NASCAR: 5 drivers most likely to switch teams for 2022

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Aric Almirola, Stewart-Haas Racing, NASCAR (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Drivers most likely to switch teams after 2021: No. 5 – Aric Almirola

Aric Almirola hasn’t garnered a ton of silly season speculation regarding the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, and he is probably the driver on this list who is least likely to end up moving on from his current team after the 2021 season.

However, he deserves a mention.

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Stewart-Haas Racing have struggled throughout the 2021 season, so it is hard to pin the fact that Almirola is down in 28th place in the point standings solely on him.

But that is the lowest rank among the team’s four drivers, including rookie Chase Briscoe and second-year driver Cole Custer. Plus, even in his first three seasons with the team, Almirola only managed to secure one win, with that one win coming when then-teammate Kurt Busch ran out of fuel on the final lap at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2018.

Let’s also not forget that we are talking about Stewart-Haas Racing. They have replaced one of their four drivers after each of the last five seasons. If that trend is to continue for a sixth, Almirola is the driver with whom it would continue. Briscoe and Custer are going nowhere, and Kevin Harvick is signed through 2023.

If Almirola were to be replaced behind the wheel of the #10 Ford, however, his backing from Smithfield could play a key role in him being hired elsewhere.

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Will any of these five drivers be back with their current teams in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season? Where will those on the move end up?

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