Busch savors RCR’s uptick in speed, hopes chemistry translates to ending Cup skid

Posted on May 16, 2026May 17, 2026 by Dustin Albino

DOVER, Del. — Kyle Busch doesn’t feel as though he’s ever lost a step. It’s hard to argue after watching another dominant performance in Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Dover Motor Speedway on the way to his 69th series victory, padding his record high.

“I don’t feel like I really lost anything,” Busch said after Friday’s truck win. “It’s just a matter of being able to go out there and do a good job and have the team be there with me to do a good job.”

But 105 Cup races have come and gone since the two-time Cup Series champion has visited Victory Lane. Next month will eclipse the three-year mark since his most recent triumph at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. He won in three of his first 15 starts with Richard Childress Racing before going cold.

In that span, Austin Dillon has won a pair of races at Richmond Raceway. With both Nos. 3 and 8 teams cracking the top 10 at Watkins Glen International, the organization is coming off its best collective performance since the Chicago Street Course last year, when Busch and Austin Hill – in a third entry – were scored inside the top 10. It was the first time Busch and Dillon placed in the top 10 in the same event since April 2024 at Texas Motor Speedway, some 75 races ago.

Busch has top 10s in two of the last three races in 2026 and had his best overall speed at Texas Motor Speedway, fading to finish 20th after contact with John Hunter Nemechek with two laps remaining. In that period, Andy Street joined the No. 8 team to call the shots for Busch, replacing rookie Cup crew chief Jim Pohlman.

Busch credits Street for the bump in speed.

“I guess I just remembered how to drive,” Busch quipped on Friday. “It’s Street – I don’t know what he’s doing different. I don’t feel like I’m talking to anybody any differently. I don’t feel like I’m relaying any of the information any differently. I just feel like it’s construed or thought about in a different way, and the execution of being able to listen to my words and being able to put it into the race car translates differently.

“It’s no different than Adam Stevens, I had him for five years, made the [Championship 4] five years in a row and we were unstoppable. We won [28] races in those years. It was crazy and easy. I was like, ‘This is Jimmie and Chad.’ When you can find those moments and those guys that you can click with, you try to do everything in your power to keep it all together as much as you can.”

MORE: Get to know Andy Street

The driver-crew chief relationship between Busch and Street has just clicked. In a handful of races at the conclusion of the 2025 season, they scored two top 10s, including a fifth-place effort in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, matching Busch’s best result of the campaign (Circuit of The Americas and Chicago).

Dillon has noticed how the pairing has connected.

“I think they had a little chemistry and it’s just bled over,” Dillon told a group of reporters at Dover. “Andy has a positive mindset with Kyle, and he can ask more out of Kyle and Kyle can ask more out of him. Their relationship is good – that’s the biggest thing. They feel confident talking around each other and putting it out there.”

Immediate speed in practice has been critical for Busch. The No. 8 team ranked fourth in single-lap speed during practice for the All-Star Race, and clocked in second on 10-lap averages, trailing only Carson Hocevar. That follows a recent trend that Busch has noticed.

“I feel like we’ve had good speed off the truck at Watkins Glen. Texas, I was working my way into it. It’s nice to be able to score top five in practice, even though it doesn’t pay anything. It’s better than the alternative of unloading in the bottom five.”

The most noticeable difference, Busch believes, lies within the data. It’s not even about the gathering of numbers, but rather who is dissecting the information and how it’s being decoded.

“I think sometimes it’s just how you interpret the data, who is interpreting the data and things like that,” Busch added on Saturday. “I’ve seen it in years prior where some engineer might be looking at the squiggly lines and they are upside down. It sounds as dumb as it may be, like, ‘Uh, that doesn’t quite look right, flip that section over’ and it tells you a different story.”

Positivity is beginning to flow within the RCR walls. Having momentum and confidence “gives you that vote of confidence that we’re doing our job,” Busch said. The No. 8 car will take the green flag for Sunday’s All-Star Race (1 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in 11th position.

Posted on May 16, 2026May 17, 2026 by John Crane

DOVER, Del. — It has been an up-and-down stretch for William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team through the opening portion of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign.

Entering Sunday’s All-Star Race action at Dover Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), William Byron sits 12th in the Cup Series standings; the 28-year-old driver dropped two markers to outside the top 10 following his 36th-place result at Watkins Glen International last weekend, his third finish of 30th or worse in the last five races.

RELATED: Weekend schedule | At-track photos

“I just looked when I was in the bus, I mean, it’s like we finished top 10, we finished 30th, we finished top 10, 30th,” Byron said on his recent rocky stretch. “It’s kind of been that for five weeks now, so yeah. Some of it was just bad luck. I mean, last week we just got crashed out and kind of that restart in the way that that went, just got cleaned out there. Talladega, there’s not much we could do with the big ones, so yeah.

“The saying kind of goes: If you’re in the middle of the back or you’re back there, you’re bound to get in stuff. So that was unfortunate last week because I thought we were on the back side of the top 10 and had a shot to finish there, and I feel like we would’ve, but yeah, got cleaned out there, and yeah, it’s just been not gathering a lot of stage points, either, and so that’s kind of where we’re at.”

Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet has shown glimpses of the high-upside speed that has netted the star at least one Cup victory every season since 2020. Aside from a 28th-place DNF at EchoPark Speedway in February, Byron began the year with six finishes of 13th or better in the first seven races, including a season-best fifth-place result at Martinsville Speedway in March.

Since Martinsville, however, turbulence has increased, with no laps led since and a dip from fifth in the Cup standings to 12th. Byron’s 57 stage points rank 12th among all drivers, and his 34 laps led rank 16th. Through the first 12 races of 2026, Byron possesses two top fives and six top 10s with a 16.0 average finish.

MORE: 2026 All-Star Race format explained

Though there are no points on the line during All-Star competition at the “Monster Mile,” Byron believes a strong exhibition showing from practice to the race itself can be just the momentum needed to get the No. 24 camp back on track. Byron, already locked into the main event, will start fifth in the opening segment. Byron’s best All-Star Race finish came at North Wilkesboro Speedway last season (sixth).

“I think the speed is encouraging this weekend,” Byron said. “I think the speed was good at Texas, and we’re working super hard, so just got to put it all together and have smoother races, calmer races where you’re just up toward the front and have a chance to gather a bunch of points, so yeah, it’s just tough when you’re kind of in the middle and things can happen.”

Posted on May 16, 2026May 16, 2026 by Holly Cain

DOVER, Del. — Denny Hamlin has claimed pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race (1 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in a late qualifying session effort, unseating RFK Racing co-owner and driver Brad Keselowski in the final minutes of Saturday’s unique three-lap bid to set the field at Dover Motor Speedway.

The next-to-last driver to qualify, Hamlin spun his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on the warm-up lap just as he took to the 1-mile high-banked track, but recovered and excelled when it mattered — taking the lead starting position by 0.149 seconds over Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford.

RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Dover

“Quite eventful for sure,” Hamlin conceded of his lap, insisting he’d never really been remarkably fast in this style of qualifying format.

“I just spun out. I don’t know. I didn’t think I was being that aggressive but spun out. At that point, just tried to minimize the damage. … That wasn’t ideal, but then I just committed to run the lap as hard as I could, and it was still good enough.”

“It’s risk versus reward and certainly challenges the driver…. But definitely a team effort.”

Zane Smith’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford team won Saturday’s $100,000 Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge, establishing themselves best on the speed chart early in the session and its work ultimately proving unbeatable. Although Smith’s overall speed places him 25th on the starting grid, the Pit Crew Challenge win earned the team first pit stall selection Sunday — something that could be the difference in advancing Smith into the 200-lap finale.

The pole position was based on a three-lap run that also included the timed pit stop on the second lap. Late in the session, Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson seemed to have bettered Keselowski’s early work, but Larson received penalties for being too fast on pit road and not blending properly back onto the “Monster Mile’s” high banks — the time penalty ultimately costing the three-time All-Star race winner a front row spot. And Hamlin topped both drivers in the end.

Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones, Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron rounded out the five fastest cars. Defending All-Star Race winner, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, was sixth fastest.

MORE: Friday recap

Several perennial favorites struggled during the unique qualifying format with pit road miscues and/or time penalties, including rookie Connor Zilisch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chris Buescher, Daniel Suárez, along with former series champs Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, who had slow stops.

This marks the first time the series has held its annual $1 million to-win, All-Star Race at the 1-mile concrete track in Delaware. It will include two 75-lap segments and then a 200-lap finale to settle the big check.

There are 19 drivers currently in the 200-lap final segment and trophy-determining portion of the event — including Cup Series championship leader Tyler Reddick and fellow 2026 race winners Ty Gibbs and Carson Hocevar. Joining them are 2025 race winners Hamlin, Shane van Gisbergen, Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Byron, Larson, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Josh Berry, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace and Bell.

Kyle Busch, who won Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series race at Dover, also has an automatic spot on the grid as a former All-Star race winner — as does Keselowski as a former series champion.

The first two segments of Sunday’s event are 75-laps followed by the 200-lap finale, which includes the 19 drivers locked in, plus the six best-performing drivers from the opening segments and the “Fan Vote” winner.

Posted on May 16, 2026May 16, 2026 by Staff Report

See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers will pit this weekend at Dover Motor Speedway.

NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX One, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Ecosave 200 at Dover Motor Speedway on Friday (5 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: How to watch NASCAR on FOX

Posted on May 15, 2026May 16, 2026 by Dustin Albino

DOVER, Del. — Bubba Wallace saw red after getting dumped by John Hunter Nemechek with 15 laps remaining in last Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. After the race, Toyota mate Christopher Bell confronted Wallace on pit road, wondering what had gotten into him.

“I got wiped out by [Nemechek],” Wallace told reporters on Friday at Dover Motor Speedway. “We were in potential for a top-10, top-12 day. I got wiped out following [Tyler Reddick], and when I put so much freaking effort into becoming a better road-course racer — I joke with you guys that I suck and I don’t give a damn about road courses; I really do. It’s a competitive nature and I push hard every time we get into the car and at that point in the race, everything was clicking.”

Wallace was on the cusp of bettering or equaling his lone Watkins Glen top 10 from 2025, when he placed eighth. He was rivaling the lap times of Reddick, his 23XI Racing teammate, and when he was clipped entering Turn 1 by a fellow Toyota teammate, all bets were off.

“When that happens, you see freaking red and you don’t care who is out there,” Wallace said. “You don’t care if your wife and kids are out on the race track, you are going to race the dog [expletive] out of them because you had everything ripped away from you.

“[Riley Herbst] was in that mix, I raced the [expletive] out of him. [Christopher Bell] was in the mix, I raced the [expletive] out of him. Whoever else was in that mix, I didn’t care just because my race was ruined 30 seconds beforehand. They have no idea, so I put myself in their shoes. What you see on pit road, C-Bell is pissed that I raced him so hard and that was simply me saying, ‘I don’t give a damn.’ I just had my race ruined and so I’m going to race everyone hard. I don’t care who it is.”

Later on Sunday evening, Wallace called Bell to further discuss their on-track battle. It led to a civil conversation with both drivers putting their fierce battle in the rear view.

“We didn’t even have a run-in on track,” Bell told NASCAR.com after rounding out the top five in Friday’s Ecosave 200 Craftsman Truck Series race. “He was very aggressive towards me, and I asked him what was up. He obviously had a rough day and a rough go of it. I get it.

“If I wouldn’t have confronted him, I don’t think he would have known that I was upset. We’re all great.”

Before their tight-quarters racing, Bell had no knowledge that Wallace had spun. He thought that Wallace was dropping positions on old tires.

Wallace ended: “I said, ‘I would understand that scenario and you would expect me to point you by,’ and I damn sure would. Just like every other time I’m on a road course bleeding spots, have at it. In that one, when I just went from everything is clicking — everything is still clicking — but I’m pissed off doing it now, so you were just caught in the crosshairs.”

Bell took the checkered flag in 21st position, his worst showing in six Watkins Glen attempts. Wallace plummeted to 29th after the contact.

Posted on May 15, 2026May 15, 2026 by Holly Cain

DOVER, Del. — Kyle Busch did what Kyle Busch does best in a truck at Dover Motor Speedway. Win.

Busch claimed his record fifth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series trophy and 13th overall at the famous concrete one-miler, dominating Friday’s Ecosave 200 leading 147 of the 200 laps in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet and sweeping both stage victories en route to a 3.039-second victory over former series champ, ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Dover

After a well-deserved, deep bow to the crowd at the finish line, a grateful Busch spoke of his fondness for the high-banked track where he will compete in the NASCAR Cup Series’ annual All-Star Race on Sunday. It marked his series best 69th career win — and second in four starts this season.

“You never know when the last one is,” Busch said of savoring the victory. “I know all too well unfortunately with the Cup stuff, but here with the Truck stuff now, it’s awesome to be part of Spire Motorsports.

“I’m sure it looked great out front, leading the race,” and, he added with a grin. “It wasn’t just Kyle Larson doing it. Feels good to have another Kyle able to do it and put ourselves in Victory Lane. Love coming to Dover, always one of my favorite places to race.

“Definitely some managing of the fuel there, managing the tires there. It was an interesting strategic battle I guess from the driver’s seat. Thanks to the fans and all the people for being here.

“All in all, takes a lot of great people behind you and with you,” he added of the Spire Motorsports team. “It’s fun and want to keep doing it.”

The only other driver to truly challenge Busch in the series’ return to Dover after a six-year break was fellow NASCAR Cup Series regular, Ross Chastain, who led 49 laps but had to pit late in the race for fuel after a spirited side-by-side battle with Busch midway through the event.

Majeski did his best to keep Busch honest in earning his runner-up finish — which equaled his previous top effort of the season. Front Row Motorsports’ Layne Riggs finished third. Last week’s winner, Tricon Garage’s Kaden Honeycutt, finished fourth in the No. 11 Toyota after an impressive rally from an early race pit stop penalty. NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell rounded out the top five.

With his work Friday, Honeycutt now holds a 38-point advantage on Riggs atop the championship standings. Chandler Smith is third, 39 points back.

Brandon Jones, Christian Eckes, Corey LaJoie, Jake Garcia and Justin Haley rounded out the top 10. Former NASCAR Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer, who works full-time in the FOX Sports NASCAR booth calling Cup Series races, made a spot start for Kaulig Racing’s RAM truck program, finishing 29th after a tire problem in the closing laps.

“I had a ton of fun,” Bowyer said. “This is a cool race track, a demanding race track and neat to see Kyle Busch in Victory Lane, NASCAR needs that and it gives him so much confidence moving into tomorrow’s event and Sunday.

“Proud of being a part of this, and who knows, maybe I’ll be a part of it again.”

The race was also significant in having three women in the field — equaling a high mark last set in 2021.

Although she spun out 37 laps into the race, Dystany Spurlock became the first black woman to ever start a NASCAR national series race, and although she spun and took a 36th-place finish, she was also encouraged by her debut.

“Today is a great day,” Spurlock said. “We did make history, which is phenomenal. Of course I wanted to finish the race, but this is racing and things like this happen. Just going to get ready for the next race.”

Toni Breidinger finished 25th and Natalie Decker was 34th.

The Craftsman Truck Series’ next race is the North Carolina Education Lottery 200, scheduled next Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 2025 series champion Corey Heim is last year’s race winner.

Note: Post-race inspection in the Craftsman Truck Series garage was completed without issue, confirming Busch’s Dover victory. Competition officials designated four trucks for further inspection next week at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina: No. 10 Kaulig Racing Ram, No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet.

Posted on May 15, 2026 by John Crane

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.

MORE: Paint Scheme Preview | At-track photos

“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.”

Posted on May 15, 2026May 16, 2026 by Dustin Albino

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.”

Recently, it’s been the latter.

RELATED: Dover schedule | At-track photos

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.

Posted on May 15, 2026May 15, 2026 by Staff Report

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.

MORE: At-track photos: Dover | All-Star format explained

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.

Posted on May 15, 2026May 16, 2026 by Holly Cain

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.

RELATED: Cup schedule | Cup standings

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.”