Analysis: How can Shane van Gisbergen make The Chase?

Posted on May 14, 2026 by Neil Paine

Just by nature of the NASCAR calendar, we got to see the Cup Series’ best and brightest road racers in action at COTA for the first time during the season in early March … and then we push the road courses to the recesses of our minds for the next 10 weeks as other tracks come and go. When they finally come back around in late spring — at Mexico City last year, or Watkins Glen this past weekend — we are suddenly confronted again with an unshakeable reality:

Shane van Gisbergen is really, really good at road racing.

Last year, this annual dawning of “SVG season” meant van Gisbergen automatically punched his ticket to the 2025 NASCAR Playoffs with his dominating, near-perfect win in Mexico. (He’d also go on to add three more wins on road/street courses before the regular season was done.) Because of this, SVG had a shot at coming within a round of the championship if he’d managed to survive the Round of 16 to make use of his skills at the Charlotte Roval. And it all began around this point on the calendar.

This year, despite perhaps an even more dominant run at The Glen, things are a bit more complicated. With the elimination of win-and-in playoff qualifications, SVG’s win did nothing more than add points to his tally in the standings. But it did push him over 50% odds to make The Chase in my simulator model, which uses predicted Driver Ratings by track type to simulate the remainder of the regular season 10,000 times, tracking how often each driver finishes in the top 16 and keeps their title hopes alive past the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona in late August.

As things stand now, van Gisbergen ranks 16th in the points — meaning he currently owns the very last Chase spot with 14 races left before the push for the Cup title officially begins. Of those 14 races, two are at street or road courses: the brand-new San Diego street circuit at Naval Base Coronado on June 21 and the annual trip to Sonoma Raceway a week later on June 28.

Van Gisbergen will automatically be a heavy favorite at both of those tracks, and he’ll need to cash in on both chances to maintain a steady trajectory toward The Chase. According to the simulations, San Diego and Sonoma are, along with North Wilkesboro, a short track where he could pick up ground by exceeding expectations, his highest “leverage” remaining races, in terms of how much the result could swing his Chase odds. But if you look at the particulars, you see that most of the leverage is tied up in how much downside there is if he doesn’t have a strong run:

There’s certainly upside, too: If he wins the two remaining road/street courses, SVG’s odds to make The Chase soar to 86%. But if he doesn’t score at least one win in those races, his odds to make The Chase drop to 44%; if he doesn’t score at least one top five, they fall to 36%. Even only one top five leaves him at 53%. So while the pressure is on every driver to secure strong finishes at the races where they are expected to do best, nobody is more extreme in this regard than van Gisbergen, because nobody has such an extreme split in performance by track type as he does.

Beyond the road races, though, SVG also needs some level of performance at the other track types to bolster his Chase chances. For instance, in simulations where he has zero top-five finishes at non-road courses, he only makes The Chase 34% of the time. Or when he only scores a couple of top 10s in those races, his odds sit at 42%.

The good news for van Gisbergen is that he has been improving on ovals in each of his first few seasons as a Cup regular. His average per-race Driver Ratings are up across the board in 2026 relative to his previous career marks, increasing by 6.3 points at ovals, by 12.5 points at short tracks and by a whopping 21.4 points at drafting-style tracks:

Although that newfound form still doesn’t make him an average driver at non-road or street courses, every little bit of improved experience and skill matters at the margins.

If SVG’s formula for making The Chase is to contend at — and, in the best cases, win — both San Diego and Sonoma, then shore up his odds with several top 10s (or even a stray top five) elsewhere as an insurance policy, that ought to leave him in an enviable place when it comes to at least earning a spot in the 16-driver Chase field.

Once there, without a single road course in the mix — after the Roval date was scrapped in favor of the normal Charlotte oval — it’s hard to envision van Gisbergen being a major player for the actual championship against names like Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson. But in a system that no longer lets him shortcut his way into the postseason through sheer road-racing dominance, getting there at all would still mean something to his growing resume as an all-around driver, not just a road-course specialist who dominates a few weekends per year.

Posted on May 13, 2026May 17, 2026 by Staff Report

NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports officials announced Feb. 25 the format for the 2026 NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway, including a 350-lap main event broken into in-race segments and an enhanced qualifying session featuring the Pit Crew Challenge.

The NASCAR Cup Series exhibition — with a $1 million prize on the line — transitions from the North Carolina confines of North Wilkesboro Speedway — which hosted the All-Star Race from 2023-25 — to Delaware’s “Monster Mile” on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The 2026 edition of the exhibition will conclude an action-packed race weekend featuring events for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

In addition to a change of venue, the 2026 All-Star Race format itself will have a different flavor, starting with a larger emphasis on Saturday’s qualifying. Competitors will take the green flag and run one full lap at speed around the 1-mile circuit. The second lap will feature the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge, where each pit crew will perform a single four-tire stop with no gas. Competitors will then race back to the start/finish line, with qualifying encompassing the total time from green flag to checkered flag. The pit crew with the fastest pit stop and no penalties will win the Pit Crew Challenge, with the results determining pit selection order for the All-Star Race.

In place of an All-Star Open, qualifying results will instead determine the full field for Segment 1, a 75-lap sprint as part of the 350-lap event. Following the conclusion of Segment 1, a second 75-lap dash will occur; the lineup for Segment 2 will be an inversion of Segment 1’s top 26, with the remaining drivers lined up by finish to set the 26-car field.

The final 200-lap segment of the 2026 All-Star Race will consist of 26 drivers, no matter what, and will include a competition break at or around Lap 75. The field for the final segment will include 2025 and 2026 Cup Series race winners, former Cup Series champions who compete full-time, a Fan Vote winner and remaining drivers based on the lowest combined finishing positions among Segments 1 and 2. When combining the results of Segments 1 and 2, if there is a tie, the first tiebreaker is the best finish in either segment and the second tiebreaker is the best finish in Segment 1.

MORE: Past All-Star Race winners | Memorable All-Star Race moments

Christopher Bell won the 2025 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro. Those locked in so far include (in alphabetical order): Bell, Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Shane van Gisbergen, Denny Hamlin, Carson Hocevar, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace.

Posted on May 13, 2026 by Staff Report

The NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series head to Delaware for a tripleheader weekend at Dover Motor Speedway. It’s points-paying races for Trucks and O’Reilly while the Cup Series holds its annual All-Star Race with $1 million up for grabs. Below are the qualifying orders for all three series.

MORE: Weekend schedule | How to watch NASCAR on TV

Cup Series
Single-car qualifying/All-Star Pit Crew Challenge will occur at noon ET on Saturday (FS1).

POSITION	CAR NUMBER	DRIVERS	DRIVER POINTS POSITION
1	51	Cody Ware	36
2	41	Cole Custer	35
3	48	Alex Bowman	34
4	10	Ty Dillon	33
5	88	Connor Zilisch #	32
6	21	Josh Berry	31
7	4	Noah Gragson	30
8	35	Riley Herbst	29
9	42	John Hunter Nemechek	28
10	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	27
11	34	Todd Gilliland	26
12	43	Erik Jones	25
13	8	Kyle Busch	24
14	38	Zane Smith	23
15	3	Austin Dillon	22
16	71	Michael McDowell	21
17	16	AJ Allmendinger	20
18	1	Ross Chastain	19
19	22	Joey Logano	18
20	19	Chase Briscoe	17
21	97	Shane van Gisbergen	16
22	2	Austin Cindric	15
23	7	Daniel Suárez	14
24	60	Ryan Preece	13
25	24	William Byron	12
26	20	Christopher Bell	11
27	23	Bubba Wallace	10
28	6	Brad Keselowski	9
29	5	Kyle Larson	8
30	77	Carson Hocevar	7
31	54	Ty Gibbs	6
32	17	Chris Buescher	5
33	12	Ryan Blaney	4
34	9	Chase Elliott	3
35	11	Denny Hamlin	2
36	45	Tyler Reddick	1

O’Reilly Auto Parts Series
Single-car qualifying will occur at 10:35 a.m. ET on Saturday, with practice earlier in the day at 9:30 a.m. ET (The CW App).

POSITION	CAR NUMBER	DRIVERS	METRIC SCORE
1	38	TBA	40.7
2	35	Dawson Cram	38.5
3	2	Ryan Ellis	34.6
4	48	Patrick Starapoli	34.4
5	53	David Starr	32.3
6	55	Blake Lothian	31.5
7	28	Kyle Sieg	31
8	26	Dean Thompson	30.5
9	92	BJ McLeod (i)	29.8
10	51	Jeremy Clements	29.4
11	18	William Sawalich	29.4
12	45	Lavar Scott #	27
13	31	Blaine Perkins	24.8
14	07	Josh Bilicki	24.1
15	96	Anthony Alfredo	23.7
16	42	CJ McLaughlin	23.6
17	27	Jeb Burton	23.2
18	00	Sheldon Creed	21.2
19	0	Garrett Smithley	20.8
20	39	Ryan Sieg	20.6
21	24	Harrison Burton	19.1
22	91	Myatt Snider	18.2
23	44	Brennan Poole	17.7
24	87	Austin Green	15.3
25	8	Sammy Smith	13.9
26	41	Sam Mayer	13
27	17	Corey Day #	12.9
28	9	Ross Chastain (i)	11
29	21	Austin Hill	10.7
30	88	Rajah Caruth	9
31	99	Parker Retzlaff	8.2
32	32	Andrew Patterson	7.6
33	7	Justin Allgaier	7.3
34	19	Brent Crews #	6
35	54	Taylor Gray	5.7
36	20	Brandon Jones	5.6
37	2	Jesse Love	2.6
38	1	Carson Kvapil	2.2

Craftsman Truck Series
Single-car qualifying will occur at 1:40 p.m. ET on Friday, with practice earlier in the day at 12:30 p.m. ET (FOX One).

POSITION	TRUCK NUMBER	DRIVERS	METRIC SCORE
1	69	Dystany Spurlock	41
2	27	Toni Breidinger	40.4
3	93	Caleb Costner	39.8
4	22	Natalie Decker	35.4
5	13	Cole Butcher #	32.9
6	9	Grant Enfinger	30.3
7	81	Kris Wright	29
8	62	Christopher Bell (i)	28.3
9	2	Luke Baldwin	28.1
10	15	Tanner Gray	27.9
11	99	Ben Rhodes	25.4
12	33	Frankie Muniz	24.4
13	77	Carson Hocevar (i)	24.4
14	76	Spencer Boyd	23.6
15	16	Justin Haley	22.1
16	45	Ross Chastain (i)	21.4
17	5	William Sawalich (i)	21.1
18	26	Dawson Sutton	20.8
19	88	Ty Majeski	20.1
20	42	Parker Eatmon	17.6
21	52	Stewart Friesen	17.4
22	34	Layne Riggs	16.2
23	18	Tyler Ankrum	15.8
24	44	Andrés Pérez De Lara	15.7
25	10	Corey LaJoie	14.1
26	14	Mini Tyrrell #	13.7
27	91	Christian Eckes	13.6
28	98	Jake Garcia	12.8
29	17	Giovanni Ruggiero	12.6
30	12	Brenden Queen #	11.7
31	25	Clint Bowyer	10.5
32	7	Kyle Busch (i)	7.6
33	19	Daniel Hemric	7
34	1	Brandon Jones (i)	6.1
35	38	Chandler Smith	4.4
36	11	Kaden Honeycutt	1

* Required to qualify on time
# denotes series rookie
(i) denotes ineligible for driver points

Posted on May 13, 2026May 13, 2026 by Adam Fenwick

There is just something about Seekonk Speedway in Massachusetts that suits Matt Hirschman.

The driver from Northampton, Pennsylvania isn’t just good at the 0.333-mile asphalt oval. He’s great.

That’s not just an arbitrary statement. The stats back it up.

Hirschman has won every NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event held at Seekonk since NASCAR’s oldest division returned to the facility in 2023. He’s led 65 percent of the laps run in those events and set fast time in qualifying for each race.

That makes Hirschman the obvious favorite entering Saturday’s J&R Precast 150, the fourth race of the 2026 Modified Tour season.

ENTRY LIST: See who’s racing at Seekonk

“It’s a technical race track,” said Hirschman, who has won 11 times at Seekonk in various Modified divisions dating back to 2017. “When they did some paving work to the track about three years ago, I think it even made it more technical than what it was prior to that.

“Since then, I’d say it’s been a great track for me. We’ve won the majority of the Modified races up there since that change to the track was made.”

Matt Hirschman is unbeaten in Modified Tour competition at Seekonk dating back to 2023. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)

That track work was a partial repave of the racing surface, mainly in the corners. Hirschman explained Seekonk was already a temperature- and line-sensitive track, which is what made the facility so technically demanding. The fresh asphalt in the corners only amplified those attributes, a development that placed Seekonk further into Hirschman’s wheelhouse.

Hirschman and the PeeDee Motorsports team have gotten off to a slow start this year. They have finishes of 12th, 12th and fifth through the first three Modified Tour races of the season — not bad by any means — but the team expected more.

The ship was righted during the most recent event at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, where Hirschman won the American Racer Pole Award and finished fifth.

The true test will come Saturday night at Seekonk, where Hirschman and the Bar Harbor Bank & Trust-sponsored No. 60 team expect to win.

“That was certainly a building block to hopefully more success to come,” Hirschman said of the last outing. “The first two races were certainly below expectations and really not disastrous, but definitely not the kind of performance we were looking for.

“Being that our best run by winning the pole and running in the top five throughout the race, there was certainly still some room for improvement because we didn’t win the race, but it was definitely a big step in the right direction.

“That should give us some momentum and confidence back going to Seekonk, where we have been so successful.”

Matt Hirschman is eighth in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings through three events this year. (Photo: Rachel O’Driscoll/NASCAR)

A win Saturday at Seekonk would put Hirschman in rarified air. In the history of the Modified Tour, a driver has won four or more consecutive races at the same track 11 times.

The names on that list — Justin Bonsignore, Reggie Ruggiero, Doug Coby, Ted Christopher, Mike Stefanik, Steve Park, Jeff Fuller and Richie Evans — are among the best to ever race Modifieds.

Hirschman knows he’s the favorite Saturday night based on his recent performances at Seekonk, but he had no problem pointing out that the competition level on the Modified Tour is at an all-time high.

Just because he’s won the last three Modified Tour events at Seekonk doesn’t mean he’ll win again Saturday, but it doesn’t hurt his chances, either.

“We’ve won three straight Whelen Modified races and swept the entire season of Modified races held at the track last year, so I don’t think there is any arguing we come into the race as the team to beat,” Hirschman said. “That really doesn’t mean anything. Every race is different. Sometimes the format is different. Last year there was the option of changing tires during the race. This year there is not.

“It’s really important you have the car where it needs to be, because if you have to make a pit stop for an adjustment, you can’t fix it with a tire change. You’d just have to make an adjustment to what you already have, and at that point, it may be too late.”

Posted on May 13, 2026May 13, 2026 by Dustin Albino

Lavar Scott was born into a racing family. It is simply what they did in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Now, he’s seeing their hard work pay off as he competes in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

Sonia Scott, Lavar’s mother, was a drag racer, competing in regional events. Both his grandfather and brother — both named Wayne — raced micro sprints, while his grandfather was the one preparing them to go fast. The younger Scott began his career at 5 years old on dirt in quarter midgets.

“I remember winning my first [race],” Scott recalled to NASCAR.com. “I remember watching my mom race. I remember bits and pieces of helping my grandfather at the shop and he would put an egg under my foot to practice throttle control. I don’t remember the full, complete scenery, but there are some things that I always think about.”

After running dirt cars for a decade, Scott was accepted into NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program in his second attempt as a 16-year-old. To get acclimated into the racing lifestyle, he relocated to the zMAX campsite at Charlotte Motor Speedway, living out of a camper with his grandmother. He biked to Rev Racing’s race shop, a stone’s throw away from the 1.5-mile track. Sonia made the voyage South each week to watch him compete in the Summer Shootout.

“I was hoping it was going to work out,” Scott said. “I made it happen and it made it to where I was happy to go through all of that. Grateful that I did because it led to this opportunity and I wouldn’t take it back for the world.

“Definitely not the most ideal situation, but in the grand scheme of things, with where we’re at right now, I would do anything for that opportunity.”

After winning in late models in 2021 and 2022, Scott was ready to tackle the ARCA Menards Series with Rev Racing. He ran the full eight-race slate in the ARCA East Series division in 2023, ranking third in the final standings.

Scott ran two full ARCA campaigns, but he never found Victory Lane even though he was close on several occasions. He cracked the top five in 55% of his full-time starts and ranked inside the top 10 in 77.5% of starts. He was ready for the next jump.

In 2025, Scott dipped his toes into the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, running a pair of races with Alpha Prime Racing, hoping it would set him up for the future. He impressed co-owner Tommy Joe Martins enough to strike a full-time deal for the 2026 season.

David Jensen | Getty Images

“He was able to know that he would be competitive in our series,” Martins said. “I think it was big for his confidence and to go out, raise sponsorship and try to do something full time. That was the main thing for him; he was trying to race full time. I know he would like to be in a car that has the chance to go win the championship someday and I think this is step one on doing that.”

The emotions ballooned for Scott ahead of his O’Reilly Series debut at Dover Motor Speedway last summer with countless friends and family in attendance. He needed to qualify into the show, which he did.

However, he erred on pit road during his first live pit stop, sinking to 28th before Mother Nature cut the race short. He rebounded at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway with a 19th-place effort.

“If I didn’t do those two races last year, I don’t think I would be in this series or spot right now for the unknown of what it’s like,” Scott said. “I took the positives out of that. I had speed, got to race. People would pack air on me and I saved it. I got to pack air on other people and got to race and learn. Made the start at St. Louis and finished top 20. That was when I was like, ‘OK, I can do this series; I can compete here.’”

Through the opening 13 races of his rookie year, Scott has four top-20 finishes, with a best outing of 15th at Rockingham Speedway. That’s ahead of the original goal, which was breaking the top 25 on a consistent basis, as his average finish is 24.5.

MORE: Lavar Scott’s driver page

The ambitions have jumped now that he’s seen he can be competitive. He thrives at intermediate venues, being able to search around for another lane.

“Our goal is to try to chase the top 20 every week that we can,” Scott added. “You are going to have bad days on the weeks you don’t have it, but the expectations vary on where we’re going that weekend. The grand scheme of things, with the way we’re going, pure pace and speed wise, we are doing better than I anticipated later in these races.”

Martins, who also fills the spotter role for Scott, found the pairing frustrated through the first month of the season, getting involved in incidents out of their control. Scott was gaining experience on letting longer races play out.

“I think he’s done a terrific job,” Martins relayed. “He’s a humble kid that asks a lot of questions and is open to feedback. I’m seeing Lavar get so much more confident in asking for the changes and what he needs to feel in the race car. He knows he’s going to have the chance to keep working on it, get better and he needs to make the car better for the end of the race. I think that’s what has started happening in the last month or so. He’s been able to get more consistent finishes.”

Scott will return to his home track of Dover this weekend, with many of the same family and companions in attendance.

Posted on May 13, 2026May 13, 2026 by Press Release

OAKLAND, Calif. — Katherine Legge will become the first woman to attempt the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 “Double” on May 24, one of the most demanding feats in all of motorsports. She will be fueled by e.l.f. Cosmetics, a brand from e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE: ELF), a bold disruptor with a kind heart, as primary sponsor across both events, with Chevrolet power.

The Double stands as one of the sport’s ultimate tests of endurance, requiring a driver to compete in two of motorsport’s crown jewel events in a single day across the NTT INDYCAR Series and NASCAR Cup Series — covering more than 1,100 miles with virtually no recovery time between races.

Legge will compete in the Indy 500 in the No. 11 for HMD Motorsports with AJ Foyt Racing, before immediately transitioning to the No. 78 for Live Fast Motorsports in the Coca-Cola 600 later that evening — compressing two elite disciplines into a single, relentless day.

Legge’s attempt places her in rare company. Only five drivers have attempted “The Double” — John Andretti, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Larson, most recently in 2024 and 2025. Notably, Andretti’s historic 1994 effort was also associated with AJ Foyt Racing, adding another layer of legacy to Legge’s attempt more than 30 years later.

For Legge, the challenge aligns with a career defined by endurance, adaptability and competing across disciplines at the highest level. In addition to her accomplishments in INDYCAR and NASCAR, she has spent decades racing in endurance formats, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Sebring. She was also the first woman to lead the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Her attempt also carries historical resonance.

In 1976, pioneer Janet Guthrie, after failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, traveled to Charlotte and successfully made her NASCAR Cup debut in the World 600 (now the Coca-Cola 600) — becoming the first woman to compete on a NASCAR superspeedway, and helping to silence doubts about women’s ability to endure long-distance racing.

The effort also carries another layer of continuity within the sport: Legge’s Indy 500 program will be crew chiefed by veteran Andy O’Gara, husband of nine-time Indy 500 starter and former team owner Sarah Fisher — another pioneering figure who helped expand opportunities for women in American open-wheel racing.

Legge has qualified for all four Indianapolis 500s she has entered, and recently completed her veteran refresher test as she prepares for her fifth start in the race, driving the No. 11 e.l.f. Cosmetics Chevrolet. In 2012, she became only the ninth woman to qualify for the event, and in 2023 set the record as the fastest woman to ever qualify. This year, she will again be the only woman in the field.

On May 10, she made her first NASCAR Cup Series start of the 2026 season at Watkins Glen International, where she previously won from the pole position in the GTD class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The triumph was part of a back-to-back win streak, following a victory at the Detroit Grand Prix. In 2025, she became the first woman to qualify for a NASCAR Cup Series race since Danica Patrick’s 2012 debut, and recorded the top finishing position among NASCAR Cup Series rookies in her debut race.

Posted on May 12, 2026May 13, 2026 by Nate Ryan

NASCAR is developing a system to expedite race control reviews of crash data to help with calling cautions for cars that leave the scene of an incident.

Cody Ware slammed a barrier with his No. 51 Chevrolet with nine laps remaining Sunday at Watkins Glen International. On the latest “Hauler Talk” podcast, NASCAR vice president of racing communications Mike Forde said the incident would have drawn a yellow flag if witnessed in real time, but race director Tim Bermann was notified of the crash by the Turn 6 spotter.

“Tim Bermann clicks over to Turn 6, and as he flips over, he sees the 51 rolling off, and the turn spotter radios the track is clear, so there’s no debris,” Forde said. “That’s how it all happened and why there was no caution. And so obviously the follow-up discussion is, ‘Well, that was a big hit. There should have been a caution. How do you fix that?’ So here’s what the plan is for fixing that.”

Forde said NASCAR vice president of safety engineering John Patalak already had been working on a project to streamline the delivery of information from the incident data recorder on every car to the scoring tower during a crash. The data, such as G forces and peak acceleration, help measure crash severity.

“What’s going to happen, and I have no timetable on this, but this data is going to be sent to race control and then be able to be reviewed pretty quickly,” Forde said. “And then we can decide, ‘Hey, that was too big a hit. Even though they rolled off, we need to throw a caution here.’ … So I think this solution is really interesting and could help a lot in these types of incidents. I think they’re rare. I think the race director is outstanding. Tim Bermann has done a fantastic job. If he had eyes on that wreck as it was happening, that would have been a caution.”

Forde said the process would be helped by a new McLaren Engine Control Unit that will make its debut this weekend at Dover Motor Speedway.

“The data and the science is already done and can be calculated pretty quickly; now it’s kind of like just more of a delivery of that data and packaging it and analyzing it,” Forde said.

Forde said Ware, whose car exited from the race after the crash, was seen and released from the care center.

The track’s Armco barrier was bent from the impact, and Forde said the damage was noticed post-race.

“We didn’t get any reports that the wall was damaged, but we did look at it after the race, and the damage is more of a pushback,” Forde said. “The Armco isn’t cemented in, and that’s by design. The posts are sledgehammered into the ground. No cement. We want it to give. It almost treats it like a SAFER barrier. So the fact that there was give is how it’s designed to work.

“So what would have happened if it was earlier in the race and we got a report that the wall was bowed out because of the incident, we would just shift that post back in and shim it, and it would be back to normal.” …

Forde also addressed a penalty that was improperly levied on Gio Ruggiero, who initially was ruled to have jumped a restart late in the Craftsman Truck Series race. After reviewing the incident, NASCAR determined that Ruggiero could have committed the violation because of a bump from Brenden Queen, but it was too late to rescind the penalty because Ruggiero had already pitted for four tires.

“At that point, it would have been impossible to rescind it because if we put him back where he was at the front row, he would have the tire advantage, and that wouldn’t be fair,” Forde said. “It was just too late, so we weren’t able to rescind that penalty. So we did talk to the crew chief, the driver and the team owner and apologized for that miscommunication.” …

Senior director of racing communications Amanda Ellis and Forde also reviewed some of the format tweaks for the 19 drivers who already qualified for the final segment of Sunday’s All-Star Race.

Those locked-in drivers also will be racing in the first two segments of the event, and there will be no backup car permitted for the third segment.

But if their primary cars sustain damage or a mechanical problem that can be repaired before the last segment, the eligible drivers will be allowed to start the last segment without penalty. …

The episode also featured an interview with Dover Motor Speedway president Mike Tatoian about the track’s on-site promotional plans for its first All-Star Race.

Other topics covered by Forde and Ellis during the 53rd episode of “Hauler Talk,” which explores competition issues in NASCAR:

— How the additional tire packs at Watkins Glen were received.

— The flying tent that caused a caution flag.

— The cars that were taken to the Research & Development Center after the Watkins Glen race.

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.

Posted on May 12, 2026 by Brandon White

Contesting four events in two states on the same weekend is a herculean task that would test even the most seasoned of drivers.

A perfect storm of circumstances led Kaden Honeycutt to attempt such a feat this past weekend. Honeycutt’s schedule lined up for him to run the ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events at Watkins Glen International on Friday before flying to North Carolina’s Ace Speedway to participate in a zMAX CARS Tour doubleheader the following evening.

The result was four victories for Honeycutt, most of them occurring in dominant fashion.

With every race, Honeycutt gained optimism about pulling off the quadruple sweep, but a small hint of doubt lingered, too. Outside circumstances like a late caution or a mechanical failure could have derailed Honeycutt’s chances for any victory, not to mention the fact that so much racing in a short amount of time was both physically and mentally taxing.

Taking the fourth and final checkered flag in the CARS Tour Late Model Stock feature at Ace was a moment of jubilation and relief for Honeycutt, as the constant exertion and concentration behind the wheel finally took its toll on his body.

“I was so tired after the last race,” Honeycutt said. “I used every ounce of energy I had the last 20 laps to hold off Treyten [Lapcevich] there, because Treyten was coming on really strong in the Late Model Stock. He was extremely fast, and I was doing everything I could to hold him off.

“It took everything I had, and thanks to all the teams I raced for this weekend for putting cars together capable of doing something pretty insane like that.”

With the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series now a top priority in his life, Kaden Honeycutt welcomes any opportunity to return to his short-track roots. (Photo: Joshua White)

For all the historical significance behind Honeycutt’s accomplishment, it was not the first time he had attempted four races on the same weekend.

In November of 2023, Honeycutt was faced with a similar busy slate. The first stop was Phoenix Raceway for the ARCA Menards Series West finale and the season-ending Truck Series race a few hours later. Honeycutt after those events took a red-eye flight to North Carolina so he could participate in two CARS Tour finales at Caraway Speedway that Saturday.

Everything went about as smooth as Honeycutt could have envisioned prior to that four-race stretch. He delivered MMI Racing its first West Series owner’s title with a ninth-place finish before securing what was then a career-best Truck Series showing of eighth with Young’s Motorsports. Not even 12 hours later, Honeycutt was in Caraway, where he won the Pro Late Model tour feature he finished sixth in the Late Model Stock event.

The experience from that endurance weekend primed Honeycutt for last weekend’s quadrupleheader between Watkins Glen and Ace. So did his versatility as a driver. With a background on dirt tracks, Honeycutt has won races in 604 Late Models, Crate Late Models, Pro Trucks and Florida Modifieds throughout his career. Honeycutt even won the prestigious Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in 2024.

The first of Kaden Honeycutt’s four wins last weekend came with Bruce Cook, one of the co-owners for MMI Racing that won an ARCA Menards Series West title in 2023 with Honeycutt as one of their drivers. (Photo: Bryan Bennett/ARCA Racing)

Honeycutt’s understanding the intricacies of so many different cars helped him develop a unique skill set he believes can help him excel at NASCAR’s top levels.

“What I always try to do is be as versatile as I can be,” Honeycutt said. “I believe so much in the [idea] of, ‘if you can get in any race car and win, you can do anything you set your mind to.’ That’s what I try to do; have a different set of skills and race craft for everything I can possibly touch.

“There’s every type of situation you can possibly be in. You just have to be ready for when those moments happen.”

Honeycutt’s first track of the weekend in Watkins Glen provided its own set of challenges, as he only had a handful of road-course starts to his name prior to Friday.

He fortunately had plenty of resources and experienced people on whom to rely. Along with driving the same No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota that won the Truck Series title with Corey Heim in 2025, Honeycutt also re-united with Bruce Cook, one of the co-owners of MMI Racing, for the ARCA Menards Series race.

Honeycutt’s programs for the CARS Tour events at Ace were JC Motorsports, co-owned by Jimmy and Jamie Cox, in Pro Late Models, along with Kenneth Packer’s Tom Usry Racing for Late Model Stocks. Honeycutt had previously won with both teams, including the most recent CARS PLM Tour race at Caraway with JC Motorsports.

Every win Honeycutt grabbed carried a distinct significance. He was thrilled to deliver Cook his first national ARCA Menards Series victory as an owner, while the CARS Tour wins at Ace with JC Motorsports and Tom Usry Racing were the perfect culmination to an exhausting-but-thrilling weekend.

Throughout his career, Kaden Honeycutt has enjoyed success in Pro Late Models, as he has now won the last two CARS PLM Tour events with JC Motorsports. (Photo: Joshua White)

The Truck Series triumph stood out the most to Honeycutt in multiple regards. Not only was it Honeycutt’s first victory in the series, but he had to best stellar road-course specialists like Connor Zilisch, Shane van Gisbergen and Brent Crews while overcoming a penalty at the end of stage two for entering a closed pit road.

Honeycutt believed his first Truck Series win should have come sooner, particularly on a short rack or an intermediate. He never imagined it would take place at a road course like Watkins Glen.

“I’m not great at road-course racing,” Honeycutt said. “I’ve worked really, really hard on doing the best job I possibly can to win those Truck races. In hindsight, those mean more to me than anything, because I’ve worked my whole life to race in NASCAR and to win at the highest level I could. The Truck race was definitely hard.

“I had a lot of setbacks in the late part of the race that we had to fight back from, but we were able to do that.”

The only aspect about the Watkins Glen Truck Series victory Honeycutt did not like was that he only partially fulfilled a promise to himself and the fans. When the first win did arrive, Honeycutt intended to shotgun a beer with fans in the grandstands but could only do so on the frontstretch due to an issue with Watkins Glen’s front access gate.

Honeycutt did manage to celebrate with the fans at Ace following his Late Model Stock victory, a feeling he still wants to enjoy for a Truck Series race soon. Now that he finally has his first Truck Series victory, Honeycutt is optimistic the momentum will keep building toward what he believes will be a championship in November.

Truck Series commitments limit the number of Late Model Stock and Pro Late Model events Honeycutt can run, another reason why last weekend was so special. Both disciplines helped launch Honeycutt on his current path in NASCAR, one that now sees him lead the Truck Series standings after eight races.

If there is a chance for him to go back to his roots, Honeycutt is more than eager to take it.

“I don’t really have an opportunity to do something like that a lot, especially with the schedule that we have,” Honeycutt said. “Whenever that stuff comes about, I just try to take full advantage of it and do the best I possibly can in that situation. You don’t get too many times when you’re 22 years old and have all the energy I have to go perform and do something like that.”

(Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Another stacked weekend of racing is coming up for Honeycutt in just a couple months, but the next will be more manageable. All three of Honeycutt’s planned races are set to take place at North Wilkesboro Speedway, with the two CARS Tour events taking place Friday evening followed by the Truck Series race Saturday afternoon.

Honeycutt knows he can win all three. He already has two Pro Late Model victories at North Wilkesboro, so completing a tripleheader sweep will require Honeycutt to stay out of trouble and utilize all his knowledge about the track.

One reason Honeycutt is so confident stems from the support system he has curated over the years. From the moment he started competing in Bandoleros all the way through driving for smaller programs in the Truck Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Honeycutt understood how important fostering relationships would be toward sustaining his career.

With nearly every team Honeycutt guided to Victory Lane this past weekend, there was some form of longstanding relationship. Along with the previous success he found with Cook in the West Series, Honeycutt had driven for Tom Usry Racing since 2023 and was fresh off a third with JC Motorsports in the Snowflake 100 at Five Flags last winter.

Midway through 2025, Honeycutt became a part of Toyota Racing, successfully making the Truck Series Championship 4 with Halmar Friesen Racing.

Honeycutt has never forgotten the faith people have shown in him and his talent, a key factor behind his reaching NASCAR. As he moves forward from his four-race weekend sweep, Honeycutt intends to keep rewarding that faith.

“It plays a lot into the work you can put into to be successful and surrounding yourself with the right people that believe in you,” Honeycutt said. “If you don’t have anybody around you that believes in you, then it doesn’t really work out great. It’s been amazing to work with the people I’ve been working with the past couple of years and this year with Toyota Racing.

“It improved my race craft, and it improved myself as a person, so it’s been really fun.”

As the weight of what he accomplished settled in at Ace during the post-race festivities with the fans and his team, Honeycutt knew he did not have to be there. He could have ended his weekend after two races, especially since he achieved a lifelong goal of winning a national NASCAR event the day before.

That is not who Honeycutt is. Honeycutt is a racer, determined to do whatever he can to prove he is capable of being a NASCAR Cup Series driver one day.

Winning four races in two days does not guarantee Honeycutt a path to that mountaintop, but it does get him closer than he’s ever been.

Posted on May 12, 2026 by Staff Report

Goodyear will bring a concrete-tested tire combination for the NASCAR Cup Series’ first All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway.

Cup Series teams will use a left-side Goodyear Racing Eagle that debuted at Bristol Motor Speedway in April, and the specially designed right-side rubber that ran in Dover’s 400-miler last July. Through Bristol’s 0.533-mile layout is roughly half the size of Dover’s “Monster Mile,” both tracks have concrete surfaces and speedy, high-banked turns.

“Teams will be able to combine their data from Bristol in April with their running from Dover last season to optimize their setups ahead of this weekend,” said Goodyear NASCAR product manager Rick Heinrich. “We are bringing a tire setup specifically designed to withstand the track’s high speeds and heavy loads, while also helping lay rubber on its concrete surface, particularly given how smooth it is.”

Cup Series teams will have one additional set than usual in qualifying for Sunday’s All-Star Race (1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, FOX One, HBO Max). The format includes the Pit Crew Challenge in its qualifying procedures, with a four-tire pit stop included in the time trials.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series will have a new combination for their 200-mile races this weekend. The right-side tires in both those series will make their debut at Dover, with a design aimed at handling the track’s speeds and heavy loads. The left-side tires for this weekend were also used at Darlington Raceway, Rockingham Speedway and Bristol earlier this season.

The tire allotments for each team competing this week:

Cup Series: 10 total sets — 6 new sets for the race, 2 for qualifying and Pit Crew Challenge, 2 for practice.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: 5 total sets — 3 new sets for the race, 1 for practice and 1 from qualifying that transfers to the race.
Craftsman Truck Series: 5 total sets — 3 new sets for the race, 1 for practice and 1 from qualifying that transfers to the race.

Posted on May 12, 2026May 12, 2026 by Cara Cooper

Mackenzie Deitz Repin would race just about anything, but Figure 8 racing is where her heart lies.

The third-generation driver from Lake Stevens, Washington comes from a long line of Figure 8 racers. Her grandfather, Vern, and uncle were both champions, and she’s one of nine drivers in her family currently competing.

“It’s definitely a family affair,” Repin said. “Our family has very deep roots in Figure 8 racing. That’s where a lot of our family roots are and so that’s what I wanted to try and accomplish. I’m open to any sort of racing, that’s just what’s in my blood.”

As a way to honor the legacy of Figure 8 racing in the northwest, Repin’s car this season at Evergreen Speedway has a new wrap with the names of every past champion in the division at the NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts track in Monroe, Washington.

The wrap, Repin said, was a way to “pay tribute to the history and to all the incredible talent there has been and is still around and still racing.”

One of those names is Repin’s. She won her first championship in the Super Stock Figure 8 division at Evergreen last season, and in doing so became the first female champion in that division at the track.

Even though she’s always had the bug to race, Repin got a later start in the sport than many of her competitors. Nine years ago, her grandfather and uncle had cars that were collecting dust, so her uncle let her try her hand in one. She ran a partial schedule in her first year, and said “We did OK. We stayed out of trouble for the most part.”

Mackenzie Deitz Repin comes from a long line of successful Figure 8 racers. (Photo: Courtesy Mackenzie Deitz Repin)

The next year, she moved into her grandfather’s car.

“He was like, ‘Let’s see how you do. That car’s been around for a while. A lot of people have driven it and have won in it,’” she said.

She kept racing and climbing the ranks, seeing improvement every year, which only made her want to keep competing.

The team did well in 2024, winning the first two races, and then three more before the season was done. But motor issues and a couple DNFs put them behind, and the team finished third in the final standings. Even though there were some disappointments, Repin said the strong year gave them confidence heading into 2025.

“We were confident that we had the ability to do it,” she said. “We just really needed to focus on preparing in the shop before every race, going through the car, making sure that it was set to go, and then just being smart on the track, making good decisions, being patient when needing to be patient and being aggressive when it allowed. So, last year I think what really lined up for us was just the consistency.”

Helping in her corner was Repin’s husband, Jake, a two-time track champion who now serves as her crew chief. The two actually met at the race track.

“My husband, first and foremost, he’s really the backbone of our team,” she said. “He has a lot of knowledge and he knows what it’s like to have that pressure on the line trying to go for a championship and trying to prepare and get everything ready for that. So it was really nice to have him in my corner and supporting me that the entire season.

“There’s quite a few that help us out. I really couldn’t do it without the support of my team.”

Repin didn’t have as many wins last season as she did in 2024, but she did finish every race, which was crucial. After finishing on the podium in 11 of 12 races, Repin won the track championship by 38 points.

“To be honest, it felt so surreal,” she said. “Winning the track championship has always been a dream since I started racing nine years ago… And having a family line of champions, thinking about it is a little overwhelming because you want to do well and show that you have the capabilities as well, but it puts a lot on your plate. So, just being able to win that championship, it meant so much for myself.”

While she says she’s never been a points racer, about midway through the season someone told her she also had a shot at winning the NASCAR West Region Division IV championship, which convinced her and the team to really go for another title. To get a few more races and collect points, the team twice traveled eight hours to Coos Bay Speedway in Oregon to compete in the track’s Hornet division. The issue – Coos Bay is a dirt track, and Repin had never raced on dirt before.

“It was different,” Repin said with a laugh. “Definitely different. It’s a completely different feeling.”

In her first practice at Coos Bay, Repin was the slowest car.

“I came back in and my husband/crew chief was like, ‘Babe, you’re pretty slow. You need to pick it up,’” she said.

After getting some pointers from those around her, Repin was third out of 11 cars after qualifying, and she finished third in both of her races at the track, something she said wouldn’t have been possible without her team and competition.

“It’s just taking the input that I get from my team and from my husband,” she said. “There were other racers out there that were giving us some feedback and helping, too, so it was just a team effort being able to do that because I would not have known what to do without the feedback of everybody else.”

At the end of the season, Repin’s success at both tracks was enough to clinch the NASCAR West Region Division IV championship.

“It was pretty surreal,” she said. “Even attempting to try and win it wasn’t even in our playbook for the year.”

Mackenzie Deitz Repin won two races in 2025, which allowed her to claim the Super Stock Figure 8 championship at Evergreen Speedway as well as the NASCAR Local Racing Series Division IV West Region title. (Photo: Courtesy of Mackenzie Deitz Repin)

Repin is hopeful her championship inspires the next generation of racers, and there’s one in her family who is catching on. Her daughter, Trinity, competes in Evergreen’s Hornet division, and has a second and third place finish so far this season.

“Just being able to watch her grow and learn and get more confident in herself and her capabilities has just been such a pleasure to watch,” Repin said. “It’s been pretty incredible watching her get comfortable and confident in herself and go out there with 30 cars.”

So far in 2026, Repin is third in the Super Stock Figure 8 points at Evergreen, just three points behind first.

Just like last year, she said consistency will be key this summer if she wants to compete for a second title.

“My husband and I always say that to win a championship, it’s done in the garage,” she said. “You need to make sure that your car and your equipment is ready to go every race. You don’t want to have a DNF because of something silly like you forgot to nut a bolt on the car. So we’re always in the shop each week working on it.

“We’re ready to try and win another championship. We’re excited. We’re optimistic. We have worked so hard in the offseason and through last year that we really want to try and back it up, but it’s going to take a lot of time and effort and consistency to try and get there. We’ve had an OK start so far this season, so we’re just optimistic trying to get ready for this year.”

Repin will be racing with a family legacy in the history books, and a Figure 8 legacy written right on her car. And she has immense pride in being part of all of it.

“I wish I would have started earlier in life, but it just didn’t work out that way, and so now I’m just trying to take advantage of the time that I have doing it now,” she said.

“This whole experience has just been super surreal. It’s been such a blast being able to do this and getting people interested in Figure 8. Introducing it to more people I think is really important. I just hope that it inspires the next generation and others to get into this sport. It’s for anybody willing to put in the work, and hopefully there’s more people that join. Especially to the young females and ladies that want to but don’t think they can, they absolutely can. I hope it just encourages more ladies, young ladies, all ladies, to get in and try it because you don’t know until you do.”

Racing will return to Evergreen Speedway this Saturday for Busch Light Military Appreciation Night Presented by Good Guys Heating Air & Electrical.