With the news this week regarding Josh Williams‘ future — or lack thereof — with Kaulig Racing, it seems as good a time as ever to remember that Williams is far from the only driver whose services were no longer needed in the middle of a NASCAR season.
Plenty of drivers have been booted during the season, even in a time span as short as the last five years (2020-2025).
Here’s a series-by-series breakdown of some of the drivers who were shown the door before the conclusion of their respective campaigns.
NASCAR Cup Series
Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | 2020
Perhaps the most infamous entry on this list, Kyle Larson was suspended by both NASCAR and CGR after he used a racial slur during a livestream in April 2020. Larson was reinstated by NASCAR in October 2020, and went on to sign with Hendrick Motorsports. Since his return to the driver’s seat, he’s won a Cup championship and 26 races with HMS — a future that seemed completely out of reach when he was out of a job during the COVID-19 pandemic season.
Noah Gragson | Legacy Motor Club | 2023
Like Larson, Noah Gragson was let go due to an off-track issue. As Cup cars were on track at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 5, 2023, Legacy announced that it had suspended Gragson after he liked an insensitive meme on social media. Gragson was reinstated by NASCAR in September 2023 but did not make another start for the rest of the season.
Justin Haley/Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports/Rick Ware Racing | 2024
Justin Haley and Corey LaJoie effectively swapped rides for the final seven Cup races of 2024, with Haley taking over the No. 7 Chevrolet and LaJoie getting behind the wheel of the No. 51 Ford. While Haley went on to sign with Spire for the 2025 season, RWR made no such commitment to LaJoie, who has only made four Cup starts this season, all with the team.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Jade Buford | Big Machine Racing | 2022
Through the first eight races of the 2022 Xfinity season, Jade Buford and Big Machine struggled mightily. Buford was 28th in points after eight races with only one top 10 to his credit, and those poor results prompted a driver change. Kaz Grala initially took over the No. 48, while Tyler Reddick scored the team’s first win at Texas Motor Speedway in May. Buford made only one Xfinity start over the remainder of the 2022 season, piloting his former ride to a 14th-place finish at Portland International Raceway.
Brett Moffitt | Our Motorsports | 2022
A lack of sponsorship led to Our Motorsports and Brett Moffitt splitting 20 races into the 2022 season. Moffitt was having a decent year — he was 16th in points at the time of the split — but the money dried up and left Our with no alternative. Moffitt did sign with AM Racing (more on it later) for the 2023 season but has only made one Xfinity start over the last year-and-a-half.
Hailie Deegan | AM Racing | 2024
To put it nicely, Hailie Deegan‘s tenure with AM was a dumpster fire. The team was a far cry from its 2023 iteration when Moffitt scored nine top-10 finishes. Deegan was brought on after three ho-hum seasons in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and it appeared as if her team was unable to help her make adjustments and improve during races. Deegan was axed after Nashville, leaving AM to bring on a plethora of drivers, including Josh Berry, Joey Logano and Lawless Alan to close out the season. Deegan, meanwhile, is a rookie in the Indy NXT Series this year, while AM has rebounded nicely with Harrison Burton.
Josh Williams | Kaulig Racing | 2025
Williams joined Kaulig with high hopes in 2024 after he gained a reputation for getting the most of mediocre equipment. In a year-and-a-half with the team, however, he only garnered six top-10 finishes in 54 races — the same amount he scored with DGM Racing across the 2023 season. Things just never clicked between Williams and Kaulig, with the former now looking for his next opportunity and the latter trying to diagnose the problem with its racecars.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Ty Majeski | Niece Motorsports | 2020
Future Truck champion Ty Majeski had a ride before ThorSport Racing in the series, when he drove for Niece between 2019 and 2020. For 2020, that was set to include a full-time season in the No. 45. Alas, after 15 races and three top 10s, he was replaced by Trevor Bayne.
Timothy Peters | Rackley WAR | 2021
Timothy Peters, an 11-time Truck winner, didn’t even make it halfway through the 2021 season with Rackley WAR. Peters and the team parted ways after Charlotte Motor Speedway, as Peters was 21st in the standings and had yet to collect a top-10 finish. Rackley moved on to other drivers (more on that later), but Peters hasn’t made a Truck start since his 38th-place finish at Charlotte in May 2021.
Kris Wright | Niece Motorsports | 2022
Kris Wright could’ve appeared in the Xfinity section too after losing his ride with Our earlier this season, but at least that team also closed down one race later. In the case of Wright’s tenure with Niece in the Truck Series in 2022, the No. 44 continued on after Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, while Wright was out of the truck after scoring a best finish of 15th through 17 races that season.
Matt DiBenedetto | Rackley WAR | 2023
Matt DiBenedetto took Rackley to victory lane at Talladega Superspeedway in 2022 but found himself out of the No. 25 three races earlier in 2023. After being eliminated from the Truck playoffs, DiBenedetto was let go following a 10th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. He went on to find an opportunity with Viking Motorsports in the Xfinity Series in 2024, while Rackley picked up Ty Dillon. Speaking of …
Ty Dillon | Rackley WAR | 2024
This is a pattern you should’ve seen coming by now. Dillon, who is now in the Cup Series with Kaulig, was dropped after 18 races by Rackley in 2024. The No. 25 team struggled in 2024, with Dillon being 18th in the standings at the time of his removal. Dawson Sutton, son of team co-owner Curtis Sutton, was brought on as Dillon’s replacement and remains the full-time driver of the Rackley WAR No. 26 as of this writing.
Mason Massey | Young’s Motorsports | 2024
Mason Massey made it through 16 races in the 2024 Truck season in what was to be his first full-time NASCAR national series season. But after a top finish of 11th at Martinsville Speedway, he split with Young’s and its No. 02 and has not returned to the series since.
A member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Samuel also covers NASCAR for Yardbarker, Field Level Media, and Heavy Sports. He will attend the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2025.