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NASCAR Silly Season: Onward to 2021

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Chase Elliott reviews his 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, which culminated in his first championship, and says winning the title has "been amazing" and "everything I could ever ask for."

With less than 50 days to go before the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s Silly Season continues on.

Over the last month, however, Silly Season news has been largely kept to the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series.

In the Xfinity Series, Jeffrey Earnhardt was among a handful of drivers to claim full-time rides for 2021.

Meanwhile in the Truck Series, Derek Kraus announced his return to McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, and Chandler Smith was moved up to full-time status for one of the series’ traditional powers, Kyle Busch Motorsports.

As for the top-tier Cup Series, several entries remain open as the calendar prepares to turn to 2021.

Here’s how the NASCAR Silly Season scorecard looks:

ANNOUNCED CUP RIDES FOR 2021

No. 00: Quin Houff enters the second year of his two-year deal with StarCom Racing.

No. 1: Kurt Busch enters the second year of a multi-year contract with Chip Ganassi Racing.

No. 2: Brad Keselowski and Team Penske announced a contract extension Aug. 3.

No. 3: Austin Dillon is signed with Richard Childress Racing through at least 2021.

No. 4: Kevin Harvick signed a contract extension in February that will keep him at Stewart-Haas Racing through the 2023 season.

No. 5: Kyle Larson signed a multi-year deal with Hendrick Motorsports on Oct. 28.

No. 6: Ryan Newman‘s contract with Roush Fenway Racing goes through 2021.

No. 7: Corey LaJoie signed a multi-year contract with Spire Motorsports to drive this car in 2021.

No. 8: Tyler Reddick will be back with Richard Childress Racing for 2021.

No. 9: Chase Elliott is under contract with Hendrick Motorsports through the 2022 season.

No. 10: Aric Almirola extended his deal with Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2021 season.

No. 11: Denny Hamlin is signed with Joe Gibbs Racing through at least next year.

No. 12: Ryan Blaney and Team Penske announced a multi-year extension earlier this year.

No. 14: Chase Briscoe moves up to Cup to take over the ride Clint Bowyer will vacate.

No. 17: Chris Buescher is signed with Roush Fenway Racing through at least the 2021 season.

No. 18: Kyle Busch is signed with Joe Gibbs Racing through at least 2021.

No. 19: Martin Truex Jr. is signed with Joe Gibbs Racing through at least 2021.

No. 20: Christopher Bell moves from Leavine Family Racing to take over this ride in 2021.

No. 21: Wood Brothers Racing announced Oct. 9 that Matt DiBenedetto would race for the team in 2021 before Austin Cindric takes over the car in 2022. Roger Penske said Oct. 20 on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that he has an option on DiBenedetto’s contract for 2022.

No. 22: Joey Logano is tied to Team Penske through 2023.

No. 23: Bubba Wallace will drive for the new 23XI team co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin in 2021.

No. 24: William Byron is under contact with Hendrick Motorsports through 2022.

No. 37: Ryan Preece will return to JTG Daugherty Racing.

No. 41: Cole Custer, the 2020 Cup Rookie of the Year, will be back in this ride.

No. 42: Ross Chastain was chosen by Chip Ganassi Racing to replace Matt Kenseth.

No. 43: Erik Jones moves over to Richard Petty Motorsports, signing a multi-year deal.

No. 47: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. enters the second year of a multi-year deal with JTG Daugherty Racing.

No. 48: Alex Bowman will drive the No. 48 with Jimmie Johnson moving to IndyCar. Bowman moves over from the No. 88, Hendrick Motorsports announced Oct. 6.

No. 78: B.J. McLeod will drive for Live Fast Motorsports, the team he co-owns with Matt Tifft. The team announced Nov. 20 that it will have a “strategic partnership” with Stewart-Haas Racing.

No. 99: Daniel Suarez will compete for the new Trackhouse Racing team.

NASCAR Silly Season available Cup rides for 2021

No. 32: Ride is open with Corey LaJoie announcing he will not return to Go Fas Racing in 2021. Team will not have a charter in 2021 and will run a limited schedule.

No. 38: John Hunter Nemechek and Front Row Motorsports announced Nov. 16 that Nemechek will not return to the team for the 2021 season.

No. 77: Spire Motorsports purchased the charter and assets of Leavine Family Racing and will be a two-car operation in 2021. Christopher Bell will move to the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team for 2021. Spire has not named who will take over this ride for next season. Corey LaJoie takes over the No. 7 for Spire.

No. 96: Daniel Suarez and Gaunt Brothers Racing announced Sept. 15 that they would part ways after this season.

Rick Ware Racing: Organization has not announced drivers for its multiple rides for 2021.

NASCAR Silly Season Xfinity driver announcements for 2021

No. 0: Jeffrey Earnhardt returns to JD Motorsports and moves to full-time status.

No. 02: Brett Moffitt returns to Our Motorsports.

No. 1: Michael Annett returns to JR Motorsports for a fifth season.

No. 2: Myatt Snider will run the full season for Richard Childress Racing.

No. 5: Matt Mills returns to BJ McLeod Motorsports.

No. 7: Justin Allgaier will return to JR Motorsports for a sixth season.

No. 8: Josh Berry will run about 12 races in this car before Sam Mayer takes over the ride the rest of the season.

No. 9: Noah Gragson will return to JR Motorsports.

No. 10: Jeb Burton joins Kaulig Racing for a full-time season.

No. 11: Justin Haley returns for a third season to Kaulig Racing.

No. 15: Colby Howard returns to JD Motorsports and moves to full-time status.

No. 16: AJ Allmendinger returns to Kaulig Racing and will run the full schedule.

No. 18: Daniel Hemric joins Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2021 season.

No. 19: Brandon Jones will be back with Joe Gibbs Racing.

No. 20: Harrison Burton will return for his second season at Joe Gibbs Racing.

No. 22: Austin Cindric will be back with Team Penske and run select Cup races in 2021 before moving to Cup with the Wood Brothers in 2022. Cindric won the 2020 Xfinity championship.

No. 39: Ryan Sieg will be back with RSS Racing.

No. 47: Kyle Weatherman returns to Mike Harmon Racing.

No. 51: Jeremy Clements is back in this ride.

No. 68: Brandon Brown returns to Brandonbilt Motorsports.

No. 74: Bayley Currey will drive for Mike Harmon Racing.

No. 78: Jesse Little joins BJ McLeod Motorsports.

No. 92: Josh Williams will be back with DGM Racing.

No. 98: Riley Herbst joins Stewart-Haas Racing and takes over this ride.

Our Motorsports: Organization has confirmed a second, full-time Xfinity entry in 2021. Tyler Reddick will drive the entry in February’s season opener at Daytona.

NASCAR Silly Season Truck driver announcements for 2021

DGR-Crosley: Hailie Deegan moves up to this series after a year in the ARCA Series.

GMS Racing: Truck champion Sheldon Creed, Tyler Ankrum, Zane Smith and Chase Purdy will be with the organization in 2021. Raphael Lessard will join the team and is scheduled to run 12 races.

Hattori Motorsports: Austin Hill is back with the team for another season.

Kyle Busch Motorsports: John Hunter Nemechek moves from Cup to this Truck team for 2021. Chandler Smith returns to the team and moves to full-time status.

McAnally-Hilgemann Racing: Derek Kraus returns to the team for a second season.

Niece Motorsports: Ryan Truex will run a full schedule for the team. He joins Carson Hocevar, who also will run a full schedule for the team. The team announced Dec. 2 that Brett Moffitt will run the full schedule for the team.

Young’s Motorsports: Spencer Boyd will return to drive the No. 20 truck.