Ross Chastain enters the 2023 NASCAR season with a chip on his shoulder, having come close to winning the Cup Series championship previous year. Chastain, 30, finished second behind Team Penske driver Joey Logano.
The driver of Trackhouse Racing’s No. 1 car is also facing a contract year, as he is NASCAR’s top free agent for next season. Along with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, they have a strong free agency class.
However, recent NASCAR news may aid Chastain’s next deal, as two major stars in the free agency class are set to leave the market on Wednesday morning, before to the 2023 Daytona 500.
Related: Ross Chastain begins the season as NASCAR’s top free agent in 2024.
Ross Chastain’s future has become a huge concern with Alex Bowman and Daniel Saurez contracts.
As if Chastain’s potential free agency wasn’t already a hot issue, the additional developments have just fueled the fire. Daniel Suarez, the 30-year-old driver’s teammate, has inked a multi-year agreement with Trackhouse Racing.
Suarez, 31, has finally found a house and is no longer concerned about jumping rides. It has been a long path to this point, but the driver of Trackhouse Racing’s No. 99 vehicle is committed to the organization for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, Alex Bowman has inked a three-year contract extension that would keep him at Hendrick Motorsports until the 2026 season. Bowman, 29, now completes the Hendrick Motorsports lineup, with each driver having previously inked a long contract.
This all ties back to Chastain in a fundamental sense. The revelation of Suarez and Bowman’s contract extensions has depleted the free agent pool for teams looking to upgrade their rosters.
Chastian and Hamlin remain at the top, but Martin Truex Jr., Aric Almirola, Michael McDowell, Justin Haley, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland, Ty Dillon, Corey LaJoie, Noah Gragson, and Ryan Preece are likely to fill out the rest of the list.
Truex and Almirola will either stay with their teams or retire, while the rest of the drivers, with the exception of McDowell, are young and have had little success to yet. The depth of NASCAR’s silly season has already been significantly reduced.
So, would teams be more desperate to get Chastain away from Trackhouse Racing? With Hamlin most likely staying with Toyota due to 23XI Racing, he is the sole viable option for other teams, like as Stewart-Haas Racing.
Once Chastain is gone, the primary movement for top drivers is over. The Florida native has expressed a desire to remain with Trackhouse Racing, but anything can happen in NASCAR.
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