DOVER, Del. — To say Tyler Reddick’s 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign has been electric would be quite the understatement.
Entering All-Star weekend festivities, the No. 45 23XI Racing driver leads the championship standings by 129 markers, with five victories already to his ledger. Collecting more hardware, however, could be in the cards, with Miles the Monster and a $1 million prize at stake Sunday in the 350-lap All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“It’s been pretty surreal to start the year off the way that we have,” Reddick, who announced at Talladega Superspeedway that he signed a multiyear extension with 23XI Racing, said. “Checked off a number of things you want to do as a driver in your career in one year, so that part’s been pretty cool, so it’s already been, win-side of things and consistency side of things, best year I’ve had in the Cup Series. So we just add to what is already up to this point the best year I’ve ever had.”
Though he has visited Victory Lane there in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the “Monster Mile” has been a trickier beast for Reddick to slay in NASCAR’s premier circuit. The 1-mile concrete venue is one of two active tracks that the 30-year-old has yet to lead a Cup Series lap (Iowa Speedway). In seven career starts at Dover, Reddick has tallied two top-10 finishes.
Speaking from his Cup starts there, in addition to prior experience in the Truck Series and the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Reddick believes Dover’s track characteristics suit his style the best, even with other difficulties to manage, including difficult pit-road entry, attempting to create grip on the concrete and limited green-flag stops in years prior.
Such experience, once refined, could be just what is needed for Reddick and the No. 45 camp to excel at Dover and this weekend’s All-Star Race. Reddick, who has already clinched a berth in Sunday’s final 200-lap main segment, has competed in three previous All-Star Races, with a career-best finish of third during the 2023 rendition at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
“Whether it’s been an O’Reilly Auto Parts car or truck, it’s the track that, of the concrete tracks that we go to, it’s the one that makes the most sense for me that I like the most,” Reddick said. “So yeah, I mean, I think just the nature of what Dover has become as we’ve moved on from Gen 6 to Gen 7, it just takes the entire weekend, takes having a good practice, having confidence in qualifying and maintaining the track position all day.
“I think we ran towards the top five quite a bit, but yeah, never led a lap. I think once we break through that level when it comes to these concrete tracks, I think we’ll probably lead more than just one.”
DOVER, Del. — The Earth has completed a full orbit since Kyle Larson last visited Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series. The two-time series champion is fully aware.
The one-year anniversary of Larson’s last checkered flag at Kansas Speedway was on Monday, May 11. In that time frame, he was crowned the 2025 champion, consistently pushing through the playoff format.
“I think you guys pay attention to it way more than I pay attention to it,” Larson sarcastically said last weekend at Watkins Glen International. “But yeah, obviously I would have loved to have won to this point, but we just haven’t been good enough. I feel like at times, we’re really close to getting a win. And then at other times, I feel like we’re far from getting a win.”
The No. 5 team is on a streak of three straight finishes of 23rd or worse, barely racking the top 20 at any point of the 100 circuits at Watkins Glen.All three Hendrick Motorsports cars finished outside the top 20 for the first time on a road course since 2005 at Sonoma Raceway.The week prior at Texas Motor Speedway, Larson crashed out from 18th position.
Through the first third of the season — nearing the halfway point of the regular season — Larson ranks eighth in the regular-season championship standings, a distant 235 markers behind five-time 2026 winner Tyler Reddick. He sits 106 points below Denny Hamlin in second and 90 markers below HMS teammate Chase Elliott in third.
“I would say we’re not where we want to be — that’s pretty obvious,” Larson reiterated on Friday at Dover Motor Speedway. “I feel like we started the year off better than where we’re at right now. We had a couple of good races with Bristol and Kansas, but the last few have not gone well. Talladega, we got caught up in a crash, was miserable at Texas and almost as miserable at Watkins Glen. It’s been disappointing, but we’re working really hard.”
That leads to optimism for Larson. However, his three top-five finishes and 17.3 average finish is his worst through 12 races in six seasons at Hendrick.
“The good thing about Hendrick Motorsports is they always figure it out,” Larson stated. “Whether it takes a week, a year, two years, they are going to be dominant once they do. That keeps me motivated and excited going to the race track every week because you always have belief.”
Despite the dry spell, Larson remains confident in the No. 5 team. Chevrolet is still adapting to its updated body, with Elliott and Carson Hocevar being the only drivers to breakthrough to Victory Lane for the manufacturer.
The Cliff-Daniels led team has “just got to work hard.”
Larson stated: “It’s honestly what made the drought and struggles fun because you can see everyone working hard and know there’s light at the end of the tunnel wherever that might be.”
That effort paid off during practice for the All-Star Race on Friday at Dover, with Larson sitting atop the leaderboard at the conclusion of the 90-minute session.
Kyle Larson set the pace in Cup Series practice for the NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway.
Larson – a three-time All-Star winner (2019, 2021, 2023) – posted a fastest lap of 157.950 mph in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the first on-track tune-up ahead of Sunday’s first All-Star Race running (1 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the 1-mile concrete oval. His best lap time was 0.018 seconds quicker than second-fastest Michael McDowell’s No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevy (157.826 mph).
Denny Hamlin slotted third-fastest, with Kyle Busch and Ty Gibbs rounding out the top five in that order.
The extended 90-minute session included pit-stop practice time available to all teams in preparation for Saturday’s qualifying (noon ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Those time trials will feature multiple laps and include a four-tire pit stop, which will determine the winning team in the annual Pit Crew Challenge.
Sunday’s 350-lap All-Star event will be divided into three segments, with the 36-car field pared down to 26 for a 200-lap final portion. That final 26 will include 19 already eligible drivers (race winners since 2025, plus former Cup champions and All-Star Race winners), six drivers transferring from the first two segments, and the top vote-getter in fan balloting who is not otherwise qualified.
McDowell was fastest in practice among drivers who enter Dover without a guaranteed spot in the final segment, followed in that category by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (13th) and Riley Herbst (14th), Erik Jones (16th) and Connor Zilisch (17th).
Chase Briscoe made contact with the outside retaining wall at the Turn 2 exit with roughly five minutes left in practice, scraping the right side of his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He posted the 27th-best lap in the session.
Defending All-Star Race winner Christopher Bell was sixth-fastest in Friday’s practice.
Acknowledging it will be both historically and personally significant, Katherine Legge insisted Friday that her upcoming attempt at the Memorial Day “Double” — competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on May 24 — was more about accomplishing a longtime goal than creating headlines as the first woman to do so — even if the history is unmistakable.
There’s no question the 1,100 miles of competition provide one of the most daunting single-day sporting challenges in auto racing, and the 45-year-old Brit is excited, prepared and motivated to take on the challenge — attempting to become only the sixth driver ever to compete in both of the day’s celebrated races.
The Double takes place in different states, in vastly different cars and on two grids filled with the world’s best race car drivers. And only John Andretti, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson have ever previously accomplished the intimidating bid. The reigning and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson was the most recent to do so, attempting both the Indy 500 and Charlotte 600-miler in 2024 and 2025.
“A lot of excitement, a lot of thoughts bouncing around, a lot of logistics and planning to get done,” said Legge, who formally announced her plans for the Double only two days ago. Someone asked me whether I was ‘panic training’ to get in good enough shape … but I train year-round and I’ve done a lot of endurance racing. Mentally, I think it will be a struggle just switching gears from one discipline to the next. But it’s going to be more the auxiliary type things you worry about … not the actual driving. Lots to think about, lots to plan for, lots of media. It was a much bigger announcement than I anticipated, and that’s cool.
“It will be an opportunity of a lifetime,” she added. “I’m excited.”
As are so many in the racing world who have long watched Legge compete in everything from sports cars to open-wheel cars to sedans and stock cars.
Legge said she’s already spoken with Larson about her plans and said he’s been incredibly encouraging. “One thing Kyle said was, ‘enjoy it, don’t get stressed about it,'” she said.
Having just made a bid so recently, Larson has been a key sounding board for Legge.
“I’m really excited for her,” Larson said. “I think she’s an amazing ambassador for the sport and especially women in racing, so I wish her all the best.
“I think with her experience, she will handle it all very well, and I’m looking forward to catching up with her to see what she thinks of it all after she accomplishes the completion of both [races].”
Legge will drive the No. 11 HMD Motorsports Chevrolet with AJ Foyt Racing at Indianapolis. And coincidentally, her crew chief for the effort, Andy O’Gara, is married to another of the Indy 500’s most celebrated female competitors, Sarah Fisher, who raced in nine Indianapolis 500s.
Legge is the ninth woman to make the famed 33-car Indy field, and in 2023 while driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, she turned in the fastest qualifying effort ever for a woman.
In contrast, this will mark Legge’s NASCAR debut on the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway. She’ll drive the same No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevy that she’s piloted in all eight of her NASCAR Cup Series starts over the last two years, earning a career-best showing of 17th place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. She made her 2026 season debut last week at Watkins Glen International.
Legge is widely regarded as one of the sport’s most diversely talented drivers — having won in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series, raced full-time in IndyCar and earned positions on the starting grid eight times in NASCAR’s premier series.
Despite the challenges of the Double, Legge is confident in her bid, and so are others.
“She’s the most fit I’ve seen her,” said Hall of Fame driver Lyn St. James, who competed in seven Indy 500s and earned a career-best 11th-place finish in her 1992 Indy debut. “Her skills and confidence are at an all-time high. Her sponsor e.l.f. continues to support her. That’s a trifecta opportunity for success.
“It’s so difficult to put a full-season program together with the right equipment and the right team for either IndyCar or NASCAR, so it’s smart to take advantage of what elements she can put together to make something happen. Never any guarantees, but this is a chance to do something big.”
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Legge is well aware that she is the first woman to try the legendary Double and that she will be the only woman competing at Indianapolis and in the Charlotte race this year. But being a woman has nothing to do with her desire to compete, she says. Her competitive desire lies in sportsmanship and the quest to be part of a historical sports chapter.
“I don’t think of it as this huge thing I’m doing as a woman, I’ve always thought of myself as just a race car driver,” Legge said. “I had considered putting it off a year to get more NASCAR experience, and I hadn’t been in IndyCar in a while, but opportunities like this don’t necessarily come around ‘next year’ so if you’re going to do it, you need to do it.
“Who would turn it down? You’d be crazy. … I will make the best of it and hope to be successful. I think it’s really cool that we can show all these young people, not just young women, that barriers can just be in your head and you can do it. If you want something enough, you’ll find a way to make it happen.”
History will coincide with this hunger in the grandest of ways at Dover Motor Speedway on Friday, with Spurlock, 34, making her NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut as driver of the No. 69 MBM Motorsports Ford (5 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). With the start, Spurlock will become the first Black woman to compete in one of NASCAR’s three national series.
“I’m very excited to get back on an oval,” Spurlock told NASCAR.com. “I hear [Dover] has a few characteristics like Rockingham [Speedway]. So, yeah, I’m ready to get out there and see what it’s really like.”
Spurlock traces her racing roots to childhood, when, at age 12, her godfather took her to a drag-racing event. It was love at first sight, with the passion only growing from there. At 16, Spurlock received her first motorcycle, and her racing journey took off, eventually leading her to compete in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle circuit. In 2025, she became the second Black woman in history to compete in the Virginia NHRA Nationals.
Her motorsports passion expanded ever further this year. In March, she made her ARCA Menards Series East debut, wheeling the No. 66 MBM Ford to a seventh-place result at Hickory Motor Speedway. A subsequent start at Rockingham followed, with Spurlock again finishing inside the top 15. Two starts then came in ARCA Menards Series action; Spurlock finished 10th at Kansas Speedway in April and 29th at Watkins Glen International in May.
“The speed plays a huge factor because it doesn’t affect me — like, it doesn’t scare me, or don’t really have to get used to it, per se, because drag racing, we can go up to 200 miles an hour,” Spurlock said on lessons that have translated to stock cars. “That was already there, so that was one less thing I had to overcome. And I would definitely say the reaction. Everything is a reaction. Everything is speed. You have to do everything as precise as possible on a drag strip when it comes to that. So coming over to racing in NASCAR, my reaction is there, so now it’s just about me having to learn the race craft of the sport here in NASCAR.”
Spurlock’s Truck Series debut could’ve come sooner than the 1-mile, concrete “Monster Mile” confines, as she entered the race at the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen road course a weekend prior. And while Spurlock did not qualify for the race, she learned many lessons that have only made the King William, Virginia, native as motivated as ever.
“I really feel that I would have had a better outcome if it wasn’t wet from the rain,” Spurlock said of her Truck attempt at The Glen. “So I do feel like that was an issue for me because I wasn’t able to get up to speed as quickly as I wanted to. But again, it’s racing. Things like this happen. It just gave me drive to put in more work that I possibly can to get ready and prepared for this weekend.”
Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
Spurlock has heeded advice from NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Lavar Scott on navigating her looming national-series debut. Scott — who coincidentally made his NASCAR debut at Dover last season and is learning the full-time O’Reilly Series ropes this year — works out at the same training facility as Spurlock and has provided her with pointers during simulator sessions.
Scott has been instrumental in Spurlock for the contest ahead, she explained.
“Lavar is the first person I call … I look at him like a little brother,” Spurlock said. “I’m like, OK, Lavar, you’ve been here before. What are the ins and outs that I need to know? So the fact that he’s even willing to sit down with me, go over everything in detail, is so amazing. I know this is now a year that he’s been in [O’Reilly], but all of the racing experience that he has over the years, I can definitely tell it when he’s helping me because it’s almost like he’s a driver coach. I’m very grateful for Lavar because he’s definitely helped me on the sim and for real-life, on-track things.”
Representation, to Spurlock, is as important as ever. Including Spurlock, three women (Natalie Decker in the No. 22 Team Reaume Ford and Toni Breidinger in the No. 27 Rackley WAR Chevrolet) will compete with the tailgaiters this weekend.
“I love the fact that there are three of us because we didn’t have the representation,” Spurlock said. “The only person that we had to look up for as being a woman in NASCAR was Danica [Patrick]. So the fact that I’m seeing more women, especially in ARCA, like, it’s so many of us. That means a lot because I feel that from the feedback that I’ve gotten is women don’t do this. There’s rarely any women racers. So the fact that we have more and I’m able to race beside Toni and Natalie, it’s great. I feel like we need more women power, or girl power, in this sport, so it makes me happy.”
Although she’s yet to turn a lap, Spurlock is eager to get on track and absorb as much information as possible. And while Spurlock is not cementing any expectations ahead of the concrete debut, the Dover excitement is palpable.
Time to get after it.
“I would say just to be able to do everything that I learned, but do it at the highest level that I’m able to do it at,” Spurlock said. “I don’t want to have some expectations in my mind or things that I want to do on the track, and I don’t meet them for myself. So I want to be able to hit all my points as great as possible.”
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His facial hair did not secure similar legal protections.
“No, I just showed up with it at photos,” Blaney said with a laugh. “So there is no mustache clause in my contract.”
His bushy mustache, which would give 1970s-era Richard Petty a ruffian’s run for the money, has been spared the wrath of Roger Penske, whose racing teams have epitomized the clean-cut professionalism of pleated pants and starched shirts for six decades.
That is somewhat surprising.
But what’s even more surprising is how it also just seems to work.
When he signed with “The Captain” as an 18-year-old, no one was predicting that Blaney would become such a fixture with Penske, whose deep driver roster includes some of the biggest names in NASCAR and Indy 500 history.
But Blaney seems as much of a fit as Rusty Wallace, Rick Mears and Joey Logano became before him.
When the latest extension was announced, it was met with casual indifference, even though the 2023 Cup champion could be considered the best in a strong class of stars in contract years.
Because where else would he go, and why would Penske ever think to let him escape?
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“It’s been a dream to be there as long as I have,” Blaney, 32, said. “It’s crazy to me that I’ve spent almost half of my life at that organization and with those people.
“Roger has let me be my own person. He’s just kind of let me be who I am, my own personality, and at the same time, I have respect for what that team is built for, obviously. I’ve probably pushed the limits a little bit years ago when I started the long hair and the playoff beard, but RP let me do it. He wanted me to be my own person.”
Penske himself has tended to scoff at the idea that his organization would have trouble assimilating a free spirit such as Blaney.
The first winner for Team Penske was the late Mark Donohue, an analytical engineer from Pennsylvania.
But the team also found room for hellraisers of varying degrees: Indy 500 winner Bobby Unser, Paul Tracy and Brad Keselowski, who liked joking that he turned Penske onto wearing jeans at race-track functions.
Teams can be adaptive for winners.
Rick Hendrick, whose Cup team also was a standard-bearer of decorum, likes to remind that he once employed the colorful Tim Richmond, one of the most charismatic personalities to grace NASCAR.
A marketing wonk once described Blaney as “the modern-day Tim Richmond,” but the branding belies Blaney’s commitment to being a responsible co-leader of such a storied organization.
He and three-time Cup champion Joey Logano are in their ninth season as teammates — the longest-running NASCAR duo in Penske history.
Logano, currently in one of the worst slumps of his Cup career, recently said Blaney was the sport’s best driver.
“Those were really kind words from Joey,” Blaney said. “I really appreciate him speaking about me that way. That really means a lot. I’ve looked up to Joey for a long time. It’s been a pleasure to be his teammate and push each other every single week; I’ve learned a ton from him by just sitting down and having a conversation with how he approaches things.
“Joey is above and beyond the work ethic that he does and the talent level that he has. I think it’s very unfair that even though he’s had a rough month, that people are counting him out. He’s going to rally. That team is going to rally.”
Since then, Blaney has incrementally grown into the role.
He’s shown class this year in weathering pit crew struggles that have hamstrung his results almost weekly. Yet there have been hardly any emotional outbursts on the team radio from Blaney (the knock once was that his excitable nature during races underscored a lack of championship temperament).
He always has been a presence at the team’s shop in Mooresville, North Carolina, sometimes just to check out what’s happening with Indy 500 preparations.
“I’ve been lucky that Roger has let me do my process,” he said. “I kind of go about things a certain way, and he’s let me do that.”
The bottom line is that Blaney does what matters most to Roger Penske, a multibillionaire businessman who demands strong ties that keep sponsors and team members happy.
“That’s really all he cares about,” Blaney said. “Are you doing the work? Are you cordial with everybody? Are your partners happy? Do you have good relationships with them?
“I’ve been really lucky to have that while being able to maybe not (have) the Penske driver look. So I thank him for letting me be me. I’ve gone through a lot of looks with the too long hair, too big of a beard, the mustache, and he’s let me do it. I get jokes every now and then from him about it, especially when I started the playoff beard-type thing, but he’s just always joked about it.”
It’s easy to see why.
Regardless of his many looks, Blaney is the face of Team Penske.
GOLDSBORO, N.C. — Driving a stock car and flying a fighter jet are more similar than one would think. Race car drivers and pilots both wear helmets, travel at fast speeds and battle G-forces while executing at a high level.
Thursday at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, NASCAR Cup Series driver Daniel Suárez and crew chief Ryan Sparks experienced it for themselves.
Wrapping Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Mission 600 in the lead-up to next Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the first-year Spire Motorsports driver/crew chief pairing immersed themselves in the United States Air Force, learning every aspect behind the fighter jets that defend the skies on behalf of the country.
Suárez had flown with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds many years ago during Daytona Speedweeks, but on Thursday, he learned the ins and outs of what it takes to fly at an elite degree.
“These guys, they’re extremely good in what they do,” Suárez told NASCAR.com. “I had an opportunity to fly with the Thunderbirds a handful of years back, and that day, I gained a ton of respect for what these guys do because it’s not easy. The Gs, the forces, the way that these guys have to train to be able to do these kinds of things, normal — it’s not normal, but they make it look so normal. So it’s very spectacular, and it was a lot of fun to get to hang out with these men and women for a few hours.”
The day started with a hands-on tour of the McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft, guided in part by Kyle “Moonshine” Williams, a die-hard NASCAR fan who had recently returned to North Carolina from overseas deployment. He explained that the F-15 travels up to Mach 2.5, north of 1,800 mph, before later bringing over a racing-themed helmet and poster for Suárez to sign.
Suárez and Sparks inspected nearly every inch of the nearly 64-foot-long aircraft and met with crew chiefs who, similarly, set up and analyze the planes like Sparks does to the No. 7 Chevrolet. They then climbed aboard, with Suárez sitting in the front seat and Sparks in the back.
They unanimously agreed that it was their favorite part of the day.
“I love working on cars, all cars especially, so I feel like it’s, in a way, the same thing just way more complicated,” Suárez said. “To be able to see a lot of the mechanics, the interior, the cockpit and everything to learn more about how they repair it, how they operate it and what kind of usage they give to this kind of aircraft.”
Nathan Solomon | NASCAR Digital Media
After visiting the hangar, Suárez and Sparks traveled to the F-15 4th Training Squadron, where they tested their skills in F-35 and F-22 simulators with a virtual reality twist. Instructors fitted them with VR headsets before playing a series of real-life, 360-degree videos to give the closest feeling of flying with the Air Force. They then tested their own luck behind the joysticks, attempting to take off and land the jets.
During lunch at the Southern Eagle Dining Facility, Airmen gave the duo physiotherapy training, explaining that F-15s at full speed can reach up to nine Gs of force (nine times the force of gravity). A member of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) later brought a remote-controlled robot — designed after video game controllers — used to disarm bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Both Suárez and Sparks flawlessly extricated a fake grenade from the dining room floor.
Finally, they visited a lounge area where eager Airmen — many of whom were NASCAR fans — met Suárez for autographs and photos while exchanging stories. The Monterrey, Mexico, native explained to them that after coming to the United States in 2011, he became a citizen in 2024 – a story that Sparks hadn’t heard from Suárez until Thursday.
“He’s had a long journey himself of how he got to where he is now, and just to see how he comes and relates to the people here, and working with him, and how he communicated with [the Airmen] — he just does such a good job,” Sparks told NASCAR.com. “I love just the way he treats people and how he relates to all these military members.
“He’s a character. It’s been a lot of fun along the way, but the more I learn about him, the more I like him as well.”
And even though Suárez is just two years as an American citizen, it’s an honor he doesn’t take lightly.
“I’m extremely proud to be a U.S. citizen,” he said. “It’s spectacular, honestly. What they do, the amount of people, the amount of building, the amount of training, the amount of equipment that they all have is amazing. To be able to live in this country and support in a small way all these men and women that are serving our country is the least that we can do.”
Suárez and Sparks are off to a strong start together through 12 races, ranking 14th in the Cup Series standings ahead of Sunday’s non-points-paying All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). With the car already on its way to the 1-mile Delaware facility, Sparks had a rare free Thursday to tag along and further develop that driver/crew chief relationship as the duo searches for a spot in The Chase come September.
Sparks acknowledged the importance of next Sunday’s 400-lap marathon with an extra stage paying 10 more points than usual, plus the allure of competing for the crown jewel. But paying his respects to the military and those who defend the United States takes precedence.
“To sit down and think about what these people are fighting for, that we’re able to [race] each and every Sunday is surreal, really,” Sparks said. “It’s unbelievable that people are willing to sacrifice it all, so that hits home, and it’s a really special and fun event to be a part of, and I hear it’s going to be a big crowd, so pretty excited to get there and hopefully put on a show.”
And as Suárez battles for his first crown-jewel win, he’ll have plenty of folks from Monterrey rooting him on.
“I invite a lot of friends and family from Mexico that weekend every single year, so for me, it’s a very special weekend, probably the most special weekend of racing of the year for me,” he said. “The race itself is amazing. It’s unbelievable. But it also means more than just a race.”
Kyle Busch and the No. 8 team at Richard Childress Racing were off to a dismal start in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
A change of crew chief in late April brought Andy Street atop the pit box. And through two races, Busch has finally shown glimpses of speed again with competitive runs at both Texas Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International, offering a glimmer of hope that the two-time Cup Series champion is on the verge of finding success again.
In a team sport like NASCAR, one hire doesn’t typically lead to a radical change in a team’s performance. Yet it’s hard to ignore the uptick the No. 8 team has had since Street stepped in at Texas. But who is Andy Street, and why is the No. 8 car suddenly competitive again?
He offers an early disclaimer: Street says he hasn’t done anything in particular to build speed into the No. 8 car. He instead points to the tireless efforts that have been taking place behind the scenes in different departments, and the Nos. 3 and 8 teams are reaping those rewards now.
“That may not be what you want to hear,” Street laughed.
But there is reason to take Street at his word. Let him explain.
Most people may recognize Street’s name from his three years of success in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series as crew chief for Austin Hill and the No. 21 Chevrolet, winning 10 races together and earning a 2024 Championship 4 appearance. What most likely don’t know is Street has been a fixture at RCR since 2003. After an interview at Thanksgiving in 2002 while he was a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Street was eventually hired for a spot on the team’s engineering department two weeks before he graduated from college in the spring of 2003.
“The landscape of NASCAR has changed so much over the last 23 years, right?” Street said in a phone interview Wednesday evening. “RCR was structured different. I mean, at that time, you had four Cup cars, and they were all kind of like their individual teams. It wasn’t this like big team aspect, and so you were exposed to a lot of different things.”
Street loved motorsports, and he wanted to be a part of it, but stock-car racing was new to him when he first joined RCR. Drag racing was where Street’s passion for motorsports began. But as an engineer at RCR through the mid-2000s, Street got a crash course in NASCAR and found his strengths in research and development, designing through CAD drawings and working closely with the fabrication department to assist with the many midweek test sessions that occurred at that time, all providing valuable lessons before Street joined Kevin Harvick’s No. 29 team as an engineer in the 2006 season.
“It was very cool because it was the turning point, I felt like, of a lot of development stuff with the aero side of things and the suspension side of things,” Street said. “It was very cool. Todd Berrier was the crew chief on the 29 car with Kevin Harvick, and he and I got along really well. We still get along really well. And he took me under his wing and showed me a lot of things. He knew I was green to circle-track racing stuff, so it was very cool to have him take an interest in me and want to see me succeed.”
In all, Street spent time from 2006 through 2017 either working as an engineer on the road or in the team’s R&D program back at the shop, with team leaders placing full belief in Street as the man who could help revamp the organization’s development.
Street departed in 2017, however, for a brief sabbatical that helped fulfill his passion for drag racing, working with NHRA Pro Stock Car racer Tanner Gray — yes, the now-NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver — for just over a year. RCR and NASCAR called Street back, though, leading to Street’s return in 2018 as engineer for the No. 2 Chevrolet in O’Reilly Auto Parts Series competition.
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But even after his debut as crew chief in a one-off opportunity in 2019, Street’s strengths in development always shone brightest. What couldn’t be ignored, though, was the speed he brought to his cars as crew chief. That led to his first full-time gig in 2020, heading the No. 21 team with four different drivers before he and Myatt Snider paired in 2021 in the No. 2 Chevrolet, earning a win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. One year later, he and Hill rocketed to success from 2022 through 2024.
Street earned a promotion in 2025, becoming the organization’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series engineer manager while also crew-chiefing RCR’s part-time entries in both O’Reilly and Cup. He and Johnny Klausmeier, RCR’s technical director, alternated time at the track. That allowed Street to connect with all of the organization’s drivers and teams through post-practice and post-race debriefs. So when RCR parted ways with then-crew chief Randall Burnett on the No. 8 team late in 2025, Street got the call to step in for the final five races of the year. Jim Pohlman began the 2026 campaign atop the No. 8 pit box, but Street was tabbed for the job again with Busch sitting 27th in points after 10 races.
“The relationship that (was) established with Kyle in the post-race meetings or post-practice meetings and so forth, it was really good,” Street said. “It was really good from the beginning. It’s been easier this year for us to get into the transition with me back in that position because of our five races that we had together. But I will say that we were fine before the five races last year. But then, during those five races to end the season, he and I got on the same page together. And his guidance — he knows that I don’t have a ton of experience in the Cup Series, especially with these cars. And so last year, he was a huge asset for me to help me. Like he would tell me what he’s feeling and what he thinks. And I’m like, ‘Well, I’m thinking this,’ and he’s like, ‘No, I think you need to think this,’ and just constantly bouncing ideas off of each other.”
That brings us to the present. Busch enters Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) 24th in points on the heels of an uptick in speed. What’s led to it, Street says, is a united belief within the walls of RCR.
“The team is incredible. That 8 team, everybody that works dedicated to the 8 team, that is an incredible group of guys,” Street said. “They are dedicated. They are committed. They want to see the program succeed. And I can’t tell you that there’s one thing that I did anything different than the previous guy, or even Randall when he was on the program, or Jim. I mean, I’ve got a ton of respect for Randall and Jim, and so excited Jim’s at RCR. He’s a great asset to us all. But I can’t pinpoint anything other than the fact that I’ve just worked with (Busch), and I kind of understand what he needs a little bit better, maybe, than (others).”
The team won’t earn any points to better their position in Sunday’s exhibition, but the upcoming slate of tracks — Dover, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, Michigan International Speedway and Pocono Raceway — offers a chance to build upon this newfound positivity.
“I look forward to finishing out the year with Kyle,” Street said. “I mean, they’re all not going to be top-10 weekends. They’re all not gonna be top-five weekends. But try to keep the momentum going as much as we can, and try to strive for those top fives and top 10s. And if you do that enough, you might squeak in a win or two.”
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series heads to Dover Motor Speedway for Saturday’s BetRivers 200 (4 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and judging by his remarkable season statistics, the best “bet” to claim the checkered flag is JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier, who not only is dominating the 2026 season, but has the best track record at Dover among his competitors this weekend.
The two-time Dover winner is the only previous winner entered. His six first or second-place finishes all-time at the track tie him with Kyle Busch for second place on that list. Only Logano (seven) has earned more first or second-place finishes at “The Monster Mile.” And the 2024 series champion Allgaier arrives in Delaware with a series-best five first or second-place finishes already this season.
A three-race winner in 2026, Allgaier’s amazing 155-point lead over Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed atop the standings is greater than the margin between second-place Creed and 10th-place Joe Gibbs Racing’s Taylor Gray. And Allgaier’s consistency — finishing top five in all but two of the 26 stages this season — has been impressive even for a driver already regarded as consistently atop his game.
Add to that, Allgaier’s JR Motorsports team, as a whole, is riding an incredible 70-race streak of earning at least one top-10 finish — the second-longest such streak in series history. Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing holds the top position with 79 straight top 10s.
Certainly, Allgaier expects the challenge this weekend from his teammates — Sammy Smith and Rajah Caruth — but the reigning series champion, Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love, brings four consecutive top-10 finishes into the weekend. JGR’s Brent Crews has a streak of five straight top-10s.
Connor Zilisch is the defending Dover race winner, but one of the 2026 season’s four first-time winners, JGR’s Taylor Gray started on pole position, led 49 laps (second only to Zilisch) and finished seventh last year. His JGR teammate, Brandon Jones, finished third (second best among the full-time drivers) and finds himself in a very respectable fourth place in the championship coming to Dover.
NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain will drive the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
Practice will be followed immediately by Kennametal Pole Qualifying beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET on Saturday. Both sessions will be broadcast on the CW App.
It’s been six years (2020) since the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series last raced on the Dover Motor Speedway high-banks, and Friday’s EcoSave 200 (5 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is a welcome addition — and challenge — for a fresh group of NASCAR’s best.
Kaden Honeycutt’s work in the defending champion No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota has put him atop the standings by 29 points over Front Row Motorsports’ Chandler Smith as the series officially meets the midpoint of the season. And the Texan Honeycutt arrives for his debut on “The Monster Mile” fresh off his career-first series victory last week on the famed Watkins Glen International road course — the first win for a full-time Truck Series competitor since Smith’s teammate, Layne Riggs’ victory on the St. Petersburg road course.
Kyle Busch is the winningest Truck Series driver at Dover, claiming four “Monster Mile” trophies and is the only former winner entered this weekend (No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet). His last victory came in his last start at the track in 2014.
Several full-time drivers have delivered good previous efforts at Dover, with Grant Enfinger and Justin Haley leading the charge with career-best third-place finishes — tops among the full-timers. Enfinger actually boasts the best average finish (8.5) among those with at least four Dover starts.
There will also be a strong showing of current and former NASCAR Cup Series regulars in Friday night’s race, with defending NASCAR All-Star Race winner Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain and Carson Hocevar entered. Of note, former Cup star and current NASCAR on FOX announcer Clint Bowyer, 46, will be making his first start of the year in the Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 25 Kaulig Racing Ram.
There are three female drivers on the grid (the most since Knoxville Raceway in 2021), including the much-anticipated debut of Dystany Spurlock, 34, a former NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle competitor. Taking the green flag at Dover means she will be the first Black woman to compete in one of NASCAR’s three national series. She earned a 10th-place showing in her ARCA Menards Series debut race at Kansas this spring.
Practice is at 12:30 p.m. Saturday followed by Kennametal Pole Qualifying at 1:40 p.m. – both sessions available on the FOX One app.
