NASCAR Rumor Mill Picking Up Speed

The annual tradition of "silly season" seemed to take a while to get going this year. But, when news broke this week that Matt DiBenedetto would not be returning to the No. 95 Levine Family Racing Toyota next season, the rumor mill began to pick up speed and speculation has begun to surface about which drivers may and may not have a seat when the music stops.

Matt DiBenedetto will not return to the No. 95 in 2020
(Google Images)

A perennial fan favorite, DiBenedetto has gained quite a fan following through his social media interaction on Twitter and Reddit and is one of NASCAR's biggest underdog stories. After years of driving for back-marker teams like BK Racing and Go FAS Racing, DiBenedetto bet on himself going into this year and landed at Levine Family Racing. His timing seemed perfect, as LFR was had just completed a deal to move from Chevrolet to Toyota and become a Joe Gibbs Racing satellite team following the closure of Furniture Row Racing.

In 23 starts so far this year, the No. 95 team has caught fire as of late. DiBenedetto has two top-fives, four top-tens, and led the most laps in the season-opening Daytona 500 before being involved in a wreck. But, despite helping to engineer the most successful run LFR has ever had, Xfinity Series title contender Christopher Bell has been waiting in the wings at JGR for a cup ride to open up with the organization.

When LFR owner Bob Levine signed his agreement to become a JGR affiliate, the uptick in performance came with the loss of some of the autonomy other owners enjoy. So, because both JGR and Toyota see Bell as the next big thing (he's been earmarked for cup since the beginning of last year), Levine must do what is best for his team and let DiBenedetto go when his contract expires at year's end. Bell has not been officially announced as the driver of the No. 95 yet, but it's pretty much assumed that the dirt track ace is the heir apparent to that ride. It is also assumed that, once Bell takes over, JGR and TRD will throw a lot more money and resources at LFR then they've had this season running chassis that are around a year old.

But, in spite of this "devastating news", DiBenedetto helped his cause immeasurably two weekends at Bristol when he came within eight laps of winning the race. Bell might be getting his current ride and Erik Jones is more than likely going to return to the No. 20 at JGR, but Matty D made the case that he belongs in the sport at some level.

Is Cole Custer cup-bound next season? (Google Images)

There are rumors that he might be a good fit for the Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Mustang now that David Ragan has announced he will retire from full-time competition after this season to spend more time with his wife and young daughters. While this would be a bit of a downgrade from a pseudo JGR machine, it is an open seat that would keep DiBenedetto in the Cup Series garage and it would still be a more competitive ride than the BK Racing cars he drove just a few years ago.

The other heir to the No. 38 who has been mentioned is Cole Custer. Winner of five Xfinity Series races this year, and a favorite for the 2019 title, Custer has proven to be a top talent for Stewart Haas Racing and Ford Motor Company. But, much like JGR, there aren't any open rooms at the SHR inn. There has been talk that Clint Bowyer might be in danger of losing his ride in the No. 14 if they can't make the playoffs, but recent talk has the Kansas native potentially returning to the team at a reduced salary, which would prove problematic for cup-bound Custer.

Enter Front Row Motorsports, who have had a partnership with Roush Fenway Racing; affording them access to parts and pieces that have allowed them to slowly but surely improve their performance in recent years. If they do, indeed, wind up being the landing spot for Custer, it could be a boon for the entire organization, allowing FRM to possibly get even more resources from Ford since they will be fostering one of the manufacture's rising stars.

Another scenario that has popped up in recent days has Custer going to the Go FAS Racing No. 32 Ford with technical support and a fleet of cars from SHR. As teams begin to transition to the still somewhat mysterious "Gen-7" race car for 2021, their current fleets will soon be outdated. This move would allow SHR to unload some of it's obsolete inventory to Go FAS (for a price, no doubt) and allow them to make room for new Mustangs. This would also allow Go FAS to seriously upgrade their on-track performance.

But, if Custer moves to the No. 32 and a new alliance with Stewart Haas is forged, where does that leave Corey LaJoie? The current pilot of the Keen Parts Mustang, LaJoie has one top ten finish (a sixth at Daytona this past July), an average finish of 25.4 and three DNFs in the first 24 races of 2019. However, LaJoie has proven himself as a competitive driver, winning multiple races in both the K&N East Series and ARCA Series.

Tyler Reddick ran the 2019 Daytona 500 and could
run the full 2020 cup slate for RCR (Google Images)

Richard Childress Racing has also been in the rumor mill in recent weeks, with defending Xfinity champion and 2019 title contender Tyler Reddick. Winner of four Xfinity Series events this season, and a threat to repeat as champion, Reddick jumped from JR Motorsports last season to RCR because JRM didn't have a direct line to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series like Childress does. The issue is that RCR must come up with a season's worth of funding to run Reddick full-time next season at the sport's top level.

Other than that, if sponsorship doesn't materialize, rookie driver Daniel Hemric could be on the hot seat. While he has a contract through the end of 2020, Hemric has had a typical rookie season; not overly impressive, but with a few flashes of brilliance with one top-five, two top-tens, and an average finish of 21.8. Likewise, Hemric's teammate Austin Dillon has three top-tens and an average finish of 21.3. The difference is that Dillon has won twice at NASCAR's premier level, and he's Childress' grandson. Hemric has shown speed, but has yet to win in a truck, Xfinity, or cup car. So, while the rookie has an extension through next season, team officials have said that they will do whatever it takes to try and keep Reddick on their team. If a third car doesn't materialize, you'd have to believe that Hemric's job might be in jeopardy.

There are still a few months left until the end of this season and about half a calendar year until next year's Daytona 500, so there's plenty of time until the final few pieces of the 2020 NASCAR puzzle fall into place. But with the DiBenedetto news seemingly setting silly season in motion, it will be interesting to see how the sport's annual game of musical chairs comes to an end.