Two offseasons ago, Formula 1 had the first offseason in the history of the sport to feature exactly zero full-time driver changes. While the NASCAR Cup Series can't quite claim that this year, silly season was about as uneventful as it has ever been.
Aside from two bottom-tier teams, Haas Factory Team and Rick Ware Racing, switching from Ford to Chevrolet, everything that happened was basically expected to happen even before the 2025 season began.
Daniel Suarez entered the 2025 season in a contract year with Trackhouse Racing, and it was about as clear as it gets early on that development driver Connor Zilisch was in line to take his seat. That became even more obvious as he dominated the Xfinity Series season with JR Motorsports, winning 10 races.
That move was indeed eventually confirmed, with Zilisch set to drive the No. 99-turned-No. 88 Chevrolet at the Justin Marks-owned team in 2026. But Suarez was only temporarily left without a ride, and he is, in fact, set to be the only driver in 2026 competing full-time for a team other than the team for which he ran full-time in 2025.
Daniel Suarez the only NASCAR Cup driver changing seats in 2026
Suarez was signed by Spire Motorsports to replace Justin Haley behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevrolet in 2026. Haley is set to be the one and only driver who ran full-time in the 2025 Cup Series season but will not do so in 2026, as he has reunited with Kaulig Racing to be a part of their new Ram Trucks program in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Haley competed for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series from 2019 to 2021 and then in the Cup Series in 2022 and 2023 before leaving for Rick Ware Racing in 2024. He was effectively traded from Rick Ware Racing to Spire Motorsports before the 2024 season, but amid a relatively disappointing 2025 campaign, the writing was on the wall that a return was not on the cards.
As for Suarez, the move means that he is set to be back for a 10th full season in the Cup Series with a fifth different team. Following Carl Edwards' surprise pre-2017 retirement, Suarez competed for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2017 and 2018. He lasted just one year at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2019 before signing with Gaunt Brothers Racing for 2020.
When Trackhouse Racing entered the series in 2021, Suarez was their pick, and he rewarded them with two wins (and two playoff appearances). But change felt inevitable amid his own ongoing struggles during year number five with the organization, and now he has gotten another much-needed change of scenery as he looks to get back to victory lane for the first time since 2024.
Fox's live coverage of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 from Daytona International Speedway is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 15.