Chase Briscoe clinching a Championship 4 spot with his win at Talladega shouldn’t have caught anyone off guard. In this very space, we’d been shouting from the rooftops about his championship potential all summer — and now the 30-year-old Indiana native and first-year Joe Gibbs Racing driver is one race away from cashing in on it.
But Briscoe’s win at a superspeedway — one of his weaker track types — still managed to blow up everybody’s playoff math. He’d entered Talladega as the driver teetering most on the edge between making and missing the championship cut, so his sigh of relief in Alabama immediately became cause for concern among the rest of the playoff field … even the ones who may seem safe at a glance.
Yes, it’s true that as Briscoe was joining teammate Denny Hamlin by locking into the Championship 4, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell were also building their leads relative to the cutline. Larson went from +35 before Talladega to +36 after, while Bell went from +20 to +37. The gap versus William Byron and company below the line is now wide enough to give both Bell and Larson at least an 87 percent chance each to make the Champ 4, according to our Cup Series Playoff forecast model (which simulates the playoffs 10,000 times using projected Driver Ratings):
That wouldn’t seem to leave much room for anybody else to barge into the final-race picture aside from Bell and Larson — after those two, nobody else is higher than Byron at 7 percent, for instance. But the beauty (or treachery, depending on your perspective) of the win-and-in advancement system is that no points lead is truly safe if you get leapfrogged by a winner coming from below the cutline.
That’s why, in the simulations, there’s just a 77 percent chance that both Larson and Bell race for the title at Phoenix. While there’s next to no chance that neither will be there, there is a 23 percent chance that one of the two makes it and the other is left on the outside looking in:
Basically the only way that would happen is, again, if Sunday’s winner at Martinsville comes from either Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney or Chase Elliott. But that could certainly happen. Each has won here before in their careers, and Blaney and Byron actually each have a pair of those great, big grandfather clocks in their collections. They’re also all basically in must-win mode, making them especially dangerous.
And if one of them steals the win, the calculations for Larson and Bell change drastically. As the chart below shows, both drivers’ odds of making the Championship 4 would plummet from nearly 100 percent when the Martinsville winner doesn’t come from the bottom four of the active playoff standings, to roughly 50-50 apiece if it does:
Conditional on either a Blaney, Byron, Logano or Elliott win, the model gives Bell a 53 percent chance to be the last driver in, versus 47 percent for Larson. So why the slight edge for the No. 20 over the No. 5?
For one thing, Bell does start Sunday’s race with a slim one-point lead in the points. That may not sound very important, but the margin between Bell and Byron for the final Championship 4 slot during the final lap of last year’s cutoff race at this track was … you guessed it, one point. So that single point could matter a lot in the end. (If they’re tied, currently Larson holds the tiebreaker for his second-place finish at Las Vegas, one spot ahead of Bell as the best of the round for the pair.)
Beyond that, Bell is projected for a slightly higher rating on short tracks in the system that drives the playoff forecast, thanks in part to a better recent form — Bell averaged an 88.9 Driver Rating over the past three short-track races, versus Larson’s 74.7 — even though Larson was ridiculously dominant with a near-perfect 149.6 rating at Bristol in the race directly before that. In terms of average rating on short tracks overall this year, they’re virtually tied, with Larson at 96.5 and Bell at 96.1.
As for Martinsville in particular, the tale of the tape slightly favors Larson … at least on paper. He’s been faster overall in his career at “The Paperclip,” with a better average start (10.5 vs. 15.5), average finish (15.5 vs. 15.5, but buoyed by more top fives), Adjusted Points+ index (148 vs. 135) and a career Driver Rating nearly four points higher than Bell’s (88.0 vs. 84.9). And since the debut of the Next Gen car in 2022, Larson’s advantage has only widened: His Adjusted Points+ index at Martinsville (261) dwarfs Bell’s 157, along with a massive Next Gen-era Driver Rating edge of 109.2 to Bell’s 89.4.
So if we’re looking for a tiebreaker in that coin flip based on overall short-track skill, Larson probably deserves the nod as first among equals going into Sunday’s race. Still, Bell has one important edge that can’t be ignored: He’s won here in a playoff cutoff race before, sealing his 2022 Championship 4 berth with a clutch Martinsville victory — albeit one overshadowed by Ross Chastain’s unforgettable wall-ride.
Most likely, things won’t come down to the direct Bell-versus-Larson showdown in the end. There’s room enough in the Championship 4 for both star drivers — as long as nobody from the bottom half of the Round of 8 crashes the party with a W of their own. The odds of that happening aren’t particularly high, but Martinsville has a way of manufacturing madness when it matters most. Which means both drivers would be wise to keep an eye on each other this Sunday — just in case two open spots suddenly become one.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR today revealed the 2026 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule, a 16-race slate that blends tradition, competition and fan-favorite venues.
“Regional racing has always been the bedrock of NASCAR, and the Whelen Modified Tour stands as its longest lasting and forever thriving cornerstone,” said Joseph Dennewitz, Managing Director, NASCAR Regional. “The Whelen Modified Tour is where the engines pound, legends rise, and the spirit of competition burns brightest. We listened to the fans and the drivers, and built a schedule worthy of that fire — one that honors the past, fuels the present, and charges headlong into the future of raw, gritty Modified racing.”
The Tour will once again kick off at New Smyrna Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 7, marking the fifth straight year the high-powered Modifieds will open their season at the 0.48-mile Florida oval near NASCAR headquarters.
From there, the series will appear on some of NASCAR’s biggest weekends. On Friday, March 27, the Tour will set the stage at Martinsville Speedway, opening a weekend that includes the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series. Later in the season, on Saturday, Aug. 22, the Modifieds will headline the NASCAR weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Two beloved tracks make their long-awaited returns in 2026. Oxford Plains Speedway rejoins the Tour for the first time since 1991 with a race on May 2, while Stafford Speedway returns on Aug. 28 with the Riverhead Building Supply 150 for the first time since 2021.
“There’s no place like home for the Modifieds, and Stafford Speedway has always been that home,” said Paul Arute, Chief Operating Officer of Stafford Speedway. “Our history with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour runs deep, spanning generations. With support from our partners at Riverhead Building Supply, we’re proud to welcome the Tour back and continue that tradition next August.”
Stafford Motor Speedway will return to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour for the first time since 2021. (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
“Riverhead Building Supply is a proud sponsor of Stafford Speedway, and we’re excited to see the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour return to the premier short track in 2026,” said Eric Goodale, Director of Marketing at Riverhead Building Supply and a competitor on the Tour. “The rich history shared between Stafford and RBS makes this partnership a perfect fit to bring the best in Modified racing back to the New England racing community.”
Classic short tracks remain the heartbeat of the series.
Seekonk Speedway (Massachusetts) will host races on May 16 and July 1.
Riverhead Raceway (New York) will stage events on May 30 and Sept. 19.
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (Connecticut) returns with three marquee events: the Icebreaker on April 12, a mid-summer midweek race on Aug. 5, and the Tour’s season finale on Oct. 11 as part of the World Series of Speedway Racing.
Front Row Motorsports announced Thursday it signed Zane Smith to a multiyear contract to remain the driver of its No. 38 Ford.
Smith joined FRM’s Cup ranks this season, producing a team-high five top 10s through 34 starts in his sophomore Cup Series season. In addition to Smith’s extension, FRM announced crew chief Ryan Bergenty will return atop the pit box in 2026.
“We’ve had an up-and-down year, but heading into the offseason, I feel like we’ve put our program in a great position to hit the ground running in 2026,” Smith said in a team release. “Front Row has always felt like home — the people, both on the road and at the shop, truly make this a special place and I’m excited for what next season holds.”
Before his 2024 rookie campaign, Smith, 26, had been making starts across NASCAR’s three national series since his Craftsman Truck Series debut in 2018. After two runner-up performances in the Championship 4, Smith had a breakout year in 2022 with Front Row, driving the No. 38 truck to a season-best four wins, including the season finale at Phoenix to earn the championship.
Smith’s first full-time opportunity in Cup came when Trackhouse Racing announced Smith to a multiyear contract in September 2023, partnering with Spire Motorsports for Smith’s rookie campaign in 2024 in the No. 71 Chevrolet.
Smith earned a career-best second-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway, but Trackhouse ultimately announced it would part ways with Smith following the 2024 season, instead bringing Shane van Gisbergen into its fold.
That led Smith back to FRM and onto a No. 38 team that has more regularly found itself fighting inside the top 15.
Smith sits 27th in the Cup Series points standings ahead of Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
Kyle Larson has had his fair share of battles against Christopher Bell.
From dirt tracks in Midget and sprint cars to vying for NASCAR Cup Series championships, the two seem attached at the hip at times as rivals eager to best one another. That will be the case once again in the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with just one point separating the duo and a spot in the 2025 Championship 4 on the line.
The two have never been far apart. But what once was a rivalry fueled by Larson’s envy on dirt tracks across the country has grown into a true appreciation for his craft.
“It’s definitely evolved for sure,” Larson said about his relationship with Bell in a Wednesday teleconference. “I hated seeing him beat me all the time on dirt. Like, it really — not affected me, but it pushed me to get better, which was nice. So I appreciate that as a competitor. But yeah, I mean, he was in the same equipment as me and beating me every night for three years, it seemed. And then, I would say once he got to NASCAR, though, I always really like seeing him do well. And I think that’s because I like to root on guys that come from the dirt background and whatnot.
“So, yeah, whenever he wins, I don’t get as upset as when I did when he was winning dirt races.”
Indeed, Bell went on a tear at the famed Chili Bowl Nationals, winning the Golden Driller trophy in three straight appearances from 2017-19, with Larson a painful runner-up in 2019. Larson finally broke through for his first two triumphs in 2020 and 2021, though, besting Bell heads-up in January 2020 with Bell second.
By then, Larson had already completed six Cup seasons while Bell was prepping for his first. Nearly six years later, the two remain unquestionably atop the NASCAR Cup Series as the sport’s elite. Larson has accumulated a total of 32 wins, 10 of which came in an outstanding run to his Cup championship in 2021. Bell, the 2017 Craftsman Truck Series champion, is playing catch-up and performing well in his pursuit, earning a career-high four wins in 2025 that bumps his total to 13, bolstering his resume with four consecutive multi-win seasons in NASCAR’s highest level. Since 2022, Bell has averaged a final points ranking of 3.5; Larson has averaged a 4.5.
Larson is well aware of Bell’s ability to strike any given weekend. And now, he doesn’t look at that prospect with the same disdain he once did.
“Having us battle for championships in the past together or trying to make the final four like this weekend, I think it’s cool,” Larson said. “And I think it says a lot about the dirt racing community and drivers there, outside of just us, too. We’ve had lots of battles, lots of first- and second-place finishes, both in NASCAR now and dirt.”
Bell rejoined the dirt ranks in 2025 for a brief time, returning to his sprint-car roots throughout the season.
“I don’t think it went as well as he wanted it to, so now he might be retired again,” Larson quipped. “But no, it’s still cool to race with him on Sundays.”
SALISBURY, N.C. — Reigning zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Series champion, Landen Lewis, has been signed by Niece Motorsports to a part-time driving opportunity in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series beginning in 2026.
Lewis, age 19 from Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, has made a name for himself competing on the short tracks in the grassroots ranks. His natural ability and work ethic have ranked him high on the list of rising prospects in the garage.
After winning in virtually every type of car and discipline he’s driven so far in his young career, Lewis is prepared to make the next step up into one of the top-three NASCAR national series. Though next year is a part-time opportunity, Lewis is slated as an “anchor driver” for the team.
“I’m super excited to join Niece Motorsports in 2026 and look forward to having a solid year learning all I can,” Lewis said. “I want to learn about these trucks and build chemistry with the entire crew. I can’t wait to get there and start working alongside everyone. I’m just so thankful to everyone here — along with Cody Efaw and the ownership group of Josh Morris and Greg Fowler — for welcoming me as one of their own. It’s been a great year in ’25, and I’m looking forward to more in ’26.”
Throughout his career, Lewis has been mentored by NASCAR legends Kevin Harvick and Ron Hornaday. Harvick has had a front row seat watching Lewis’ career grow from his start in Legends cars to where he is today.
“I just don’t think there are many kids that are left like Landen,” Harvick said. “When you look at his work ethic, determination and ability, and the sacrifices that he makes with his time, it’s contagious. It attracts people to him; it attracts sponsors, and it attracts everybody to want to support him.”
A successful full-time CARS Tour campaign was highlighted by four race wins at Ace Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, Anderson Motor Speedway and Florence Motor Speedway as Lewis cemented his claim to the series title.
“We had no intention of running our car full-time, but with who he is as a person, we were like, ‘hey, we need to give him this opportunity,’ and it led him to the next one,” Harvick continued. “I think from the outside looking in, the things I hear from Cody (Efaw) and Ross (Chastain), this is a great fit for him. The quality of people and the approach is the same from Niece Motorsports and Landen Lewis. I’m looking forward to seeing the combination.”
Hornaday first met Lewis several years ago as he was learning about racing on dirt. He has served as a coach and role model on and off the track.
“Nobody deserves this opportunity with Niece Motorsports more than Landen,” Hornaday said. “He’s worked his tail off to get here, and I couldn’t be happier for him. You don’t see too many drivers come along that have his level of talent, focus and competitive fire. It’s a heck of a combination. He found a lot of success in Late Models this year, and there’s no doubt he’ll continue that in the Truck Series with Niece.”
Niece Motorsports has created its legacy as a launching pad for several careers since its formation led by Marine Corps Veteran, Al Niece, in 2016. The organization has given young, talented drivers a platform to showcase their abilities as they move through the NASCAR ranks.
“We have always tried to find that next young talent who we think is a future star in the sport,” Cody Efaw, CEO of the race team, said. “Landen Lewis is just that. He’s been on our radar for a couple years now, and we have quietly watched him grow into a well-rounded driver who shines in any vehicle he gets into.
“I think of guys like Ross Chastain and Carson Hocevar who both made the most of their opportunity with our team, and it’s showing on Sundays. To us, we think Landen has the opportunity to put our team back into the spotlight as a threat week-in and week-out. I think with mentors like Kevin (Harvick) and Ron (Hornaday) in his corner, combined with our team, Landen definitely has a bright future ahead of him.”
More information about Lewis’ race schedule, truck number, partners and competition team will be announced at a later date.
The 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season will begin under the lights on Friday, Feb. 13 at Daytona International Speedway.
William Sawalich will miss Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway after experiencing “concussion-like symptoms,” Joe Gibbs Racing announced Wednesday evening.
Sawalich was collected in a multicar crash in the series’ Oct. 18 race at Talladega Superspeedway, where cars driven by Connor Mosack and Dean Thompson crashed into Sawalich’s No. 18 Toyota in the melee.
Sawalich was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation that evening and was released in the early morning hours of Oct. 19.
“I’m disappointed to not be in the car this weekend, but my health is my number one priority,” Sawalich posted on social media Oct. 22. “I’m feeling better every day and working with Dr. Collins at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and NASCAR to go through their concussion protocol to return to the track as soon as possible.”
Four-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Justin Bonsignore will replace Sawalich in Saturday’s race at Martinsville. Bonsignore has made seven starts in JGR’s No. 19 car this season. By virtue of Aric Almirola’s victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the No. 19 Toyota, that entry is eligible to win the owners’ championship at Phoenix Raceway in the season finale on Nov. 1.
Sawalich has three top fives and nine top 10s in 2025, his rookie campaign in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Here’s what’s happening in NASCAR with Talladega Superspeedway in the rearview and Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway up next (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
1. Will Christopher Bell join JGR teammates in Championship 4?
After starting out the season hotter than any other driver, there’s a chance Christopher Bell could miss the 2025 Championship 4 — while watching two of his teammates compete for the title in Phoenix. Currently in position to advance, will the No. 20 driver hold onto his ticket?
Christopher Bell was all but penciled into this year’s Championship 4 just four races in — and now there’s a real possibility he misses it outright.
Of course, it wasn’t without good reason that Bell appeared destined for NASCAR’s championship event all the way back in March. The Oklahoman won three of the season’s first four races, with his No. 20 group looking as dialed in as ever and clearly looking to prove a point after last fall’s Martinsville heartbreak.
With another chance to advance to Phoenix Raceway’s title tilt on the line this weekend, will Bell leave Martinsville set to battle his already clinched teammates in the desert, or will he come up short at the short track once again?
Currently third in the playoff standings, Bell holds a 37-point lead above the cutoff line; a decent cushion but hardly a guarantee. His probability to advance out of the Round of 8 stands at 81.5%, which is strong and allows him to control his own destiny to a degree, precariously balanced mainly on his performance at Martinsville. But missteps tend to happen at Martinsville and could derail him quickly, which would leave him watching his JGR teammates vie for the championship next weekend.
Expect JGR and Toyota to do everything in their power to ensure that No. 20 car is still title-eligible a week from now.
“Of course, that’s the focus,” said JGR competition director Chris Gabehart last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. “I think realistically, we left Talladega in as good a position point-wise as we could hope for, and Martinsville was a fantastic track for us in the spring. Christopher Bell has won at Martinsville, he’s won a cut-off race at Martinsville, and he’s Christopher Bell. I don’t need to say any more than that. That guy is tenacious, and (we) look forward to making it three JGR cars in the final at Phoenix.”
While yes, he is Christopher Bell and, as Gabehart mentioned, we’ve seen him do this before, Bell’s results overall at Martinsville are a mixed bag. Though he secured a walk-off win there in 2022 and posted a runner-up finish earlier this season, his overall performance there recently has featured just two top-10 finishes in his last five attempts and just four total in 11 starts.
A routine top 10 would likely do it, but Bell has yet to make a top-10 finish a routine expectation at Martinsville.
Adding to the pressure is the dynamic of fellow contenders nipping at Bell’s heels — they’re all incredible. Kyle Larson, sitting just a point behind and possessing the tiebreaker edge, along with Regular Season Champion William Byron, 36 points below the bubble, create an additional layer of urgency with how strong Hendrick Motorsports traditionally is at the Virginia short track. These drivers’ proximity in points means Bell’s advantage could evaporate quickly should he falter or stumble. (This obviously extends to Chase Elliott as well, but he’s not a concern for Bell, points-wise.)
“I’m sure there’s some mathematical scenario where one of us (or Larson) could get pointed out, but it would take probably a race-ending disaster prior to the end of Stage 1 for that to happen, and then it still might not happen,” No. 20 crew chief Adam Stevens told reporters via conference call Tuesday. “So you know, I think realistically that that’s correct, that you have four guys that are in a must-win and you have two guys that are not in that situation at all. So we’re going to have to spend the day, us and the 5 (of Larson), really focused on each other and probably both hoping that if one of us doesn’t win, that it’s certainly not one of those bottom four. But at the end of the day, you can only control what you can control, and you’ve got to prepare the best car and try to run the best race you possibly can.”
Bell’s reputation for overcoming adversity offers a counterbalance to the concerns, because he’s great at controlling what he can control. He himself has defied the odds, notably in 2022 when he overcame a 33-point deficit entering the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville, securing a win and punching his ticket to the Championship 4.
Whether Bell can maintain his grip on the ticket to Phoenix, or if he will be relegated to in-race spectator as two of the best Joe Gibbs Racing has to offer battle for the championship, will be answered on Sunday.
For now, Christopher Bell occupies a precarious position perched between playoff security and elimination, with how his 2025 season will be remembered — despite a legendary stretch to open it — hinging on what happens Sunday at “The Paperclip.” But he’s proven to us before, under less favorable circumstances, that he’s more than capable of getting the job done when the pressure intensifies.
So, will Bell do what he does best and execute with it all on the line this weekend, putting three Joe Gibbs Racing cars in the ‘25 Championship 4?
2. Martinsville moment all but guaranteed Sunday — who will make it?
Martinsville’s fall classic has seen more than its fair share of legendary moments over the years, particularly during the NASCAR Playoffs era. With a slew of superstars in desperation mode, who will rise to the occasion?
Every autumn, amid the scrape of fenders and the deluge of brake dust, you can count on it like clockwork — something unforgettable is going to happen at the half‑mile paperclip-shaped track as the NASCAR Cup Series finalizes its championship contingent.
In its place as penultimate race on the schedule, the track has been the gateway to championships and the graveyard for contenders, and this year’s script offers the sharpest cast yet, with six remaining heavyweight drivers chasing two open seats in the 2025 Championship 4.
Five of the last six years have produced a driver surging in from below the cutline to clinch at the track. With three of those below the bubble being past champs (including the past three titles spread among Team Penske’s duo) and the other being this year’s Regular Season Champion, the talent is certainly there for one of them to turn Sunday into his own personal Hollywood-like moment.
Penske’s Ryan Blaney is building a legacy on these kinds of moments, winning this particular race and advancing to the Championship 4 in both 2023 and 2024 to reach the finale. Over his last 13 Martinsville starts, Blaney hasn’t finished worse than 11th, with his 4.57 average finish in the Next Gen era there leading the sport. Sunday is unpredictable, but he’s the surest bet to make the cinematic magic happen.
His teammate Joey Logano is fighting to extend his own pattern of October defiance, however, and there’s essentially only room for one of them to move on. The 2018, 2022, and 2024 champion has finished in the top 10 at Martinsville a dozen consecutive times (the fourth‑longest streak ever) but hasn’t won there since doing so in remarkable fashion in 2018. He’s just 38 points back, but a top 10 or even a top five likely won’t be good enough — he’ll need to win. This is often when Logano and the No. 22 team are at their most dangerous, thriving when there’s no alternative in sight.
Then come the Hendrick Motorsports curveballs. Kyle Larson stands moderately safe at plus-36, while his teammates sit below the bubble, provisionally set to not advance. William Byron, the Regular Season Champion and Martinsville victor twice in the Next Gen car, enters 36 points out and fading after two brutal playoff weeks. Byron hasn’t found the top 10 since Kansas; Martinsville is his last chance to restore a year that was once his to dictate.
Larson’s situation is much steadier on paper — six straight top‑six Martinsville finishes and a 2023 win there — but context complicates it. He hasn’t won since spring Kansas, a 22‑race drought that matches the longest of his Hendrick tenure. Only one point separates him from Christopher Bell, meaning that any new winner from below the cutline could end his hopes if No. 20 outpaces him (though Larson holds the tiebreaker).
And then there’s Chase Elliott, looking to go full circle a half-decade later. Five years ago, he arrived at Martinsville with everything on the line, 25 points out of the Championship 4. He won, headed west to Phoenix, and won that, too. The deficit is larger this time — minus‑62 — but his comfort with Martinsville’s rhythm remains exceptional, and he’s a constant presence at the front of the field there.
Bell represents the next lever that could shift the landscape of the playoffs, with JGR either holding serious command of the Championship 4 with three cars in or making it a flip of a coin if he misses and there are two outside contenders. At plus-37, he owns a strong sense of security but his own past, however, suggests why no lead is safe: He was minus‑33 entering Martinsville two seasons ago, won, and advanced. If a driver below the cutline wins Sunday, only one of Bell or Larson could reach the final, and Larson’s Martinsville repertoire is probably a little stronger.
And this scenario is far from hypothetical, with Sunday’s win almost certainly coming from one of the remaining playoff drivers (perhaps even one of the two locked in, who are both strong here as well and have incentive to do so). Hendrick, Gibbs, and Penske have combined to win the last 14 Martinsville races, and it’s extremely hard to see that shifting in such a pivotal 15th.
Six contenders, two vacancies, one historically volatile half‑mile.
Nobody wins Martinsville by accident, but the track has always chosen its own storytellers — the ones who run hot, brake late and refuse to concede the corner. By sunset, someone will reach the Championship 4, while someone else will see their season dissolve in a shower of sparks and regret.
And when that happens, the world will have another entry in Martinsville’s unique historical archive; a new chapter for the pile of shoves, fingers wagged and improbable triumphs that make the sport’s smallest track its most consequential stage.
Brad Moran, managing director of the NASCAR Cup Series, talks about the new left-side tire that will be used at Martinsville Speedway.
4. Sneak peek of speed? Some names to keep an eye on in 2026
Somewhat surprisingly, there are five non-playoff drivers among the top 10 in average finish so far in the playoffs, with three of them having missed this year’s postseason entirely. A sign of things to come next season, perhaps? (Credit: Racing Insights)
Note: Non-playoff drivers are in bold.
Driver
Avg. Finish
Chase Briscoe
5.63
Christopher Bell
7.50
Tyler Reddick
10.38
Joey Logano
12.13
Denny Hamlin
12.63
Kyle Larson
13.25
Chris Buescher
13.63
Ryan Preece
15.00
Brad Keselowski
15.00
Bubba Wallace
15.00
5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage
To ensure the battles to reach the Championship 4 are on the level at Martinsville Speedway this weekend, NASCAR will bulk up the staff at its remote race control.
The new facility at NASCAR Productions in Concord, North Carolina, is overseen by former Cup Series director Scott Miller, who has a bank of state-of-the-art monitors with real-time audio, data and video to provide support to officials at the track who are making the decisions on competition and scoring.
The remote race control was in the final stage of completion last year during the Cup Series’ Round of 8 finale, which resulted in massive penalties to several teams and drivers for manipulating the Nov. 3, 2024 race at Martinsville.
With its top three national series determining their championship foursomes Friday through Sunday at Martinsville, NASCAR will have more eyes and ears at its disposal in the remote race control than ever.
“It’ll be more built out than it has been at any point,” NASCAR managing director of communications Mike Forde said. “We’re going to have more officials helping Scott. Typically, we have three or four. This weekend, we’ll have several more. We’re not going to have 40 officials in there, but we are going to have a lot more and with the ability to scan (team radio channels).”
Forde said NASCAR’s on-site officials already have leaned on the remote race control during the playoffs, noting that a request was sent to Miller from senior VP of racing development John Probst in the Talladega Superspeedway scoring tower for help with monitoring team radios Sunday.
“We’ll have several more officials being able to listen to more radios at the same time, so that’s the plan for this weekend,” Forde said. “We’ll also have some of our backup race directors listening to the scanners as well, so we’re going to have most hands on deck this weekend for all three races.”
NASCAR added new language to its 2025 rule book to address manipulation in greater detail and added a new penalty structure to punish manufacturers for altering race outcomes. Crew chiefs also have been warned about improper radio communication during the playoffs.
“Cutoff races are where you see it the most,” Forde said. “We’ll be on high alert this weekend, and hopefully, it won’t matter. I think the message that we delivered to crew chiefs in all three series is that if you’re talking about points, and it’s your car, and that communication is about trying to get your driver the best finish possible in that event, then you’re good to go. You have no problems. It’s when you start talking about other positions is where our ears are going to perk up.”
During the podcast, Forde and NASCAR senior director of racing communications Amanda Ellis also were joined by NASCAR managing director of track development Jerry Kaproth to discuss the unveiling of the street course layout at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego.
Other topics covered by Forde and Ellis during the 38th episode of “Hauler Talk,” which explores competition issues in NASCAR:
— How NASCAR handles a caution during a green-flag pit cycle, such as Shane van Gisbergen’s spin entering the pits at Talladega.
— Why drying the weepers at Talladega was so difficult and what might be done in the future.
— The response time to the scene of a crash involving AJ Allmendinger at Talladega.
— Ty Dillon’s penalty for striking Josh Berry’s tire while exiting his pit stall.
— A new left-side tire for Martinsville Speedway.
Click on the embed above to listen or search for “Hauler Talk” wherever you download podcasts to hear it on your phone, tablet or mobile device.
Nate Ryan has written about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA TODAY and for the past 10 years at NBC Sports Digital. He is a contributor to the “Hauler Talk” show on the NASCAR Podcast Network. He also has covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.
