NASCAR silly season takes another bizarre turn

The NASCAR Cup Series has joined IndyCar and Formula 1 in terms of silly season announcements being made that aren’t actually true.

Back in January before the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season began, Aric Almirola announced that it would be his 15th and final season in the series and therefore his fifth and final season behind the wheel of the #10 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Almirola later stated that the reason he made the decision when he did was to give the team and team partners enough time to determine who will replace him in 2023.

But as time passed and no replacement was announced, questions started being asked about whether or not the 38-year-old Fort Walton Beach, Florida native was indeed done competing.

Asked about the matter in June, he said that he would “never say never” in terms of pulling a Tom Brady and unretiring — without actually missing any events between retirement and unretirement announcements.

Then this past Friday, it was reported by Motorsport that Almirola had made the decision that he will not retire after the 2022 season and instead return for one more year behind the wheel of the #10 Ford in 2023. An official announcement was said to be on the way within the next few weeks.

But asked about the report on Saturday, Almirola stated that he hasn’t yet made a decision on his future.

As a result, the #10 Ford is still without a confirmed driver for 2023.

Considering the fact that he went from retired to undecided, there’s definitely still a chance that he returns in 2023 — and it’s safe to say that his retirement announcement from January doesn’t hold a ton of weight at this point since he could still go either way.

It also marks yet another silly season situation in which an announcement was made prematurely, though this one didn’t come from an actual team.

In IndyCar, Chip Ganassi Racing announced that they had picked up an option in Alex Palou’s contract to retain his services for the 2023 season, only for McLaren to announce that they had signed him. Palou refuted Chip Ganassi Racing’s press release and announced that he would be joining McLaren, leading to an ongoing legal battle.

In Formula 1, Alpine announced that they had signed reserve driver Oscar Piastri to replace the Aston Martin-bound Fernando Alonso for 2023, only for Piastri to announce that he would not be driving for the Enstone outfit next year. Piastri will likely be joining McLaren as Daniel Ricciardo’s replacement, though again, the Woking-based team find themselves at the center of a legal battle.

So naturally, we now await the announcement of Almirola joining McLaren.

There is no official timetable for Almirola to make a decision regarding his status for the 2023 season. Will he decide to retire as initially planned, or will he return for a sixth season at Stewart-Haas Racing? If he returns, will he do so as a full-time driver?