Once again, NASCAR Silly Season is in full bloom. We’ve got retirements and alignments, sponsorships and ownerships, hirings and firings and, of course, Matt DiBenedetto.
This annual late-summer/early-fall tradition is filled with nerves, excitement and surprises. On the note of surprises, Paul Menard joins David Ragan as the second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver to announce their departure from full-time competition at season’s end following his sudden retirement announcement made on Sept. 10.
While Menard’s current ride has already been filled by another driver for 2020, Ragan’s seat has not, which makes the Bob Jenkins-owned No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford arguably the biggest open ride left to be filled next season. A total of 37 drivers have wheeled an FRM car, but that number will likely go up by one with an acquisition of a driver from a different team.
While Jenkins has had his fair share of competitors fill his seats, 60 drivers have made at least one start for a combined total of 21 team owners in 2019 as of this writing. Jenkins has been able to call three of those five dozen individuals his drivers. However, thanks to the silly seasons throughout the years, these 60 drivers have averaged around four MENCS team owners throughout their cup careers.
But who currently has had the most owners in their career so far?
Well, up until a few weeks ago, that honor went solely to part-time driver Reed Sorenson. Thanks to his start earlier this season with Spire Motorsports at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Sorenson has amassed rides with 16 car owners. Yes, that’s 16.
Just for the record, the 33-year-old has tallied starts for Chip Ganassi Racing, Phoenix Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, Braun Racing, Team Red Bull, Robby Gordon Motorsports, Turn One Racing, FAS Lane Racing, Humphrey Smith Racing, Leavine Family Racing, Tommy Baldwin Racing, Team Xtreme, Front Row Motorsports, Premium Motorsports, Rick Ware Racing and Spire Motorsports. Not to be outdone, Sorenson has attempted to qualify for other MENCS events for two additional teams.
Although the Georgia driver has competed every year since 2005, Sorenson has only driven full time for five seasons. The remaining seasons have been filled wheeling part-time rides for various car owners.
However, Sorenson’s mark was just tied at Darlington Raceway, when Joe Nemechek strapped behind the wheel of Premium Motorsports’ No. 27 Chevrolet. Since making his first start for his own team back in 1993, Nemechek has taken rides for 16 teams, including the likes of Hendrick Motorsports, Team SABCO (now Chip Ganassi Racing) and Furniture Row Racing.
Sitting two back of Sorenson and Nemechek is JJ Yeley, who has driven for 14 teams. Finally, at fourth on the list is the first current full-time driver: Michael McDowell. While McDowell has bounced around from team to team in some of the smaller organizations in the NASCAR garage, one of the 34-year-old’s 10 car owners was Joe Gibbs. McDowell’s lone start for Gibbs came in 2011 at Texas Motor Speedway after the suspension of Kyle Busch for one event.
Landon Cassill and Aric Almirola are the next full-time drivers on the list. Cassill has driven for nine organizations, while Almirola has competed for seven.
Menard and Kurt Busch sit at six owners apiece. Interestingly, Busch’s six were all full-time rides, the most out of any active driver.
On the flip side, 15 active drivers have made starts for just one team in their careers. Jimmie Johnson leads the way with the most. Johnson’s 641 starts since 2001 have all come for Hendrick Motorsports. Like Johnson, Denny Hamlin has not been a part of the silly season before. Since 2005, Hamlin has driven for just one team: Joe Gibbs Racing.
Chase Elliott, William Byron, Daniel Hemric, Bubba Wallace, Matt Tifft and Ross Chastain are the remaining full-time drivers who have competed for just one organization.
Here is the complete list of drivers and team owners:
| Driver | Number of Team Owners |
| Reed Sorenson* | 16 |
| Joe Nemechek* | 16 |
| JJ Yeley* | 14 |
| Michael McDowell | 10 |
| Landon Cassill | 9 |
| Timmy Hill* | 8 |
| Aric Almirola | 7 |
| Casey Mears* | 7 |
| Jeffrey Earnhardt* | 7 |
| Kurt Busch | 6 |
| Paul Menard | 6 |
| Joey Gase* | 6 |
| Brendan Gaughan* | 6 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 5 |
| Ty Dillon | 5 |
| David Ragan | 5 |
| Jamie McMurray** | 5 |
| Stanton Barrett* | 5 |
| Gray Gaulding* | 5 |
| Clint Bowyer | 4 |
| Ryan Newman | 4 |
| Austin Dillon | 4 |
| Corey Lajoie | 4 |
| Garrett Smithley* | 4 |
| Joey Logano | 3 |
| Brad Keselowski | 3 |
| Alex Bowman | 3 |
| Matt DiBenedetto | 3 |
| Jeb Burton* | 3 |
| DJ Kennington* | 3 |
| Kyle Busch | 2 |
| Kevin Harvick | 2 |
| Kyle Larson | 2 |
| Erik Jones | 2 |
| Ryan Blaney | 2 |
| Daniel Suarez | 2 |
| Chris Buescher | 2 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 2 |
| Ryan Preece | 2 |
| Quin Houff* | 2 |
| BJ McLeod* | 2 |
| Cody Ware* | 2 |
| Parker Kligerman* | 2 |
| Kyle Weatherman* | 2 |
| Ryan Sieg* | 2 |
| Denny Hamlin | 1 |
| Chase Elliott | 1 |
| William Byron | 1 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 1 |
| Daniel Hemric | 1 |
| Bubba Wallace | 1 |
| Matt Tifft | 1 |
| Austin Theriault* | 1 |
| Andy Seuss* | 1 |
| Ross Chastain | 1 |
| Bayley Currey* | 1 |
| Josh Bilciki* | 1 |
| Justin Haley* | 1 |
| Tyler Reddick* | 1 |
| Spencer Boyd* | 1 |
*Designates a driver currently competing part-time
**Although currently retired, Jamie McMurray did start this year’s Daytona 500, thus making him an active driver this season.
Never at a loss for words, Zach Gillispie is a young, talented marketing professional from North Carolina who talks and writes on the side about his first love: racing! Since joining Frontstretch in 2018, Zach has served in numerous roles where he currently pens the NASCAR 101 column, a weekly piece delving into the basic nuts and bolts of the sport. Additionally, his unabashedly bold takes meshed with that trademarked dry wit of his have made Zach a fan favorite on the weekly Friday Faceoff panel. In his free time, he can be found in the great outdoors, actively involved in his church, cheering on his beloved Atlanta Braves or ruthlessly pestering his colleagues with completely useless statistics about Delma Cowart.