NASCAR’s silly season can be just as frustrating as it is exciting. While there is the mystery of who’s going where or which vacant seats are getting unexpected names. At the same time, it can also get a bit tiresome for fans if the teasing is stretched too much. Amid this Bubba Wallace’s crew chief, Freddie Kraft is toying with the fans, posting a confusing message on X regarding the silly season.

While fans love a good riddle, this one has left very few clues. Well, who could it be about? Currently, drivers without rides are Chandler Smith, and Zane Smith, among a few others. While Kraft’s indication could be pointed towards anyone, fans with their inner Sherlock Holmes have made a guess. They believe it is something related to Aric Almirola. Hopefully not be some retiring news again! Then what is it?

What could the silly season have in store for the Aric Almirola?

Aric Almirola for the longest time has been trying to retire, but there’s some pull in racing that he always comes back. Back in 2022, after the Cup Series season with Stewart-Haas Racing, he announced his retirement wanting to spend more time with his family. Perhaps his disappointing 20th-place season finish was the real reason behind it. But he returned for another full season with SHR in 2023, finishing even worse, in 22nd place. And this time his retirement plans seemed foolproof. But yet again he returned to racing in 2024 with Joe Gibbs’s JGR as a part-timer in the Xfinity Series.

And unexpectedly, Aric Almirola pulled out his best performance after a long time. Piloting the #20 car for 14 races, he managed three wins, eight top-5s, and nine top-10s. In fact, he was en route to winning the owner’s championship this year for JGR after the #20 car qualified for championship 4. But Justin Allgaier’s P2 finish in Phoenix as opposed to Almirola’s P3  handed him the drivers as well as owners titles. But with Almirola’s 2024, we can expect big things coming for him, provided he doesn’t make retirement plans again. Well, Freddie Kraft might know something about it.

The guessing game started when RFK Racing fielded Ryan Preece, expanding their lineup to three cars. Along with Preece, the team also got multi-billion dollar sponsor Kroger. Sharing this massive news, Freddie Kraft hinted at something else cooking. He took to X to write, “Happy for my buddy Ryan Preece today! And just when you think silly season might be over, you hear another crazy rumor. And this next one might be the craziest one of them all.”

This was three days ago and fans had enough of the suspense when Kraft left another cryptic message on top of this. In reply to the same thread, he wrote, “Who wants a side of silly season with their breakfast tomorrow?”

Well, tomorrow is still far away and fans have already started the guessing game, and Aric Almirola is a name that has popped up more than once. And if we consider another full season for him in the Cup Series, Front Row Motorsports could be a possibility with them wanting to bring in a third car.

But Zane Smith has been the frontrunner there. Still, you never know! Only time, or rather tomorrow, Freddie Kraft can tell who is he talking about. Despite the possibility being bleak, it isn’t stopping fans from finding reasons for it to be something related to Aric Almirola. After all, with his good form and strong sponsor backing, everything adds up!

Fans predict a silly season move for Almirola

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One fan strongly believes that Aric Almirola can replace one of the existing drivers from FRM or 23XI Racing. The fan wrote, “Almirola to FRM replacing wether (Noah) Gragson or (Riley) Herbst, who had a charter clause in their contract. Which also is what triggered the new filing in the lawsuit.” Well, the Herbst possibility seems bleak since he only recently signed with 23XU. And the charter clause wouldn’t come into the picture after the preliminary injunction request was denied by the court and teams are entering 2024 as open teams. Although 23XI received criticism for their Herbst pick with fans arguing his three wins in seven seasons didn’t justify the move, there is very little chance of him being replaced.

And even as open teams, they have been given the exception of continuing the lawsuit while racing in NASCAR. However, Gragson signed with FRM long back and has not been assigned a car number yet. It would most likely be the #38 car after Tod Gilliland moved to #34, but nothing is confirmed yet. On top of that Gragson had a poor season with only a single top 5 and a P24 season finish. So maybe something along those lines might happen. But still, it seems unlikely that FRM would replace him without him even driving a single race for them. Another fan echoed the same emotion, when he wrote, “Aric Almirola to FRM 3rd charter.”

While it’s uncertain amid the lawsuit if they would field a third car or not, the team already has Zane Smith as their possible pick. Even FRM’s General Manager Jerry Freeze had previously said, “We still got fond feelings for Zane. I think a year ago if we had a third charter, it would be a no-brainer that Zane Smith would be driving that third car.” So this, too, seems uncertain.

But if Almirola wants a full-time ride, it shouldn’t be a problem for him with the loyal backing of multi-million dollar sponsor Smithfield Foods. Thanks to their support, he retires and comes back as he pleases. One fan certainly thinks Almirola and his longtime sponsor, who have been with him since 2012, are moving to a new team. The fan wrote, “Almirola & Smithfield going somewhere?” But where? Remains unanswered.

Some fans have taken Kraft’s X post as a riddle in itself, finding clues in his words and in the emojis he used. It is eggs and bacon, something Smithfield Foods sells. Almirola also runs a YouTube channel and, in one video, was seen having Smithfield’s bacon along with eggs. Maybe Kraft is trying to give us a clue there. The fan on this wrote, “Actually, based on your emojis I bet Aric Almirola is in play. Don’t know where.” While another fan echoed the same emotions, he has another theory. He wrote, “Aric Almirola news based off the emojis and the A A to start sentences.” The fan is probably referring to Kraft’s comment, “And this next one might be the craziest one of them all,” having A’s at the start and end of the words used in the sentence.

Well, only time will tell if Kraft is referring to Aric Almirola or someone else. Or if he’s just pulling our leg. What do you think it can be about? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.