We have officially reached the point in the year where rumors begin to swirl about the futures of drivers and race teams, and announcements regarding the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign start to be revealed. There have been some major moves in recent years, but this year’s silly season appears to be more subdued than usual.
Here are some of the major storylines:
As of August 7, 2025, just 30 charters are being actively used in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The other six charters, which were initially registered under the ownership of Front Row Motorsports and 23XI Racing to start the year, are subject to change hands due to an ongoing antitrust lawsuit between the two teams and NASCAR.
With the trial scheduled to happen on December 1, the fate of those remaining charters is still in limbo.
NOTE: The 30 teams currently listed as Chartered Entries below are those in possession of a NASCAR Cup Series charter for 2025, or teams rumored/confirmed to have possession of a charter for 2026.
| # | Driver(s) | Team / Manufacturer | Sponsor(s) | Crew Chief(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet | Moose Fraternity (4 Races) | Brandon McSwain |
| 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske Ford | Discount Tire | Brian Wilson |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet | Richard Boswell III | |
| 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports Ford | MillerTech (Pocono, Loudon) Grillo's Pickles (Talladega 1) TitleMax (EchoPark 1) | Drew Blickensderfer |
| 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com Valvoline | Cliff Daniels |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing Ford | Body Guard | Jeremy Bullins |
| 7 | Daniel Suarez | Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | Freeway Insurance | |
| 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet | Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Lucas Oil | Jim Pohlman |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | NAPA Auto Parts UniFirst (5 Races) Prime Video (Talladega, Texas 1, Dover ASR) Kelley Blue Book (Kansas 2, Phoenix 2) | Alan Gustafson |
| 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing Chevrolet | Sea Best Seafood (8 Races) | Andrew Dickeson |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | Chris Gayle | |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske Ford | Menards BodyArmor Flash I.V. | Jonathan Hassler |
| 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing Chevrolet | Trent Owens | |
| 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing Ford | Body Guard | Scott Graves |
| 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | Bass Pro Shops Columbia Bank (COTA, Sonoma, Phoenix 2) | James Small |
| 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | DEWALT | Adam Stevens |
| 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane eero | Miles Stanley |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske Ford | Shell-Pennzoil Hunt Brothers Pizza | Paul Wolfe |
| 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing Toyota | Charles Denike | |
| 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | Valvoline (6 Races) Anduril (San Diego, Chicagoland) All-Pro Auto Reconditioning (2 Races) Phorm Energy (2 Races) Cincinnati, Inc. (2 Races) | Rudy Fugle |
| 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Grillo's Pickles (4 Races) | Chris Lawson |
| 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing | Davin Restivo | |
| 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Aaron's (11 Races) Speedy Cash (5 Races) TitleMax (4 Races) | Ryan Bergenty |
| 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team Chevrolet | Aaron Kramer | |
| 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyota | Pye-Barker Fire & Safety (14 Races) Rexel USA (Richmond) | Travis Mack |
| 43 | Erik Jones | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyota | Ben Beshore | |
| 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Billy Scott | |
| 47 | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet | Mike Kelley | |
| 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | Ally Financial | Blake Harris |
| 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet | Billy Plourde | |
| 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | Tyler Allen | |
| 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing Ford | Trimble Body Guard | Derrick Finley |
| 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports Chevrvolet | Travis Peterson | |
| 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | Luke Lambert | |
| 88 | Connor Zilisch | Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet | Red Bull (Daytona 1) | Randall Burnett |
| 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet | Red Bull (EchoPark 1) | Stephen Doran |
| # | Driver | Team / Manufacturer | Sponsor(s) | Crew Chief(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | Jesse Love (?) Austin Hill (?) | Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet | ||
| 40 | Justin Allgaier (Daytona 1) | JR Motorsports Chevrolet | Traveller Whiskey | |
| 44 | JJ Yeley (?) | NY Racing Chevrolet | ||
| 50 | Team AmeriVet Chevrolet | |||
| 62 | Beard Motorsports Chevrolet | |||
| 67 | Corey Heim (?) | 23XI Racing Toyota | ||
| 78 | Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet | |||
| 84 | Jimmie Johnson (Daytona 1, San Diego) | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyota | Carvana (Daytona 1, San Diego) | |
| 91 | Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |