The NASCAR Silly Season is in full swing, with driver changes, team shake-ups, and plenty of speculation stirring excitement for 2025.

• NASCAR veteran Martin Truex Jr. has announced his retirement.
• Chase Briscoe is set to join JGR.
• SHR is coming to an end.
• Josh Berry is set to replace Harrison Burton in the legendary #21 car of Wood Brothers racing.

Now Spire Motorsports is undergoing a major revamp for the 2025 season, aiming to compete for a championship. In a surprising move, the team parted ways with Corey Lajoie, who had been with them since their early days, making the #7 car available. Additionally, Zane Smith, on loan from Trackhouse Racing for his first full-time year, has also left Spire and is rumored to have secured a ride with another Cup team.

“Trackhouse Racing and Zane Smith have mutually agreed to separate at the conclusion of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, allowing the 25-year-old former NASCAR Truck Series champion to immediately accept other opportunities,” the official statement from the team mentioned as they announced Zane Smith’s exit.

In 2022, Zane Smith, the reigning Truck Series champion, made his Cup Series debut with RFK Racing as a replacement for Chris Buescher, impressively finishing P17 after starting 32nd. He followed this with a solid 13th-place finish in the 2023 Daytona 500 while driving for Front Row Motorsports (FRM), as a result gaining the Trackhouse/Spire opportunity. However, his 2024 season has been disappointing, with no wins, only one top-5 finish, and an average result of 24.3, leaving him out of the playoffs and uncertain about his future in the Cup Series.

Despite the struggles, there’s a glimmer of hope for Smith. Rumors suggest he might return to Front Row Motorsports, the team where he previously thrived. FRM is considering expanding its lineup, and bringing Smith back could be a win-win given his history with them.

In a recent video, NASCAR analyst, Eric Estepp discussed this possibility. He said, “I talked about Zane Smith a few weeks ago folks were trying to tell me hey Front Row is not going to take him back. Not after how he left them for Chevrolet he burned that bridge not a chance. I’d never heard any of that and now it sounds like none of that is really true. Look again it’s sponsorship dependent but if the funding comes together I don’t think any pent-up animosity is going to prevent Zane Smith from joining Front Row Motorsports.”

While Zane Smith has the sponsors backing him, what stands in the way is the Charter debate. FRM is one of the two teams that are still negotiating the new charter deal as their original demands haven’t fully been met by NASCAR. Where teams are demanding a bigger share of the revenue split and permanency of the charters.

The team owner, Bob Jenkins, previously said, “I think it’s very unreasonable, and there, you know, there been some things that have happened through the negotiation process that quite frankly, we just don’t agree with. And, you know, we’re obligated to negotiate in good faith and we feel like we did and I don’t know that everything on the other side happened that way. But you know, my hope is that we’ll continue the conversation. We’ll get it figured out.”

However, if that is solved and a 3rd ride is made available to FRM, we could see Zane Smith, Todd Gilliland, and Noah Gragson, in the lineup for 2025. “I’m not sure they’ll be great I’m not sure they’ll even be good but they will be interesting at the very least I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing it,” Estepp added, talking about the value addition Smith brings to the trio. Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, what about Corey LaJoie? Where would he go in 2025?

If Zane Smith goes to FRM, what is Corey Lajoie’s possible Cup ride?

Like Zane Smith, Corey LaJoie has also faced a tough 2024 season. With no wins and just one top-5 and two top-10 finishes, his average finish stands at 23.11. Since joining Spire Motorsports in 2021, LaJoie hasn’t secured a win and has only had four top-5 finishes. Speculation suggests he might be demoted to the Truck Series, but there could still be opportunities for him in the Cup Series.

A recent report by Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic talks about LaJoie’s chances with Rick Ware Racing. However, previously speaking of his future, LaJoie himself had said, “My phone’s going and people are interested in making calls. But every good door in my life that’s been opened hasn’t been opened by myself; I wasn’t the one ripping those doors open, they were open and I had to walk through those when the time was right. So I have faith and I have confidence that the next door, whether it’s on Sundays (Cup) or not, is going to open.”

A Cup ride for LaJoie is a possibility since Justin Haley is rumored to take the #7 ride in Spire. Making his ride in RWR available. Maybe there can be a swap between the two. Spire Motorsports would get a young driver with some good runs in the Cup Series. Whereas RWR can use LaJoie’s decade-long experience with smaller teams in the Cup Series. He comes with big sponsors like Celcius, which could aid a team like Rick Ware Racing, which is trying to find its footing in the Series.

Only time will tell where all the free agents of NASCAR end up.

Where do you think Smith and LaJoie are suitable?