NASCAR veteran linked to final empty seat for the 2025 season

Front Row Motorsports' confirmation that Zane Smith is set to be in their third car for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season means that there is just one chartered car left without a driver.

Rick Ware Racing have downsized from two cars to one for the 2025 season after leasing out their second charter to RFK Racing, which expanded from two cars to three. They are set to continue running the No. 51 Ford full-time.

Justin Haley had been slated to drive the No. 51 Ford full-time in 2025, but before the 2024 season, he was essentially traded to Spire Motorsports for Corey LaJoie. While Haley was then confirmed by Spire Motorsports for 2025, LaJoie was not confirmed by Rick Ware Racing for beyond the 2024 season.

LaJoie is not expected to return to Rick Ware's team in 2017.

Cody Ware, Rick's son and one of the three drivers who spent time behind the wheel of the No. 15 Ford in 2024, is viewed as the leading candidate to take over behind the wheel of the No. 51 Ford in 2025.

Ware has competed in the Cup Series for eight straight years, and he has always done so for his father's team. He drove the No. 51 car, then a Chevrolet, in all but four races in 2021, and he competed full-time in 2022, missing only one late-season race due to injury. He was supposed to compete full-time in 2023 before he was arrested.

He was reinstated for the 2024 season and shared the No. 51 seat with Kaz Grala, whose 2025 plans are also not confirmed, and Riley Herbst, who is set to join 23XI Racing in a third Toyota entry.

Ware has made 106 career Cup Series starts dating back to his debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2017. He has secured two top 10 finishes, both at Daytona International Speedway. He placed sixth at the track in 2022 and a career-high fourth in 2024. He has eight other top 20 finishes to his name, including two during his nine-race schedule last year.

Should Ware be confirmed as the full-time driver of the No. 51 Ford for the 2025 season, all 36 chartered entries would have full-time drivers for the first time in the charter era.

The 67th annual Daytona 500 is scheduled to get the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season underway on Sunday, February 16. Fox is set to provide live coverage from Daytona International Speedway beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.