Posted on by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — With a dozen reporters surrounding Connor Zilisch outside his team transporter in the Daytona International Speedway garage Saturday afternoon during a break in preseason IMSA testing, the 19-year-old racing protege looked around and allowed that all the media attention still felt a bit new.

Only two weeks after celebrating his 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year award and record-setting 10-win season, Zilisch was back in a race car for the first time. He joined Cup Series driver AJ Allmendinger at the Daytona road course over the weekend — the two learning the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Series GTP sports cars they plan to steer in the Jan. 24-25 Rolex 24 at the “World Center of Racing.”

When pressed, Zilisch conceded that the media reception he drew this weekend was quite different than when he showed up in the sports car garage as a young, yet-unproven driver three years ago.

RELATED: 2026 Cup Series schedule | Scenes from IMSA testing

“I remember walking around this paddock, and I could walk around when nobody knew who I was, and it’s so cool now that people appreciate what I do, and it makes all the hard work feel worth it,” Zilisch said.

“Those moments for me as a kid and I was looking up to people was something I remember often, and I want to be that guy that kids can look up to and want to be like one day.”

After enduring a heartbreaking championship loss to his best friend Jesse Love two weeks ago in the Xfinity Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway, Zilisch said the best thing for him to do was get back behind the wheel again. And sports cars have certainly been an impactful, positive part of his career — arguably the launching point for his NASCAR success.

In 2024, at only 17 years old, Zilisch claimed the Rolex 24 at Daytona LMP2 championship trophy, then answered it with another class win in the very next race, the legendary 12 Hours of Sebring.

That road-racing prowess helped gain the attention of NASCAR’s Trackhouse Racing team owner Justin Marks, himself a former IMSA competitor. And after a season setting records and learning the stock car ropes driving for JR Motorsports in what is now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Zilisch will compete full-time in the Cup Series in 2026, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet. His Trackhouse teammate and friend, New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen — who he co-drove with in last year’s Rolex 24 — used the No. 88 this season in his own Sunoco Rookie of the Year work, but will carry the No. 97 going forward.

While the initial pain of losing the season title after such an incredible year-long performance still stings, Zilisch said he is ready to move on; being in a race car and preparing for a race as a former winner seemed like the correct path forward.

“The first time I came to Daytona racing was in MX5 Cup,” Zilisch said. “And I’ve loved it ever since, and just being able to race in the 24 hours is something that I dreamed of as a kid, and that’s why I always come back and keep doing it.

“It’s my third time doing it and my third different car that I’ve done it in. So, I don’t know if I’m doing it, but if I do get to end up doing it then that would be cool. I’m just excited for the opportunity to even be here today and get this chance to test the car. It’s been such a dream of mine to get to drive in the highest class of IMSA, and doing that today has been really cool.”

The Kaulig Racing driver Allmendinger, who is teaming up with IndyCar champion Scott Dixon and sports car standouts Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun, was third quickest in the two-day session in the No. 60 Acura Meyer-Shank Racing prototype. Zilisch’s team — with co-drivers Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti was sixth fastest overall in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac among the 10 GTP cars that participated in the test session.

“It’s been good,” Zilisch’s co-driver Aitken said. “Connor’s obviously got plenty on his CV [resume] already. He’s already won two of the biggest races on the endurance calendar over here, so I’m not really concerned about the driving side of things, it’s really just more about getting him up to speed on the technical side of these cars. … honestly just the boring stuff.

“Today has gone well. He had a couple of pretty long runs just getting laps and getting miles, and he seems comfortable and happy. He’s done a good job. But of course, he would.”

Although Allmendinger won overall in the race’s 50th anniversary edition in 2012, he hasn’t competed in the Rolex 24 since 2021. As was the case with Zilisch, who has never competed at the GTP level previously. Allmendinger conceded there is a learning curve with the new prototypes.

“There is definitely a lot to this car, a lot to learn,” Allmendinger said, adding, “Trying to just get as comfortable as possible [this weekend], the biggest thing compared to like the [NASCAR] Cup car is the steering is just so much heavier, hard to turn the steering wheel compared to a Cup car.”

allmendinger and braun talk
Brandon Badraoui | Lumen Digital Agency

Certainly, NASCAR fans will enjoy having two drivers with legitimate shots at a Rolex 24 victory to start the 2026 season. It’s a race win both Zilisch and Allmendinger have treasured. And a race opportunity both are eager to take again.

“It’s cool to come back here,” Zilisch said. “I always love seeing the people. The atmosphere is so much different. The people from all across the world that come and run this race.

“It’s been really cool just to experience it all again and kind of shift my mindset. It’s a much different language. Everything is different when you come and do these races versus NASCAR. So, just getting adjusted, it’s been fun, it’s all good. It’s all learning for me and that’s what I enjoy most.”

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials issued technical updates for the 2026 rule book on Friday, including specifics for the Cup Series’ rules configuration for 750-horsepower tracks and a mandate for A-post flaps at every track.

Competition officials announced Oct. 8 that the Cup Series would increase engine output to a target 750 horsepower at tracks measuring less than 1.5 miles in length. Those tracks will use the short-track/road-course rules package introduced to the Cup Series in 2024, with a three-inch rear spoiler and fewer diffuser strakes.

RELATED: 2026 NASCAR schedule | 2025 season, by the numbers

Five tracks will shift from the intermediate-track rules configuration to the short-track/road-course package for 2026: Bristol Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Dover Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

Competition officials also mandated A-post flaps for the Cup Series at every track, starting next season. The body post — which runs from the hood’s edge to the roof along the windshield’s sides — is equipped with a flap designed to deploy in tandem with roof flaps to reduce the possibility of liftoff in the event of a spin.

The change was made for superspeedway events only last season, starting with the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway, but will now be implemented for each race in 2026. Additionally, officials specified that the surface underneath the flap must be bright orange, instead of merely a high-visibility or contrasting color.

NASCAR officials also established a new set of rule book parameters outlining testing procedures for new manufacturers (OEMs) entering any of the three national tours — Cup Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts (formerly Xfinity) Series or Craftsman Truck Series.

In each series, testing guidelines for prospective new manufacturers include:

  • A maximum of three tests for new OEMs, with each test limited to a maximum of three affiliated organizations with two vehicles each
  • Tests must be a maximum of two consecutive days each
  • Tests to be completed by March 1
  • Tests prohibited at tracks that have been repaved, are new to the schedule, or that will host events within 60 days of the test session

Competition officials expect to release sporting rules and procedures updates in January.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

There is no denying the disappointment that the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season brought Kyle Busch.

The two-time champion finished a career-worst 21st in points with his fewest top fives (three) in his 21 full-time seasons, with a 17.9 average finish that only betters his 18.3 low from 2024. The good news is that 2025’s campaign is over, and Busch ended it with a top-five finish at Phoenix Raceway that hopefully helps put this year in the rearview mirror.

And no, he is not willing to reflect too long on what 2025 was.

“I’m not giving grades,” Busch said ahead of the season finale. “It hasn’t been a good one. We all know that and got to get better.”

MORE: Final 2025 standings | 2026 Cup schedule

Indeed, the 2026 season should look different for Busch after his second straight winless year driving the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Jim Pohlman heads from JR Motorsports’ NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program as crew chief for Justin Allgaier to Welcome, North Carolina, where he will crew chief Busch in 2026. Andy Street served as Busch’s crew chief for the final five races of the year, replacing Randall Burnett, who led Busch to three wins in 2023.

One man’s entry to the team may not be a cure-all, but Busch is optimistic for what lies ahead with Pohlman in what will be a busy lead-up to the 2026 Daytona 500.

“I think this offseason will be different just based off of trying to build some camaraderie and some time with Jim,” Busch said. “Being able to spend some time with him and just kind of figure things out and what makes him tick, and obviously ways of things of what makes me tick and getting on the same page to start our season. Those are always the best ways of being the most successful with a crew chief is when you know when each other’s thinking, what they’re thinking and you can anticipate what’s next.”

Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch look on.
David Jensen | Getty Images

Austin Dillon, driver of RCR’s No. 3 car and grandson of team owner Richard Childress, has played a more significant role in his family’s team recently. Dillon largely replicated his 2024 stats in 2025 — a Richmond win serving as his lone top five of the season, coupled with five total top 10s — but improved his average finish from 22.6 to 20.8 with new crew chief Richard Boswell. Looking on for the betterment of both his No. 3 team and the whole of RCR, Dillon believes the organization is poised to take its next step toward Cup Series success through the offseason, adding that his father, Mike Dillon, plans to be more involved in the process as well.

“Obviously, bringing Pohlman in as the 8 crew chief, Richard Boswell and him and (technical director) Johnny Klausmeier and Andy Street all working really closely together, I think that is a powerhouse team between the four of them,” Dillon said. “I like where all those guys stand as humans and workers (to) just be pushing our cars to make them better and more competitive for Kyle and I. And I think you’ll see my dad more, which is a good thing. He was a competition director for RCR for a long time, and I think a lot of people love to work with him and know where he stands on getting these things right.”

Busch is NASCAR’s winningest driver of all time across its national series, collecting 63 Cup wins, 67 Craftsman Truck Series wins and an astounding 102 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victories. The winning has slowed over the last two seasons, though. And through his experience across 20-plus years at NASCAR’s highest levels, he knows he’ll need to crawl before he walks back to Victory Lane again.

“There’s still a building process that’s got to take place to get us to that avenue,” Busch said. “And being most consistent each and every week and finishing consistently in the top five is the easiest way to prove that you’re capable of your next win. So we’ve got to get to that point first.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

Chevrolet revealed its updated car body for the NASCAR Cup Series on Friday, unveiling a refreshed Camaro ZL1 that will make its competition debut in 2026.

The subtle updates to the Cup Series body take styling cues from a performance accessories kit that Chevrolet recently released for the car’s road-going counterpart. NASCAR officials said that these performance updates, which have been incorporated into the race-ready Camaro, were the product of collaboration with the manufacturer and have satisfied the competition department’s requirements for a new-look body next season.

RELATED: 2026 NASCAR schedule | Final 2025 Cup Series standings

According to Chevrolet, the racing version of the Camaro now features a larger hood dome, revisions to the front grille and redefined rocker panels. The automaker indicated that those design features align with the Carbon Performance Package Accessories Kit’s carbon-fiber pieces on the hood and rockers, plus a new grille and front splitter.

A look at the new Chevrolet grille

Chevrolet debuted the Camaro ZL1 model for NASCAR competition in 2018, when it replaced the outgoing Chevy SS. The body style was updated to the Camaro ZL1 1LE in 2020, and a Next Gen version launched when that platform debuted in the Cup Series two years later.

Chevrolet ended production of the passenger-car Camaro line with the 2024 model run. When that news broke in March 2023, Scott Bell – Global Chevrolet’s vice president – hinted that the venerable nameplate could return.

“While we are not announcing an immediate successor today, rest assured, this is not the end of Camaro’s story,” Bell said.

Whether an all-new Camaro or some other model could reach NASCAR’s tracks in future seasons is undetermined. A Chevrolet statement said: “While we do not comment on future products, we can assure you we are working on what’s next for Chevrolet in NASCAR. Again, our commitment to competing in NASCAR remains steadfast.”

The updated Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will make its competition debut in the season-opening Cook Out Clash exhibition at Bowman Gray Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 1 (8 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, HBO Max).

MORE: 2025 season, by the numbers

Chevrolet clinched this year’s manufacturer’s championship in NASCAR’s premier series, marking the fifth consecutive season that the bowtie brand has topped fellow competitors Ford and Toyota. Chevy scored a series-best 15 wins last season and captured the 2025 Cup Series driver’s title with Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson.

Posted on by Neil Paine

NASCAR’s official awards ceremony was held last week, with its glamorous red carpet and fancy dinner ceremony for the best and brightest of the year. There, Kyle Larson gave a speech next to his big shiny trophy as NASCAR Cup Series champion — but he wasn’t the only driver who deserved hardware. With the 2025 NASCAR season officially in the books, it’s time for another annual tradition: Handing out some offbeat awards of our own to the overachievers, late bloomers, track specialists and statistical weirdos who made this season worth remembering.

Dale Jarrett Award (Most improved driver): Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing.

In some ways, it would have been a disappointment if Briscoe didn’t end up here at the end of the 2025 season. After all, the No. 19 ride — vacated by the retiring Martin Truex Jr. — was always going to be a plum opportunity for some driver to step into, ready to unlock their full potential. But it’s fair to say Briscoe took the opportunity and drove away with it. After an early period of adjustment, he rattled off one of the best (and longest) sustained periods of success by any driver this season, capping things off by making his first career Championship 4 appearance with a playoff win at Talladega Superspeedway. Exceeding any and all expectations with his new team, Briscoe solidified his status as one of NASCAR’s top-tier drivers with what was, by far, the best season of his Cup career to date.

Other candidates: Ryan Preece, John Hunter Nemechek.

Mr. Consistency Award (Best average finish relative to dominance): Chris Buescher, RFK Racing.

On the one hand, this was a challenging season for Buescher: His first winless campaign since 2021 saw him rank 17th in the standings and finish outside the playoff picture for the second year in a row. But he was much more consistent than we might think just from the top-line results. Buescher posted an above-average Driver Rating in 75% of his races — a rate comparable to that of several playoff drivers. (Kyle Larson was at 78%, for instance, while Denny Hamlin sat much lower at just 66%.) Further, Buescher’s average finish of 14.3 ranked sixth among full-time drivers, sandwiching him between a couple of Champ 4 drivers in Hamlin (14.0) and William Byron (14.5). No, Buescher didn’t have the same high ceiling as they had, but his week-to-week reliability made him one of the most underrated drivers this year.

Other candidates: Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch.

Jerry Nadeau Award (Best in qualifying relative to races): Austin Cindric, Team Penske.

The best qualifier of the year overall was probably Briscoe, who was tied with Byron for the lowest average start (9.9) and recorded the co-most poles in a season (seven) of anybody in the past decade. But as we wrote earlier, Briscoe had an outstanding string of performances on race day as well, using that track position to great effect when the green flag dropped. By comparison, the Cup driver whose qualifying performances most outpaced his actual race results was Cindric, who tied Joey Logano for the eighth-best average start (13.3) but ranked 23rd in average finish (20.9), trailing names like Erik Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Dillon and Todd Gilliland. Cindric’s solid 74.9 Driver Rating was better than his finishes gave him credit for, and he booked a second straight playoff trip with an early win at Talladega, but he never quite translated his Saturday speed into wins on Sunday this season.

Other candidates: AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs.

Ricky Rudd Award (Best journeyman driver): Ryan Preece, RFK Racing.

Preece was one of the best stories of the season after overcoming his third team change in four years — this time going from Stewart-Haas to RFK when the former ceased operations after the 2024 season. All the new driver of the No. 60 car did in response was record nearly as many top fives (three) and top 10s (14) in 2025 as he’d had in his entire seven-year Cup career previously (four and 16, respectively). Along the way, Preece had a better average finish than Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch, among others. Coming at age 34, it was one of the best mid-career level-ups we’ve seen in recent years, and it will be exciting to see what Preece can do for an encore in 2026.

Other candidates: Josh Berry, Erik Jones.

Dale Earnhardt Award (Best on superspeedways): Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports.

It was a wide-open year on the superspeedways, with the six available wins going to six different drivers: Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric. And some of the best stats belonged to drivers who weren’t even in that group: Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson boasted the top average finishes at “restrictor plate” tracks, while Joey Logano had the best Driver Rating — with Bubba Wallace third, narrowly trailing Reddick. (Also, Carson Hocevar had the most top 10s outright, at four.) In the face of all that, picking an Earnhardt Award winner wasn’t easy, but we gave the nod to Elliott for his win at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway), his lack of DNFs (just one in six races), his 15.2 average finish and his 79.8 Driver Rating at the track type this year.

Other candidates: Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, William Byron.

Marcos Ambrose SVG Award (Best on road/street courses): Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing.

Anytime an award is renamed after you, that’s probably a sign that you had a dominant season. Such was the case with van Gisbergen, who went into the year as merely one of the best road racers in Cup Series history and left it as pretty much the unquestioned GOAT. In six road-course starts, SVG sat on pole three times, finished sixth or better every race, won five straight times (and counting) — at Mexico City, Chicago, Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval — including three with victory margins in the double-digit seconds, highlighted by a stunning 16.6-second win at Mexico City. After what was the greatest road-course season in NASCAR history, there’s not much more to say about SVG except to wonder when — or if — his winning streak on the twisty tracks will end.

Other candidates: Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick.

Darrell Waltrip Award (Best on short tracks): William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports.

As the only multi-time winner on short tracks this season — capturing checkered flags at Iowa Speedway and Martinsville Speedway, the latter of which came in both clutch and dominant fashion during the playoffs in the Round of 8 finale — Byron stood out most among the short-track aces of 2025. But he had competition. Denny Hamlin was good (as usual), winning at Martinsville in the spring, and Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson also posted wins while finishing top 10 in four of six races. And the best numbers of all might have belonged to a non-winner: Ryan Blaney, who had five top fives in six short-track tries with an average finish of 4.8 and a 111.1 Driver Rating. That was higher even than Byron’s 105.2 mark on short tracks this season, though Blaney couldn’t quite seal the W in any of them despite leading at least 29 laps in five different races (and 177 at Martinsville before Byron passed him in the final 50 laps to take the win).

Other candidates: Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson.

Jeff Gordon Award (Highest peak during the season): Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports.

Much like SVG on the road courses, this award might eventually be renamed after its recipient if he keeps this up. In May, we looked into how Larson’s streaks of near-perfect dominance stack up not just against his peers today, but against the greatest peaks in NASCAR history — finding that nobody in the modern era hits that ceiling more often. And nobody did this season, either, with Larson’s stretch from early March to mid-May — with seven top fives and an average Driver Rating of 110.9 (including two outings within one point of a perfect 150) in a nine-race span — rising as the best such period of sustained domination the Cup Series saw all year.

Other candidates: Ryan Blaney (late July to late September), Christopher Bell (mid-September to mid-October).

David Gilliland Award (Best vs. teammates): Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing.

Like Buescher, Reddick didn’t quite have the season he was hoping for in terms of overall results. The driver of the No. 45 car failed to win a race for the first time since 2021 (back when he was with RCR), posted only seven top fives — snapping a three-year streak in double-digits — and while he made the playoffs, Reddick didn’t return to the Championship 4, instead bowing out in the Round of 12. But 23XI wasn’t as good this season, either, with Bubba Wallace not being quite as consistent as a year ago (18.5 average finish vs. 15.3 in ’24) and the addition of a third full-time car with Riley Herbst affecting the team’s overall averages as well. So Reddick still managed to post a 52-24 head-to-head record against his teammates (68.4% winning percentage), which was the best of anybody in Cup, and he bested teammates by a series-high 24.5 points of Driver Rating per race as well. (Nobody else was especially close; AJ Allmendinger was second at +18.3.).

Other candidates: Ryan Blaney (Penske), A.J. Allmendinger (Kaulig), Ross Chastain (Trackhouse).

Greg Biffle Award (Best non-playoff driver during the playoffs): Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing.

It was a tale of two seasons for Keselowski, who was as bad as we’ve ever seen him early on, with crashes ending five of his first 12 races while he posted an average finish of 27.2 (with a 61.5 Driver Rating) over that span. But as the season progressed, Brad K. began to drive much more like the former champion we expect to see in the No. 6 car — and no stretch of the season was more indicative of how far he’d come than the playoffs. While Keselowski wasn’t close to making the playoffs (he was 22nd in the points through 26 races), he rattled off an average finish of 14.2 with five top 10s in the last 10 races of the year, carrying a 143 Adjusted Points+ index (well above Cup average) and a 72.8 Driver Rating during that stretch, continuing to build up his best segment of the season. Last year’s Biffle Award winner, Ross Chastain, ended up returning to the playoffs, so we’ll see if a 42-year-old Keselowski can use this run as the same kind of springboard next year.

Other candidates: Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece, Ty Gibbs.

Good Enough To Win Award (Non-winner who “should” have won the most): TIE – Chris Buescher, RFK Racing and Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing.

Thanks to this co-award, Buescher and Reddick will both walk away with multiple pieces of hardware here, which I’m sure will be a silver lining for their seasons. But kidding aside, this was a very close battle to decide the non-winner most deserving of a W this season. As a refresher for this category, we use Driver Ratings from each race to assign every driver a probability of winning, based on how well they drove over the course of the entire event. This is generally a good estimate of “deserving” winners, since it filters away luck-based elements like late wrecks or overtime restarts, etc. And while most of the top actual winners this year did rightly win a lot of races, Buescher and Reddick were tied among the non-winners with 0.9 Expected Wins apiece. Buescher’s highest chances came at Daytona International Speedway in the summer (26.6%), Michigan International Speedway (13.6%) and Pocono Raceway (13.1%), while Reddick missed out on potential wins at Chicago (13.3%) and Darlington Raceway twice (11.9% in the spring and 9.9% in the summer).

Chart showing who should have won races in 2025 Cup season based on Driver Rating.

The big question is whether this will predict a breakthrough for both or either driver next season. Last year’s award went to Ty Gibbs, who still didn’t win in 2025 — though he tacked on 0.8 more Expected Wins this season, tied with Alex Bowman for third-most in Cup among non-winners this season.

Other candidates: Ty Gibbs, Alex Bowman.

Posted on by Staff Report

For the first time in five years, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch is returning to Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, to take part in the Snowball Derby on Dec. 4-7.

Busch will drive the No. 51 Lucas Oil-sponsored entry for Bryson Lopez Racing in the annual Super Late Model crown jewel event. The team will be led by Danny Stockman, who guided Jesse Love and the Richard Childress Racing No. 2 team to the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in 2025.

“It’s been a few years since I’ve been to Pensacola, but I haven’t forgotten how to get around Five Flags,” Busch said. “The Snowball Derby is one of those bucket-list races you always want to win again and again, and I’m fired up to be back with the No. 51 Lucas Oil team and FloRacing. We’re showing up to take that trophy home.”

Busch is no stranger to Five Flags Speedway and the Snowball Derby, as he has made five previous starts in the event since 2002.

After finishing 33rd in his first start in the event in 2002, he returned for his second Snowball Derby start in 2009, where he led a race-high 91 laps to claim the Tom Dawson Trophy for the first time. He returned to the Snowball Derby again in 2012, leading 15 laps and finishing third.

MORE: How to watch the NASCAR Channel

Busch’s next start came in 2017, which saw him start 15th, lead 28 laps and secure his second triumph in the prestigious race. During his most recent Snowball Derby appearance in 2020, Busch started ninth and finished in seventh.

The Snowball Derby, first held in 1968, has a long history of NASCAR involvement.

Snowball Derby 2024
The Snowball Derby is widely considered one of the most important short track races in the country and annually attracts stars from NASCAR to compete. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)

Among the early winners of the Snowball Derby who have also enjoyed success in NASCAR are 1970 Daytona 500 winner Pete Hamilton, 10-time Cup Series winner Donnie Allison and three-time Cup Series champion Darrell Waltrip.

More recently, many NASCAR drivers have used the event as a launching point for their careers. They include current stars like Busch, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Christian Eckes, Noah Gragson, Ty Majeski, Chandler Smith and Kaden Honeycutt.

All of them are Snowball Derby winners.

This year, several active NASCAR competitors will again be among the more than 50 drivers looking to earn starting positions in the Snowball Derby.

Joining Busch on the entry list are Jones, Gragson and Ryan Preece. In addition, several drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series are also entered.

Among them are Honeycutt, Majeski, Jake Garcia, Dawson Sutton and Bayley Currey. Johnny Sauter, the 2016 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, and David Gilliland, the 2007 Daytona pole winner and owner of Tricon Garage, have also filed entries.

Snowball Derby weekend begins with practice on Thursday, Dec. 4. Teams will qualify on Dec.  5, with the top 30 qualifiers locking into the race. The remainder of the field will be set Dec. 6 via a last-chance race and a pair of provisionals.

The 58th running of the Snowball Derby goes green at 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Dec. 7. Action all week at Five Flags Speedway airs live on FloRacing, with Friday’s qualifying session also scheduled to be broadcast live on the NASCAR Channel.

A full schedule events can be found here.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR on Wednesday announced the start times and networks for all of its national series races for the 2026 season, with the Daytona 500 set for 2:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 15 on FOX.

Two weeks earlier, on Feb. 1, FOX will televise the Cook Out Clash’s return to Bowman Gray Stadium at 8 p.m. ET. This will be the second straight season that the annual exhibition race will take place in the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, venue affectionately known as “The Madhouse.”

RELATED: Buy tickets

Prime Video will kick off its second year of NASCAR coverage at 6 p.m. ET on May 24 with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Another highlight of Prime’s five-race run will be the 4 p.m. ET race on June 21 at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego as NASCAR celebrates the 250-year anniversary of the U.S. Navy.

TNT Sports will take over with a 3:30 p.m. ET start time on June 28 from picturesque Sonoma Raceway. This road-course showdown will also mark the beginning of the In-Season Challenge, a five-race segment where the top drivers will battle for a $1 million prize in a tournament-style format.

USA Sports will close out the season with the final 14 races across USA Network, NBC and Peacock, starting at 3:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 9 from Iowa Speedway on USA Network. The season will culminate with the NASCAR Championship airing on NBC at 3 p.m. ET on Nov. 8 from Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The newly named NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly Xfinity) will be televised exclusively on The CW again and will start its 2026 season at 5 p.m. ET on Feb. 14 from Daytona International Speedway.

The Craftsman Truck Series will once again be carried on FOX Sports and will get underway on FS1 at 7:30 p.m. ET  on Feb. 13 from Daytona International Speedway.

In addition, and as announced previously, FOX will air all 20 ARCA Menards Series races across FOX, FS1 and FS2, beginning with the season opener at noon ET on Feb. 14 from Daytona International Speedway.

Look below for the full slate of start times for the NASCAR national series and start making your plans to attend the 2026 NASCAR races:

*Playoff Races

NASCAR CUP SERIES

DATERACEPLATFORMSTART (ET)
Sun., Feb. 1Clash (Bowman Gray Stadium)FOX8 p.m.
Thu., Feb. 12Daytona - DuelsFS17 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 15Daytona 500FOX2:30 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 22EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)FOX3 p.m.
Sun., March 1Circuit of The Americas (Austin)FOX3:30 p.m.
Sun., March 8Phoenix RacewayFS13:30 p.m.
Sun., March 15Las Vegas Motor SpeedwayFS14 p.m.
Sun., March 22Darlington RacewayFS13 p.m.
Sun., March 29Martinsville SpeedwayFS13:30 p.m.
Sun., April 12Bristol Motor SpeedwayFS13 p.m.
Sun., April 19Kansas SpeedwayFOX2 p.m.
Sun., April 26Talladega SuperspeedwayFOX3 p.m.
Sun., May 3Texas Motor SpeedwayFS13:30 p.m.
Sun., May 10Watkins Glen InternationalFS13 p.m.
Sun., May 17All-Star (Dover Motor Speedway)FS13 p.m.
Sun., May 24Charlotte Motor SpeedwayPrime6 p.m.
Sun., May 31Nashville SuperspeedwayPrime7 p.m.
Sun., June 7Michigan International SpeedwayPrime3 p.m.
Sun., June 14Pocono RacewayPrime3 p.m.
Sun., June 21San Diego (Naval Base Coronado)Prime4 p.m.
Sun., June 28Sonoma RacewayTNT3:30 p.m.
Sun., July 5Chicagoland SpeedwayTNT6 p.m.
Sun., July 12EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)TNT7 p.m.
Sun., July 19North Wilkesboro SpeedwayTNT7 p.m.
Sun., July 26Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayTNT2 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 9Iowa SpeedwayUSA3:30 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 15Richmond RacewayUSA7 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 23New Hampshire Motor SpeedwayUSA3 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 29Daytona International SpeedwayNBC7:30 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 6Darlington Raceway*USA5 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 13World Wide Technology Raceway (St. Louis)*USA3 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 19Bristol Motor Speedway*USA7:30 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 27Kansas Speedway*USA3 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 4Las Vegas Motor Speedway*USA5:30 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 11Charlotte Roval*USA3 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 18Phoenix Raceway*USA3 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 25Talladega Superspeedway*NBC2 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 1Martinsville Speedway*NBC2 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 8NASCAR Championship* (Homestead-Miami Speedway)NBC3 p.m.

NASCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES

DATERACEPLATFORMSTART (ET)
Sat., Feb. 14Daytona International SpeedwayCW5 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 21EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)CW5 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 28Circuit of The Americas (Austin)CW3 p.m.
Sat., March 7Phoenix RacewayCW7:30 p.m.
Sat., March 14Las Vegas Motor SpeedwayCW5:30 p.m.
Sat., March 21Darlington RacewayCW5:30 p.m.
Sat., March 28Martinsville SpeedwayCW3:30 p.m.
Sat., April 4Rockingham SpeedwayCW2:30 p.m.
Sat., April 11Bristol Motor SpeedwayCW7:30 p.m.
Sat., April 18Kansas SpeedwayCW7 p.m.
Sat., April 25Talladega SuperspeedwayCW4 p.m.
Sat., May 2Texas Motor SpeedwayCW3:30 p.m.
Sat., May 9Watkins Glen InternationalCW4 p.m.
Sat., May 16Dover Motor SpeedwayCW4 p.m.
Sat., May 23Charlotte Motor SpeedwayCW5 p.m.
Sat., May 30Nashville SuperspeedwayCW7:30 p.m.
Sat., Jun 13Pocono RacewayCW4 p.m.
Sat., Jun 20San Diego (Naval Base Coronado)CW5 p.m.
Sat., Jun 27Sonoma RacewayCW5:30 p.m.
Sat., July 4Chicagoland SpeedwayCW5:30 p.m.
Sat., July 11EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)CW7 p.m.
Sat., July 25Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayCW4 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 8Iowa SpeedwayCW5 p.m.
Fri., Aug. 28Daytona International SpeedwayCW7:30 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 5Darlington RacewayCW7:30 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 12World Wide Technology Raceway (St. Louis)CW7:30 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 18Bristol Motor Speedway*CW7:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 3Las Vegas Motor Speedway*CW7:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 10Charlotte Roval*CW4 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 17Phoenix Raceway*CW7:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 24Talladega Superspeedway*CW3:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 31Martinsville Speedway*CW4 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 7NASCAR Championship* (Homestead-Miami Speedway)CW5 p.m.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES

DATERACEPLATFORMSTART (ET)
Fri., Feb. 13Daytona International SpeedwayFS17:30 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 21EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)FS11:30 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 28Grand Prix of St. PetersburgFOX12 p.m.
Fri., March 20Darlington RacewayFS17:30 p.m.
Fri., April 3Rockingham SpeedwayFS14:30 p.m.
Fri., April 10Bristol Motor SpeedwayFS17:30 p.m.
Fri., May 1Texas Motor SpeedwayFS18 p.m.
Fri., May 8Watkins Glen InternationalFS14:30 p.m.
Fri., May 15Dover Motor SpeedwayFS15 p.m.
Fri., May 22Charlotte Motor SpeedwayFS17:30 p.m.
Fri., May 29Nashville SuperspeedwayFS18 p.m.
Sat., June 6Michigan International SpeedwayFS11:30 p.m.
Fri., June 19San Diego (Naval Base Coronado)FS17:00 p.m.
Sat., July 11Lime Rock ParkFS11 p.m.
Sat., July 18North Wilkesboro SpeedwayFS112:30 p.m.
Fri., July 24Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway ParkFS18 p.m.
Fri., Aug. 14Richmond RacewayFS17:30 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 22New Hampshire Motor SpeedwayFS11:30 p.m.
Thu., Sept. 17Bristol Motor Speedway*FS18:00 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 26Kansas Speedway*FS11 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 9Charlotte Roval*FOX5 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 16Phoenix Raceway*FS17:30 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 23Talladega Superspeedway*FS14 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 30Martinsville Speedway*FS16 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 6NASCAR Championship* (Homestead-Miami Speedway)FS17:30 p.m.
Posted on by Zack Albert

On the eve of the NASCAR Cup Series season finale, team co-owner and driver Brad Keselowski held court in the Phoenix Raceway media center to size up the 2025 campaign for his RFK Racing operation.

“A handful of seconds,” Keselowski said in summation, “so just need to convert those into wins going forward.”

One day later, that handful got just a little fuller. Keselowski had stayed on track on older tires for an overtime restart in the year-ending race, but the upper hand he gained in track position went away in the final set of corners. Fellow Ford driver Ryan Blaney slipped by for the victory, leaving Keselowski’s No. 6 Mustang half a car-length back as the runner-up for the third time in the season.

RELATED: 2026 NASCAR schedule | Final 2025 Cup Series standings

“It’s kind of the story of our season,” Keselowski said post-race. “We’re just needing a little bit of speed, trying to put ourselves in position. We were in position as well as we could, I just wasn’t quite fast enough. Another second place.”

The 2025 campaign represented growth and change for the organization in its fourth season under the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing banner, if not the same level of on-track success that recent years had produced. RFK expanded to three full-time teams for the first time since 2016, adding the No. 60 Ford for Ryan Preece alongside the incumbents in Keselowski and Chris Buescher in the No. 17 ride. RFK officials also announced in September that Chip Bowers would become the new team president, replacing longtime executive Steve Newmark.

Both Keselowski and Buescher won races in 2024, and the two drivers went 2-for-2 in reaching the Cup Series Playoffs the year before that. This season, the new-look RFK Racing outfit went winless and was 0-for-3 with its postseason aspirations.

“It takes one extra step to truly be in contention, to fight to win more of them,” Buescher said during Phoenix weekend. “We had a good handful that we had a good shot at, and just didn’t seal the deal at the end of the day. So, definitely missed opportunities, a little bit of rough luck along the way, which anybody in here would say the same thing. So it’s just a good year without being stellar.”

Keselowski dismissed the notion that expansion may have stretched the team too thin performance-wise. Though Keselowski’s average finish dipped (from 15.6 to 18.5), his and Buescher’s other statistics and metrics were comparable to numbers from previous seasons. Buescher improved to a career-best average start of 12.5, and Preece enjoyed the best of his six full seasons at the Cup Series level — all with a team that was only a rarely used part-time effort a year ago.

“Actually, it’s been really good, adding a third team. It’s helped us in a lot of ways,” Keselowski said. “Hardly any area I would say it’s hurt us at all, so it’s been terrific. Ryan Preece has done a great job. To see that team take off and kind of grow its wings so quickly, it’s been very rewarding.”

Preece said that when RFK’s playoff goals weren’t met, the final 10 races of the season could have been a write-off. Instead, he said that the organization redoubled its efforts on closing strong, creating momentum for 2026.

MORE: 2025 season, by the numbers

Keselowski found some of that stride with four top-10 finishes in the final six races, and Preece followed suit with four top 10s in the final five events. Those measures included a shift in Preece’s approach — away from feeling like he needed to micro-manage all of the team’s aspects as an unofficial crew chief and instead directing his focus toward maximizing what he could do in his role as a driver, trusting in the rest of the team’s processes.

“So a change in mindset was probably a big piece of that, as well as coming over to RFK and seeing what Brad’s been able to help build and continue to build back up of what we can be,” Preece said. “We’re all frustrated we didn’t make the playoffs, but there’s a ton of potential between all three of us, and I’m excited for that. For me, it was probably a change in mindset as well as a great group of people that came together and are working on accomplishing the goal.”

Besides momentum, the group also built camaraderie. Buescher and Preece participated in an escalating series of pranks on each other as the season wound down, with rental cars being towed, cinched in plastic wrap and doors removed. The two also unwittingly dressed up as each other for Halloween.

The development was met with amusement from Keselowski, who said he felt no need to intervene. The 41-year-old team leader did caution, however, to best leave him out of the practical jokes.

“Buyer beware,” Keselowski warned. “Yeah, anybody that comes for me better not miss.”

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

As a child, Jacque Herrera was heading to Chicagoland Speedway to watch the stars of NASCAR rip around the 1.5-mile oval in Joliet, Illinois.

She gets to relive those glory days in a new way now as Herrera was introduced as general manager of Chicagoland Speedway on Tuesday, just under eight months before NASCAR makes its triumphant return to Will County for the 2026 Fourth of July weekend.

RELATED: 2026 schedule  | Buy tickets

The opportunity comes with great responsibility, Herrera recognized in a Tuesday teleconference with NASCAR.com, but it is also coupled with a strong sense of pride for a woman who was born and raised in Chicago.

“Being a lifelong NASCAR fan, attending races as a kid with my dad, I went to Joliet so many times on the weekends with my aunts and cousins, spending the weekends out there,” Herrera said. “So Joliet is very near and dear to my heart. And to see it come full circle, never in my wildest dreams did I expect the little girl from Chicago that used to attend the races to become the GM of Chicagoland Speedway.”

Those memories as a little girl come flooding back to her now. Herrera, the self-proclaimed tomboy among her two sisters, recalls her first experience at the track when Tony Stewart won on a day she and her father went to the race by themselves. Forgotten sunscreen left her burnt in the summer sun, but “that was actually probably one of my best memories with my dad.”

“It was just exciting to see, being there as a young kid, seeing all the race fans my first race and actually seeing what racing was about,” she said. “My dad had always talked about it. He had been to a few races without us and with a couple buddies, and we all became die-hard NASCAR fans growing up.”

Years later, Herrera returns to Chicagoland as NASCAR heads back to the 1.5-mile tri-oval for the first time since 2019, but with plenty of experience under her belt, to boot. Herrera spent the last three years as Director of Community Relations for the Chicago Street Race, fostering relationships within the city that connected both her and NASCAR to local leaders and organizations around the area.

Those experiences, she said, will be invaluable as she transitions that focus to the Joliet property.

“One of the most important parts of my job,” Herrera said, “is getting to know and build these relationships with the local community, with city officials and different departments and just see and listen to the people that live in this area as well. See what’s working, what’s not working. How can we better ourselves? Better what we’re doing in the community, how we can implement new initiatives, either with partnerships with Chicago Public Schools, or After School Matters or anyone that we’re working with.

“To see those kids become race fans, I think that’s probably the best part of my job – basically being out there serving the community that we race in and making sure that we are actually having an impact in the community.”

kyle busch celebrates a chicagoland win in 2018
Dylan Buell | Getty Images

Before her time with the Street Race, Herrera held a similar role as Director of Community Engagement at Tapestry 360 Health in addition to time as Director of External Affairs and Communications at Humboldt Park Health. There, her teams worked in government relations, public information, marketing and event management.

But the common thread for Herrera has always been community, a staple ingrained in her by her upbringing.

“My mother is from the South,” Herrera said. “That Southern hospitality of always just making sure everyone feels like family as soon as they step in the door, as soon as you have a conversation. I’m also Mexican, so I think a lot of that comes from my culture. Whereas we’re used to giving handshakes, I’m very much like a ‘hug and a kiss on the cheek’ kind of person. Even if I first met you, I mean, we’ll be best friends.”

NASCAR’s return to Joliet is set for July 3-5, with ARCA Menards Series racing slated for July 3, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series racing on July 4 and the Cup Series headliner on July 5. There is work to be done around the facility, but Herrera is optimistic about what’s to come.

“The property’s already in good condition,” Herrera said. “We do have our team — shout out to Dawn (Martin) and Collette (Nelson) at Chicagoland. They are already starting to make those updates and renovations, and then we have a lot of work ahead of us in the coming months, weeks, days.”

Ultimately, Herrera’s hope is that she can help deliver families attending NASCAR races at Chicagoland the same experiences that shaped her life as a child in the grandstands years ago. Her goal?

“To make it the best race a NASCAR fan has ever attended,” Herrera said. “At the core of it, that’s exactly what I want. I want any person that walks through our doors to walk away and say, ‘This is the best damn thing I’ve ever done,’ and walk away with thinking, ‘I’m going to return to a NASCAR race,’ or ‘I’m going to go to another race.’ Just to have them come experience NASCAR, come out to Chicagoland and see that, hey, this is a badass event.”

Tickets are now available for purchase for NASCAR’s return to Chicagoland Speedway over Independence Day weekend on July 3-5, 2026, featuring the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (previously NASCAR Xfinity Series) and ARCA Menards Series at ChicagolandSpeedway.com or 855-796-7223.

To stay up-to-date with Chicagoland Speedway, fans can subscribe to receive exclusive emails, follow @Chicagolndspdwy on Facebook, Instagram and X and download the NASCAR Tracks App for the latest real-time updates on all aspects of the event.

Posted on by Staff Report

A two-day Goodyear tire test is scheduled this week at Bristol Motor Speedway, with the goal of dialing in an optimal setup for the NASCAR Cup Series’ two visits to the Tennessee short track next year.

RELATED: 2026 NASCAR schedule | Final 2025 Cup Series standings

Three teams — one from each of the series’ three manufacturers — are scheduled to test Wednesday and Thursday at the 0.533-mile concrete oval. Participating teams are:

• No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota; driver Bubba Wallace
• No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet; driver Alex Bowman
• No. 60 RFK Racing Ford; driver Ryan Preece

Competition officials indicated that one of the test’s objectives is to determine a tire setup that promotes fall-off and an emphasis on tire management, but without the excessive wear from the Cup Series’ most recent race on Sept. 13. Another prime goal is to zero in on a setup that’s more temperature neutral, with tires that react the same regardless of any swings in temps.

The teams will also be testing with the new target 750-horsepower package, which will be used on road courses and oval tracks measuring less than 1.5 miles in 2026.

MORE: 2025 season, by the numbers

The Cup Series will make two stops at Bristol Motor Speedway next season — April 12 for the Food City 500, and Sept. 19 for the annual Bass Pro Shops Night Race in the playoffs.