Editor’s Note: Keep tabs on this page for lineup advice following qualifying, including changes you should consider.
There have been 10,885 days — almost 30 trips around the sun — since the NASCAR Cup Series last had a points-paying race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Three All-Star Races have provided some recent data, but Sunday’s 450-lap points race under the lights is an entirely different challenge. More than three months have passed since the Cup Series last visited a short track, where Team Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports have typically set the standard.
Returning to Fastlane this year is my weekly NASCAR 36 for 36 pick, where you can come play along. It’s a season-long points battle introduced in 2024 where strategy is the primary emphasis. With 36 chartered cars and 36 races on the 2026 schedule, players can choose each car once for the duration of the season.
RELATED: NASCAR Fantasy Live hub | Play 36 for 36
MUST START
Driver: Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Selections remaining: 6
Comment: Logano is amid a 45-race winless drought, currently sitting eight points below The Chase cutline. Fortunately for the No. 22 team, four of the final six races in the regular season will be contested at venues in Penske’s wheelhouse. Logano is one of two drivers to have top 10s in all three visits to North Wilkesboro for the exhibition race, and he has led 338 of the last 450 laps in the last two visits here.
Driver: Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
Selections remaining: 2
Comment: Blaney is at his best at short tracks, despite putting on an absolute clinic last weekend at EchoPark Speedway. The 2023 champion is in the middle of a career-best eight-straight top-10 streak — tied for the best streak ever in the Next Gen era. He also has 11 finishes of sixth or better in the last 13 short track events, scoring points in 14 of the last 15 stages.
Driver: Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Selections remaining: 4
Comment: As the scorching heat is taking over most of the United States, Bell is warming up, too. The No. 20 team has consecutive runner-up finishes, and he is the first driver since Kyle Larson in 2018 to have five second-place efforts without a win in a single season. Bell won last year’s All-Star Race and has 12 top-10 finishes in the last 17 short-track events.
DRIVERS TO AVOID
Driver: Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
Selections remaining: 4
Comment: Reddick saw some return to normalcy at EchoPark, running at the front and banking a top 10. Unfortunately, the five-time 2026 winner doesn’t have a hold on short tracks – yet. He has top 10s in two of the three exhibition go-arounds at North Wilkesboro, but has a single top 10 in the last 10 points-paying short-track races.
Driver: Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
Selections remaining: 6
Comment: The last three months have been a fall from earth for Keselowski, going the last 11 races without a top 10 (seven finishes of 26th or worse in that timespan). He won the pole for last year’s All-Star Race and led 62 circuits before wrecking out. He has a best finish of 15th in three Wilkesboro attempts.
SLEEPERS OF THE WEEK
Driver: Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Selections remaining: 8
Comment: There are signs of life for Chastain, cracking the top 20 in points for the first time in over two months. He has a pair of top 10s in the three All-Star races, placing third last season. Chastain also has six top 10s in the last 11 short-track races.
Driver: Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Selections remaining: 10
Comment: Bowman has only participated in one All-Star Race in Wilkes County, finishing fourth in 2025. He has a trio of top 10s in his last five short-track starts, including a runner-up at Richmond Raceway last summer.
FEATURED MATCHUPS
Christopher Bell vs. Ryan Blaney
Pick: Blaney
Comment: The bell – no pun intended – has rung for a heavyweight bout between two of NASCAR’s dominant forces. Gibbs vs. Penske in the Final Four. While Toyota has largely dominated the 2026 season, I like Blaney in this matchup by a hair, and you might have to win the race to win this matchup.
Todd Gilliland vs. Chase Elliott
Pick: Elliott
Comment: This is more of a battle of David vs. Goliath. However, David – in this case, Todd – has come out on top the last three weeks, and he has two top 10s in the last three short-track events. But Elliott finished eighth or better in all three All-Star visits, including a pair of fifth-place efforts.
Kyle Larson vs. Denny Hamlin
Pick: Larson
Comment: Another flashy bout, but Larson has outshone Hamlin in the three events at Wilkesboro. The No. 5 car drove through the field in the return trip in 2023 to hoist the $1 million check. Hamlin is a short-track ace but has two finishes of 12th or worse in the three Wilkesboro exhibitions.
Ty Gibbs vs. Bubba Wallace
Pick: Gibbs
Comment: Wallace’s North Wilkesboro resume is impressive, with a pair of top 10s in three All-Star starts, highlighted by a runner-up result in 2023. Yet recent form tilts toward the No. 54 team, which won the last short-track race at Bristol and has recorded three top 10s in its last four short-track starts.
MY LINEUP
Starting five: Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott.
Garage pick: Ty Gibbs.
36 FOR 36
Pick: Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Comment: Starting with last weekend’s race at Atlanta, the final seven-race stretch of the regular season sets up favorably for Logano. Team Penske’s strength in recent years has been at short tracks. The No. 22 team has been the class of the field the last times at North Wilkesboro.