NASCAR: One team still has no confirmed drivers for 2021
By Asher Fair
Rick Ware Racing have yet to confirm any drivers for any of their four chartered cars for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
With the new year underway, the 63rd annual Daytona 500 is officially scheduled to open up the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season next month.
A total of 31 full-time drivers have been confirmed in entries classified as chartered entries for the upcoming 36-race season, which is scheduled to begin on Sunday, February 14 at Daytona International Speedway and end on Sunday, November 7 at Phoenix Raceway.
These 31 drivers are set to compete for 16 different teams, and one of those 16 teams still has an open seat.
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Front Row Motorsports are the most recent team to make a full-time driver confirmation, as they named rookie Anthony Alfredo as the replacement for John Hunter Nemechek behind the wheel of the #38 Ford alongside Michael McDowell following Nemechek’s unexpected departure.
Meanwhile, Spire Motorsports have not shored up the rotation behind the wheel of the #77 Chevrolet alongside full-time driver Corey LaJoie in the #7 Chevrolet.
But there is still a 17th team, one with multiple open seats, that has not yet made a driver announcement of any kind for next year.
That team is Rick Ware Racing.
Rick Ware Racing acquired Premium Motorsports last year and are set to run four full-time, chartered entries in the 2021 season: the #15 car, the #51 car, the #52 car and the #53 car.
Brennan Poole drove the #15 Chevrolet full-time last season for Premium Motorsports. Rick Ware Racing had two drivers, Joey Gase and J.J. Yeley, nearly ran the full schedule, but the team ended up rotating 11 drivers in and out of their three cars and saw 17 different driver/car combinations.
They will likely run multiple drivers in all of their cars once again in 2021, but nobody is signed with the offseason having just entered its final month. Gase is expected to return in a part-time capacity.
UPDATE: Gase has now been confirmed by the team for an unspecified number of races.
The #51 car is classified as a Petty Ware Racing entry as a result of a long-term partnership with Richard Petty Motorsports that allows Rick Ware’s team to use one of their charters. This entry is a Rick Ware Racing entry and is in no way prepared or operated by Richard Petty’s team.
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The only other confirmed teams without a confirmed driver for the 2021 season are NY Racing Team and Gaunt Brothers Racing, but neither one is a chartered team and Gaunt Brothers Racing are not expected to run the full schedule.