate Cole Custer by the tight margin of only 0.167 seconds.

However, ironically, neither of those two nor the team that they drive for will be associated with each other starting next February. In the absence of Tony Stewart, Gene Haas has taken his share in SHR to downsize it to a single Cup charter, built on the bones of his former race team, which he will field for Cole Custer, under the banner of Haas Factory Team (HFT). Riley Herbst, on the flip side, seems to have more than a few people interested in him.

The most notable of that bunch has to be the premier series team owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin–23XI Racing, who are flirting with the idea of a third full-time car next year. Even Gene Haas has reached out to Riley to drive one of the two cars that he wishes to field in the 2025 Xfinity Series. But as of now, the Monster Energy-backed prospect is still looking at all his options available.

Barring these moves and rumors that had sent the silly season for a good part of 2024, this past week, JR Motorsports made headlines by announcing Trackhouse Racing’s 18-year-old developmental talent, Connor Zilisch as the full-time replacement for Dale Earnhardt Jr. He will take over JRM’s #88 duties full-time, at least for the entire calendar year of 2025. Before that, AM Racing and Hailie Deegan had made all the noise for ending her 2024 contract early, following five straight finishes below the top 25, right after the Nashville Xfinity race.

But to help throw a few more wrenches, former spotter for Landon Cassill, acting in the same role currently for Bubba Wallace, and the #23 team at 23XI Racing, Freddie Kraft, spoke about the developments soon-to-arrive based on the state of things from his insider’s perspective. Freddie likens the Xfinity Series silly season to “musical chairs.” He revealed on DBC, “The whole JGR full-time driver lineup’s out, right? I mean, you know, there’s a whole new lineup coming in over there. Yeah JRM? Half JRM’s going to be different.”

“Then guys are going you know. You hear (Sheldon) Creed’s name tied to the Haas team a lot now. You know, the (Taylor) Gray kid; probably JRM, JGR? (William) Sawalich kid probably moving over there. Maybe somebody going back over there that used to be over there…” – divulged Freddie. Although Taylor Gray & William Sawalich have been inching for a full-time Xfinity seat with their passionate performances throughout the year, the big surprise comes as Sheldon Creed’s potential 2025 association with what could be his third team in just as many years in the second tier. Apart from Creed, HFT has found itself linked with the Xfinity return of Hailie Deegan in either of the two cars next year.

Providing a few more speculative tidbits, Kraft then let out, “You know we’ve heard (Christian) Eckes rumors to Kaulig this week. I heard (Nick) Sanchez is going Xfinity racing. I don’t know where that is, which all that tells me is, Cory Heim is going to win about f***** 18 truck races next year.” His co-host, TJ Majors, spotter for Brad Keselowski’s #6 team in the Cup Series concurred, “No kidding. it might be the Cory Heim Truck Series [in 2025]” Doubling down on TJ’s analysis Kraft ended his address, saying, “It’s gonna be Cory Heim versus (Ty) Majeski and Grant (Enfinger), essentially at this point, it seems like. But yeah, so there’s a lot of s*** going on in that Xfinity Series.”

And Kraft is not wrong. Starting early at the championship finale at Bristol this year, the CW will over broadcast duties for the Xfinity Series from both FOX and NBC. This new agreement will run from the year 2025 to 2031. Fans are waiting eagerly to see how the last eight races of the season will play out for the competition on screens worldwide, signaling a sign of things to come until the next decade. This switch acts out simultaneously alongside the $7.7B broadcast rights money shakeup earlier that saw the Cup Series diversify its coverage portfolio from two partners to five, with the additional amenity of getting their product across on streaming platforms like Amazon Prime and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Regardless, at a point in time where NASCAR is looking at the definitive future of the sport, the current battle for the 2024 Xfinity Series championship is heating double time, right along the playoff cutline. And let’s not forget. At the top of the table, Cole Custer is battling Justin Allgaier (2nd) and Austin Hill (3rd) for his first and SHR’s last regular-season championship with only 5 races left to face the title eliminators. But let us take a more detailed look at the entire picture.

Racing meets the gossip mill at Michigan

As it stands before Michigan, the 2019 regular season title-holder, Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports sits only 56 points removed from Custer’s prime position in the standings. The man in third, Austin Hill, driver of the #21 Chevy for RCR, also the defending regular season champ, is an extra 36 points away from Custer’s fortunes at the moment. If things run out exactly how they stand currently, Custer could make SHR happy with one last hurrah.

However, come September 28 at Kansas Speedway, the 2023 Xfinity Series champion will be as vulnerable as one of those twelve drivers set to battle for the ultimate prize in the dreaded 2024 Xfinity playoffs, with little regard for his prior experience. Heading into Michigan, the drivers sitting on a confirmed playoff spot are Custer, Allgaier, Hill, Kaulig Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen, JGR’s Chandler Smith, JRM’s Sam Mayer, SHR’s Riley Herbst, and RCR’s Jesse Love. In the foreground of the 2025 silly season, each of those drivers has found their names attached to at least a few rumors of unwarranted proportions. But as for the elimination rounds? All eight hold almost equal chances to make it to the Round of 8 set to start in Las Vegas.

Now, since we’ve already discussed the eight drivers locked and loaded to battle for the Xfinity championship, the four drivers sitting inside the cutline waiting to capitalize on their unstable position are AJ Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed, Parker Kligerman, and Ryan Sieg. Driving for his family’s race team, Sieg sits in the most precarious position at only three points above the cutline. To compare, the driver sitting just outside the cutline, Sammy Smith of JR Motorsports, is also three points away from his guaranteed shot at the championship, awaiting the 2024 Cabo Wabo 250 at MIS.

Can either of those guys secure their chances for a better payout and a definitive reason to race during the NASCAR post-season? We find out this Saturday, August 17, on the USA Network.