“Nothing publicly that I’m ready to talk about,” said Brad Keselowski when asked about a possible third charter for the RFK Racing team. While the team owner is keen on being tight-lipped, free-flowing rumors have already cemented some notable connections. Amid Stewart-Haas Racing’s disbandment and its sole Cup Series star remaining without a seat, Keselowski seems ready to save the day.

A brief run-down to jolt your memory: Josh Berry will be moving to Wood Brothers Racing replacing Harrison Burton next season. Chase Briscoe is headed to Joe Gibbs Racing, while Noah Gragson will move to Front Row Motorports. But what about Ryan Preece?

In June, it was reported the 33-year-old could move to SHR’s former owner, Gene Haas’ new NASCAR project, the Haas Factory Racing team. Preece added fuel to that fire on June 26. “Man, I don’t know, that’d be crazy, wouldn’t it?” the driver said at New Hampshire with a big smile, before adding, “But you never know.” But that was just about it. The rumor died down as soon as it rose, with the latest update connecting RFK Racing and Preece.

Multiple industry insiders claimed Ryan Preece is Keselowski’s best bet for a third team within RFK. The team reportedly believes the #41 driver hasn’t “reached his potential as a Cup driver and has never been with an organization on an upswing like RFK”. Hopefully, Preece will be able to visit his maiden Victory Lane with his new team. But we’ll have to wait till next month for any official announcements, as confirmed by the RFK team owner.

On that note, the silly season is also going to be kind to Corey LaJoie. “My phone’s going and people are interested in making calls,” the driver had said on August 23, indicating his NASCAR journey was far from over, after being fired from Spire Motorsports—a team he helped build from scratch. Initial rumors suggested his next stop would be a demotion to the Truck Series. However, according to The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi, the veteran is moving to Rick Ware Racing next season.

LaJoie will reportedly replace Justin Haley, who will in turn take the #7’s place at Spire. Notably, LaJoie was fired after he failed to improve his performances. In an official press release, the team had stated, “In racing, there are always variables but one thing we all know, is this is a performance-based business, and it just hasn’t been there for several reasons.” 

For the unversed: Corey LaJoie, with a full-time Cup seat since 2019, is yet to win a race, with just four Top-5s and 10 Top-10s so far. His successor, Justin Haley, has one Cup Series race win—the 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400—in a part-time stint with Spire Motorsports. Since joining Kaulig Racing full-time in 2022, and then moving to RWR this season, the 25-year-old has clinched zero wins, with four Top-5s and 14 Top-10s.

While fans are happy with all of SHR’s top tourney drivers finding a home, the same cannot be said for LaJoie as fans took to Reddit to express their displeasure.

What do the fans have to say about Corey LaJoie’s RWR possibilities?

NASCAR fans are not particularly enthusiastic about the idea of LaJoie moving to the #51. They have their reservations owing to his career stats. One Redditor, therefore, suggested, “I really think Lajoie should find a solid ride in Xfinity or trucks.” Indeed, getting a good ride in the lower series might actually be more helpful. LaJoie’s last race in NASCAR’s second tourney was in 2017 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway where he finished P15. Overall, the driver has Top-10s and Top-15s in the series in 22 races.

Another user outrightly rejected LaJoie’s Cup capabilities by writing, “I have a lot of trouble believing that Lajoie is going to stay in cup next year, but if the thing about RFK leasing the 15 charter is true it’d be interesting to see what happens with that last remaining SHR charter, especially since it seems like 23XI is almost certainly not buying it.”

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports’ refused to sign NASCAR’s new charter deal. The Denny Hamlin-owned organization’s press release stated, “23XI decided to not meet a NASCAR-imposed deadline last night to sign Charter agreements for its two cars for 2025-2031. 23XI’s position, as stated in a letter to NASCAR, is that we did not have an opportunity to fairly bargain for a new Charter contract.” Michael Jordan and Hamlin continue to battle for more financial benefits from the stock car organization.

However, a failure in doing so means they won’t have permanent charters next season. So coupled with SHR’s three out of four charters, a total of seven charters will be up for grabs.

One Redditor was left confused with the whole ordeal: “I don’t understand what RWR sees in Corey tbh. He’s already proven he doesn’t elevate subpar equipment, he tears up equipment a fair amount, and he thinks he’s like one step away from being an elite driver whenever he does the most underwhelming thing ever – like finally score a non superspeedway top 10 finish. Hell, I don’t think he even brings much if any funding.”

The outgoing Spire driver is currently 32nd in the Cup Series standings, a staggering 1686 points behind leader Ryan Blaney, with just 38 laps led, two Top-10s and one Top-5.

Let us hope that things work out for the best in favor of the teams and the drivers and they stay in the game.