Huntersville, N.C. — The Coca-Cola Company has joined 23XI Racing as the Exclusive Beverage Partner of Bubba Wallace and the No. 23 team. The partnership builds on a relationship that began last year with Coca-Cola Consolidated, which included branding on Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE and engagement opportunities on and off the track.
The partnership pairs one of NASCAR’s newest teams with one of the most recognizable and longest tenured brands in NASCAR. Coca-Cola has a long history in motorsports, including over 40 years of title sponsorship of the Coca-Cola 600, one of NASCAR’s most prestigious races. Coca-Cola’s storied partnership in NASCAR also includes the Coca-Cola Racing Family, which launched in 1998. Wallace will return to the Coca-Cola Racing Family of drivers after being a member from 2018 through 2020.
To kick off the expanded collaboration, Coca-Cola will debut a co-branded paint scheme with Hardee’s on Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International on May 10th. The car will premiere as The Coca-Cola Company celebrates its 140th anniversary. The iconic beverage brand will also be featured on Wallace’s fire suits throughout the season, as well as on the No. 23 team’s uniforms and equipment.
For Wallace — who has had a strong start to the season — the partnership is a full-circle moment.
“I couldn’t be happier to be back in the Coca-Cola Racing Family,” said Wallace. “I enjoyed the work we did together in the past and look forward to again connecting with race fans as part of this program. I’m known to have an ice-cold Coca-Cola after the race, so this is the perfect partnership. Now, it’s going to be even better to share a Coke with the 23 team here at 23XI.”
“NASCAR has long been part of Coca‑Cola’s story, and welcoming Bubba Wallace back to the Coca‑Cola Racing Family through our partnership with 23XI Racing is a natural extension of that legacy,” said Don Rouse, VP of Sports & Entertainment Marketing, Coca-Cola North America. “Together, we’re connecting with fans through a program built on authenticity, shared values, and a genuine love for the sport.”
Editor’s Note: Keep tabs on this page for lineup advice following qualifying, including changes you should consider.
Fantasy Update: Carson Hocevar and Spire Motorsports continue to deliver. The company swept the front row with Hocevar winning the Busch Light Pole Adward for Sunday’s main event at Texas Motor Speedway after winning the Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday evening. The main change this week is swapping Daniel Suárez in over Brad Keselowski, who qualified 25th. Many drivers believe that the primary contenders at the first two intermediate races in 2026 will be the cars to beat again on Sunday. Admittedly, with the strength Toyota has displayed at 1.5-mile venues, my strategy could be risky this weekend, as my lineup is littered with Chevrolets.
My lineup: Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, Carson Hocevar, Chase Elliott, William Byron.
Garage: Daniel Suárez.
Picking the ultimate fantasy lineup for Texas Motor Speedway is akin to playing your hand at the roulette table. In the 14 races at the reconfigured 1.5-mile track, pure chaos has ensued. Since 2023, all three 400-mile races have had at least 11 cautions, with the last two events having seven cautions apiece in the final stage. In the Next Gen era, Texas has averaged 14 cautions per race, more than any other active venue. What does that mean? Be wise in who you select this weekend; we are approaching the midway point of the regular season, and usage is running slim.
Returning to Fastlane this year is my weekly NASCAR 36 for 36 pick, where you can come play along. It’s a season-long points battle introduced in 2024 where strategy is the primary emphasis. With 36 chartered cars and 36 races on the 2026 schedule, players can choose each car once for the duration of the season.
Driver:William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Selections remaining: 8 Comment: With his recent Texas numbers, including a 2023 victory, Byron is among the few drivers you can count on to produce a solid outing this weekend. Byron has six top-10 finishes in 11 attempts in the Lone Star State, and his average finish of 11.4 ranks as his best among active 1.5-mile venues.
Driver:Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Selections remaining: 6 Comment: It wouldn’t sit right to omit Larson as a starter, but it’s a dangerous pick. No driver has spent more laps inside the top five in the Next Gen era at Texas than Larson (629), and he’s led more than triple the number of laps as any driver in five races with Hendrick (541). The finishes have been sporadic, however, placing 21st or worse in two of the last three events.
Driver:Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Selections remaining: 9 Comment: Toyota has ruled the first two 1.5-mile races in 2026, but Texas isn’t an ordinary intermediate. Briscoe has a trio of top 10s in five Texas starts with an average finish of 12.6, his best among 1.5-mile tracks. You need to weigh risk versus reward this weekend, and the No. 19 team has plenty of upside.
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
DRIVERS TO AVOID
Driver:Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Selections remaining: 9 Comment: Everyone enjoys a visit to their native soil, but the Texan, who hails from 50 miles northeast of the Fort Worth layout, has seen better days in cowboy country. RFK has impressed at intermediates to begin 2026, but Buescher is still searching for his first top 10 here through 16 attempts.
Driver:Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Selections remaining: 10 Comment: Coming off Bowman’s best race of the season at Talladega Superspeedway, he heads to arguably his worst circuit on the schedule. He has a pair of top 10s in 16 Texas trips, finishing 29th or worse in four of the last five starts. His average finish of 25.4 is his worst among active 1.5-mile tracks.
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
SLEEPERS OF THE WEEK
Driver:Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Selections remaining: 10 Comment: Yet to capture a checkered flag in Texas, Jones’ numbers aren’t as flashy as Darlington Raceway, taking home two Southern 500 trophies. However, Texas is Jones’ most consistent track. He has four top fives and eight top 10s in 14 starts, accumulating an average finish of 11.8, his best among active tracks.
Driver:Daniel Suárez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Selections remaining: 10 Comment: While the field has been consistently inconsistent at Texas, Suárez enters this weekend with five straight finishes of 12th or better here, four of which landed inside the top 10. This is the type of place that falls into Spire’s wheelhouse.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
FEATURED MATCHUPS
Carson Hocevar vs. Ty Gibbs Pick: Hocevar Comment: Like Gibbs two weeks ago, Hocevar is riding high after his first Cup victory last weekend. The track’s defending polesitter said recently that Texas was a strong spot for the No. 77 team, though the numbers say otherwise. It’s hard to bet against Toyota at an intermediate, but Gibbs’ weak spot, historically, has been 1.5-mile tracks, despite scoring top 10s in both intermediate races this season.
Joey Logano vs. Chase Elliott Pick: Elliott Comment: Aside from winning this race in 2024, Elliott’s recent Texas record leaves a lot to be desired, with two top 10s in the last nine races. Logano enters as the defending winner, but Team Penske’s raw pace at 1.5-mile venues is concerning.
Brad Keselowski vs. Chase Briscoe Pick: Briscoe Comment: Don’t overlook Keselowski this weekend. He’s posted six top 10s in the last seven Texas races and also holds the most laps led (685) of active drivers without a win here. Briscoe, in my mind, enters the weekend as one of the favorites, especially if he can lay down a decent qualifying lap.
Ross Chastain vs. Daniel Suárez Pick: Suárez Comment: Chastain thrives off chaos, and it’s proven with runner-up efforts in two of the last three Texas races. But Trackhouse has been among the biggest mysteries to begin 2026, and their lack of speed at Kansas two weeks ago is alarming. Suárez, meanwhile, feels rejuvenated with Spire, and Texas is among his steadiest tracks.
Pick: Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Comment: With another late-race incident that spiraled Jones’ Talladega finish, we are projecting a rebound weekend. As noted, it’s arguably his best track on the schedule, constantly hovering near the top 10. He has three finishes of 12th or better in five starts piloting the famed No. 43 machine.
Justin Allgaier has been strong at Texas Motor Speedway. Still, the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet has never won at the 1.5-mile track in Fort Worth.
To wit, Allgaier has qualified in the top 10 in 12 of the last 13 events at Texas. He won the pole in 2023. He also has five top-five finishes in the last seven races, including a runner-up in 2021.
He has led 349 laps in the last three races combined. He has also won five of the last six stages at the track and a record seven overall.
Yet, Allgaier is still seeking his first Texas victory. He will try again in Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 (3:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Allgaier leads all drivers with eight Dash 4 Cash wins. However, he is not eligible for the $100,000 bonus in the final race of this year’s program. Even so, a win would still carry plenty of weight.
“Texas has been a really good track for us over the last few years,” Allgaier says. “I know that [crew chief] Andrew [Overstreet] and all the guys on this Roto-Rooter Chevrolet are working really hard to give us another car capable of running up front again this weekend.”
The driver adds, “We’ve come close here before, and hopefully we can be in a position at the end of the day to get that one spot better and come away with a cowboy hat.”
Allgaier faces challengers
Defending race winner Kyle Larson, making his fourth start of the season in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, stands in Allgaier’s way. Larson has a win, a runner-up and a fourth-place finish in his first three starts this year.
Sheldon Creed is chasing his third straight Dash 4 Cash bonus. He won at Kansas Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway with finishes of second and third. He must finish higher than Corey Day, Sammy Smith and Brent Crews to collect the $100,000 prize.
Corey Day is also in the mix. He is coming off his first career O’Reilly Series win at Talladega. Last Saturday, he became just the sixth driver in series history to win his first race while leading only the final lap.
ARLINGTON, Va. — Few motorsports events carry the prestige of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway during Memorial Day weekend. One of the honors the defending winner of the crown-jewel event participates in is the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Eleven months removed from his last-to-first victory in the 400-lapper, Chastain felt the gravity instantly when he entered Arlington National Cemetery for the first time on Wednesday.
“When we turned in, we met out front here, got the SUVs and rode into the gate, and it just felt like a different world,” Chastain said, “to think about what this property was when this started, and what it has amassed into, and how many graves there are here, and what that signifies across the history of this country — absolutely surreal. I can’t grasp what it is behind those gates and how special they made that whole ceremony for us.”
Upon entry to Arlington National Cemetery, visitors are hit with the sobering reminder of those who made the ultimate sacrifice across generations. Over 400,000 fallen Americans lie at rest in the cemetery with an average of 30 funerals taking place daily across the property’s 639 acres.
With stops that included a visit to the memorial of the astronauts lost in both the Columbia and Challenger space shuttle missions and the headstone of First Lieutenant Audie L. Murphy — a veteran recognized as the most decorated combat soldier in World War II — Chastain, Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks and family members from the pair took in the solemn sights that matched a gloomy and cold morning.
When it was time for Chastain and Marks, accompanied by Charlotte Motor Speedway President Greg Walter and 2025 Coke 600 race-winning crew chief Phil Surgen, to get the rundown of the wreath-laying ceremony and witness the Changing of the Guard at the tomb, Chastain felt the weight of the moment.
“(I was) more nervous for that than a Cup race on Sunday, for sure,” Chastain said. “I (had) clammy hands, sweating. I mean, it’s a cool day, perfect day to be in a suit and my socks got a little wet there. Just nerves to walk the steps and to stay in sync with the guard, listening to them and then prepping us, you realize how thought out all this is, how long they’ve been doing this no matter the weather. We were here on a day where we were very questionable about what kind of weather we were going to get. We knew we were going to be there rain or shine.”
With family, students and general visitors on hand to witness the Changing of the Guard and the wreath-laying, a heavy silence fell in the minutes after the 11 a.m. ET clock bells rang to signal the change and every precise step and shoe click carried the preciousness of life and honoring the memory of those lost. The silence was layered with the playing of “Taps” with every perfect note symbolizing gratitude and respect.
Marks, who also made his first trip to Arlington National Cemetery, said he was reminded of how his day-to-day operations are put into perspective during a visit like this.
“To walk down those steps and to hear ‘Taps,’ it’s emotional. It’s really, really emotional,” Marks said. “It’s heavy, but it’s an honor and it’s just really humbling. I had this moment there thinking it’s amazing that we’re here because of race cars, because of something so inconsequential and meaningless as a race car. We’re meaningful in that we’re entertaining people, we’re inspiring people and we’re supporting our families by finding lines of work that we’re good at and passionate about. It was just a great, humbling moment.”
Donning the Coke 600 ring and capping the year-long celebration of his biggest NASCAR victory is one area of pride for Chastain, but one that will stick with him longest from the visit is having his family on sight to witness him partake in the ceremony.
From the humble farming grounds of Alva, Florida, to just outside the United States’ capital, Chastain couldn’t be more grateful to be joined by the people who got him to where he is now.
“My grandparents are here. Meemaw, my granddaddy on my dad’s side — a very incredible experience for them to get on a plane, leave Alva and come up here,” Chastain said. “It’s tough for them and I’m thankful that they made the trek, and my family for helping them get here. They’ve never booked an Uber, never ridden in an Uber before, and they’re jumping in cars and buses to get here and a plane to fly up. Really thankful for the group that came up. It means more when they’re here.”
The reminder of May’s Coke 600 also serves as an upcoming event the Trackhouse organization has circled on their calendar.
It’s no secret Trackhouse has been behind the 8-ball early in the 2026 season, with Chastain highest among the team’s three full-time drivers in points at just 18th, and just two top fives combined in 10 races among Chastain, Shane van Gisbergen and rookie Connor Zilisch.
With Arlington as a lasting reminder of sacrifice and what Trackhouse is able to do because of those who served, Marks said Charlotte could be a big turnaround.
Credit: Speedway Motorsports
“I think going back as defending winners, after having days like this in Arlington, it’s going to put some wind in our sails,” Marks said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do right now in our company to build faster race cars. Because of all the lean-in content, the tune-in stuff, it’s imagery of your team winning, of you winning the race and so you’re sort of inundated with this imagery of what a year prior meant for your company. This Coke 600 truly is one of the greatest wins, if not the greatest win that we’ve had in the history of the company.
“We know going into the 600, we’ve got a driver that can win, we’ve got a team that can win and hopefully we’re back here a year from today.”
The way Christian Eckes’ 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season ended left a sour taste in his mouth. He won four times and finished outside the top 10 just once, but it resulted in another championshipless campaign.
With a NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series promotion in tow, Eckes promised himself that he’d never drive another Truck race unless it came for Bill McAnally.
So far, he’s held to his word.
After a one-year stint with Kaulig Racing, Eckes is back at McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in 2026 with goals as big as ever. And yes, he kept his receipts.
“We kind of felt like we got screwed out of a championship [in 2024] after being the most consistent all year long and scoring a lot of points, breaking records, doing everything we needed to do, and then just finishing third at Phoenix,” Eckes told NASCAR.com. “It’s kind of like a revenge tour in that respect — to show that I’m still talented and can still do the things that I want to do, like win races.”
Eckes went toe-to-toe with Corey Heim over a thrilling 2024 season, but ultimately, Ty Majeski defeated both of them for his first series title. The Middletown, New York, native won nine times since 2021, which, unsurprisingly, earned him a ride in the O’Reilly Series. His rookie voyage didn’t start according to plan, ranking 18th in points through the first 14 races, but the 25-year-old climbed as high as 13th in points over the summer.
But around the same time, Eckes started to hear the internal noise.
Kaulig announced a partnership with Ram in the Truck Series, which meant at least a temporary end for the organization’s O’Reilly Series program. Not long after, Eckes got the ball rolling again with MHR.
“I called Bill [McAnally] on a random night and was like, ‘hey, what do you think about this? Is this an opportunity?'” Eckes explained. “He just told me ‘yes, for sure, and we’re going to make it happen.’
“I hadn’t really driven anything else over the last 10 years, almost, so to get to experience the O’Reilly Series and get to experience a new team, a new situation, a bigger team that I hadn’t really gotten in the past was definitely worth it … I have nothing but respect for the Kaulig guys. Really enjoyed my time there. I felt like I grew a lot while I was there as a person and as a driver. I definitely got better throughout the entire experience, but I have always felt like Bill McAnally Racing is home to me, and wanted to get back to winning and competing and being around that environment.”
While most of MHR’s leadership has remained the same, Eckes returns to the Statesville, North Carolina, shop with a brand new crew. Daniel Hemric occupies his No. 19 Chevrolet from years past, so the organization tapped Eckes for the No. 91 entry and hired veteran crew chief Dave Elenz, who forged his own unique path in 2025, to lead the foray.
A two-time O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion, Elenz moved to the Cup Series in 2022, calling the shots for Erik Jones at Legacy Motor Club. He won the Southern 500 with Jones as a rookie Cup crew chief, but just two years later, Elenz and Jones parted ways amid a career-worst 2024 season, and he stepped away from the industry.
Now 45 years old, Elenz took nearly eight months off before accepting a position with a flowforming company in the Boston suburbs. He commuted weekly from North Carolina, but returned home on the weekends to spend time with family — something he couldn’t do as a Cup crew chief. Elenz originally hoped to stay in NASCAR for the 2025 season and had conversations with McAnally about a position, but the stars aligned a year later for a can’t-miss opportunity with Eckes in the Truck Series.
Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images
“[Bill] was pretty excited about Christian coming back, and obviously, they had a good history,” Elenz told NASCAR.com. “When Charles [Denike, former crew chief] was here, they had very fast [trucks] and lots of wins. And that part was exciting to me. I know Christian is capable of winning; I know Bill’s doing it. And the aspect of Saturdays and Sundays at home is big for me, and I could be competitive and still have a chance to see my family.
“You get to work and touch more areas of the vehicle than what you can on the Cup side. Sometimes, it’s nice not to be in meetings all day and actually get to go out and work on race cars, because that’s actually what we love to do, and that’s kind of why we all started, was to work on race cars. On the Cup side, there’s so many people involved, and you have to be so good at every level that it just ends up that you don’t get to see the race car as much, and it’s harder for one individual to contribute to that difference. So that’s been exciting for me to get back to touching, feeling, working on the race car and seeing my results make a difference.”
And so far, it’s admittedly been a mixed bag for Eckes and Elenz. They finished third in the season opener at Daytona, but eight days later, a mechanical issue put them behind the wall at EchoPark just two laps into the 125-lap timed contest. In races at St. Petersburg and Rockingham, the 91 team never contended and finished outside the top 10.
The last time the Truck Series raced, however, all the ingredients finally came together. Eckes paced a race-high 132 laps and won the opening stage at Bristol, but after contact with Heim while battling for the Triple Truck Challenge payday, he faded back to fifth in the final stint.
That said, Eckes is still fifth in points, only 17 markers behind series leader Chandler Smith.
“Bristol was kind of what I anticipate us being able to be capable of,” Eckes said. “If it stays green, [we were in] a really good position to win, which I feel like this team is capable of doing on a weekly basis. So we’re moving in the right direction. There’s things that I need to clean up, there’s things that Dave needs to clean up — as a whole, our group needs to clean up, but we’re heading in the right direction.
“The 91 team, in general, is extremely dangerous if we can have a perfect day, and not perfect, but have a good day. But those are kind of at a 50% rate right now. If you look at three of the races where we ran top five, won stages and led laps, did everything we needed to, we combined to get 150 points, but the other three, we only have 40 points [combined]. So just consistency, more than anything, is something that we’re lacking … once we do that on a consistent basis, I feel very good about the state of the 91 team.”
With the Truck Series returning to action Friday at Texas Motor Speedway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), it begins six consecutive weeks of racing for the tailgaters. Next week is a trip to the twists and turns of Watkins Glen International before visiting Dover Motor Speedway for the first time since 2020. Afterward, it’s a home game at Charlotte Motor Speedway — the final 1.5-mile race of the regular season.
This upcoming stretch of races, as Elenz explains, closely mimics tracks featured in The Chase, the new postseason format that will deliver a champion come November. He believes that success over the month and a half will answer whether the 91 team is truly a title contender.
“This six-race stretch is going to be very telling for us,” Elenz said. “If we’re successful through this, it makes the summertime easier than trying to get a little bit better going into the final stretch. But if we struggle through this, we’re going to have a lot of work to do, and we’re going to have to find speed.
“It’s a lot of good tracks for Christian, it’s good tracks for McAnally Racing. So I look forward to the success that we’re going to have, but yeah, I think it’s ultra important for us to be able to win the (regular season). We’re in a hole right now, we need to gain points through it, and this [stretch] is going to tell where our speed is at and what areas we’re going to have to work on to be in the championship at the end of the year.”
And with Eckes back at a place he calls home, the sky is the limit.
“I’m working as hard as I’ve ever worked, plus some, to try to win and get back what I feel my standard is: winning races, winning poles, winning stages, leading laps and then inevitably winning a championship,” he said. “We have some work to do to get where I want to be in that equation, but we’re getting closer every week.”
It’s no secret that the 2026 season hasn’t exactly been the finest of Kyle Busch’s storied career.
Behind the wheel of the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, Busch has scored his fewest top fives (0) and top 10s (1), second-worst average finish (22.1), worst Adjusted Points+ index (63) and worst average Driver Rating (58.0) in the first 10 races of a season. For a driver of his historical stature, it’s been jarring to see results more in line with a backmarker than a Chase contender thus far.
However, there are at least a few reasons to think a “Rowdy” turnaround might be brewing as the season passes its quarter-pole and roars toward the backstretch of the calendar. Some of that has to do with Busch’s most recent result, his best of the season, and some with personnel changes on the pit box. But it also has to do with the tendency for drivers of Busch’s rare ability to adapt and find a late-career resurgence even after it looks like the window has permanently closed.
In an immediate sense, the biggest change for the No. 8 team is new leadership within RCR. After 10 races with James Pohlman replacing Randall Burnett, who’d been on top of the box for Busch during most of the 2023-25 seasons, it was announced Monday that Pohlman was moving to a different position at RCR in favor of Andy Street. Street was Busch’s crew chief at the tail end of last season, with a better average finish in those races (15.8) than the 8-car produced in its other outings (18.3).
Moreover, Busch is coming off his best drive of 2026. At Talladega on Sunday, he scored his first top 10 of the season — as well as his highest Driver Rating of the year, in addition to being his first time cracking a Cup-average rating since COTA (on March 1):
Yes, it was Talladega, where the typical last-lap chaos took out a handful of the drivers who were bunched up in front of him heading out of the final turn. If there was ever a place not to read too much into any given result, it’s probably NASCAR’s biggest, fastest and most chaotic track. But hey, when you’re slumping, any glimmer of hope is welcome.
Absent further improvement, Busch is still fighting through one of the worst career dips in Cup Series history. In the span of nine seasons, his average Driver Rating has fallen from a peak of 109.3 — one of the best ever — in 2018 to this year’s career low of 58.0, a 51.3-point drop. Among modern Cup drivers (since 1972), only Dale Jarrett and Cale Yarborough suffered bigger fall-offs in the same length of time during their careers:
The common theme for these drivers, of course, is that they were all incredible at their peaks, with average ratings well in excess of triple digits. In order to even have 50 points of Driver Rating to spare and still be in Cup at all, you have to be one of history’s best drivers to begin with — and Busch certainly ticks off that box in his career.
This, in turn, offers us some points of comparison that may illustrate how drivers who fell off at ages similar to Busch’s nonetheless found additional acts at the end of their careers. Take, for example, the cases of Bill Elliott, Mark Martin and Ricky Rudd. While none hit Driver Rating depths quite as low as Busch is on pace for in 2026, each did suffer pronounced drop-offs at or around the age Busch is now:
But in each case, they were able to rebound and produce additional seasons with ratings comparable to what they had before the decline. While those are just three historical outliers, we also saw similar — if a bit less dramatic — late-career turnaround arcs from Terry Labonte (whose age-44 rating of 57.1, driving Busch’s own future Hendrick No. 5 in 2001, returned to a 75.7 in 2003) and Brad Keselowski (whose dip to 67.9 in 2022 rebounded to 82.1 the next year and 78.7 this year). Clint Bowyer fell to an unthinkably bad 51.7 running the No. 15 car for Harry Scott, Jr. in 2016, but he was back to a 93.0 rating within a few seasons.
(Granted, Bowyer’s decline was unique, coinciding with the ongoing fallout from Spingate at Michael Waltrip Racing, and his subsequent rebound came on a much better team with Stewart-Haas Racing.)
Some great drivers admittedly never recovered from these fall-offs: Jarrett retired shortly after his poor final few years with Robert Yates and Michael Waltrip, and Yarborough was done after a couple of bad years in 1987 and ’88. Others, like Matt Kenseth (mostly) and Carl Edwards, chose to walk away before the decline phase could even set in.
It’s too late for Kyle Busch in that regard, so he’s got no choice but to power through it and come out on the other side like a Martin, Elliott or Rudd. And if that does end up happening, maybe we’ll point to this week as the moment the turnaround finally began.
The list of drivers to win NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events is among the most exclusive clubs in motorsports.
Entering 2026, through 40 seasons and 756 races, only 81 drivers had managed to win a Modified Tour race. Of those 81, only 53 drivers had managed to win two or more.
This year, in the span of 15 days, Stephen Kopcik became not just the 82nd driver to win a Modified Tour event, but also 54th driver to win two or more after scoring wins at Martinsville Speedway and Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
“The way it’s been the last three races is like a dream come true,” said Kopcik, who holds a seven-point lead in the Modified Tour standings entering Saturday’s All States Materials Group 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway (6:15 p.m. ET on FloRacing). “I didn’t expect it. I wasn’t down on confidence or anything, but I wasn’t expecting to come out and win two big shows right off the bat.”
Driving for team owner Tommy Wanick, Kopcik embarked upon his first full Modified Tour season in 2025. He earned a pair of runner-up finishes and finished the year ranked sixth in the series standings, enough for Kopcik to claim the Rookie of the Year award.
Despite what was a strong rookie season in the Wanick Motorsports No. 21, Kopcik felt there were opportunities left on the table. He and the Wanick Motorsports team spent the offseason working on not just their equipment, but also their pit crew.
Stephen Kopcik has won the last two NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events driving the No. 21 Wanick Motorsports Modified. (Photo: Andrew Stein/NASCAR)
The effort has led to immediate results.
Kopcik dominated the event at Martinsville, leading a race-high 100 laps on his way to his first series victory. He backed that up by winning at Thompson thanks in large part to his pit crew, who got him the lead during a round of late pit stops.
“We had fast cars all of last year, too, and had a lot of other things go wrong,” Kopcik explained. “Over the winter, we corrected what we could. We’ve got a good team. We practiced pit stops all winter.
“We struggled a lot last year on the pit stops. We’d be running good and have good track position and qualify well, but we’d usually lose some spots in the pits. Everyone is so damn close on the Tour that it’s hard to recover from that. So we corrected that and cleaned it up. It definitely has made a big difference.”
Kopcik’s victories at Martinsville and Thompson not only have put him on top of the Modified Tour standings for the first time in his career, but they’ve also put in him rarified air.
In the history of the Modified Tour, only two drivers have won their first and second event in consecutive races.
The first was Rick Fuller, who did so in 1988 when he scored his first and second wins in consecutive events at Orange County Speedway and Thompson.
The 28-year-old Kopcik joined Fuller on that unique list with his wins at Martinsville and Thompson.
Stephen Kopcik leads the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events through three races this year. (Photo: Rachel O’Driscoll/NASCAR)
“You start talking about names like Rick Fuller and in 1988 specifically, who was racing then? Some of the most badass guys to ever race Modifieds,” Kopcik said. “To have a stat that matches something that he has is something that’s special to me.
“It was my 23rd start at Martinsville and my 24th at Thompson. I hope we can keep it rolling. There are people who have raced for many more years and many more starts and have won a handful times, but two wins in 24 races is special, and I hope it’s just the start of many more.”
A chance at history awaits Kopcik this weekend at Oxford Plains Speedway, where a win would make him the first driver in series history to win his first three NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events in three consecutive races.
To do that, Kopcik will need to win at a race track he’s never seen. He’s not alone, as most of the Modified Tour field has never competed at Oxford Plains Speedway.
Based on his performance so far this year, Kopcik certainly can’t be counted out. On the contrary, he must be considered one of the favorites to win Saturday’s All States Materials Group 150.
“I don’t know what to expect,” Kopcik said. “I think it’s going to be a decent race for the Modifieds. I also don’t believe it’s going to be a three or four lane track like it is when the supers (late models) are there. I don’t think anyone really knows what to expect.
“It’s definitely a unique place. It’s a lot different than anywhere else we go. I’m not going to underestimate it. We’re just going to go there as prepared as we can be and be ready to make changes to try and put us above everyone else.”
The NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series head to the Lone Star State and Texas Motor Speedway for a triple-header weekend you won’t want to miss. Below are the qualifying orders for all three series.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday morning, the often-candid Noah Gragson didn’t sugarcoat the first 10 races of his 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. But he’s not really sure why things haven’t gone quite as planned.
“We had a lot of speed last year in our cars, and I’m not quite sure where that speed has gone,” Gragson explained. “It’s just unbelievably frustrating when you get done with the race, and it’s like, I haven’t gone three laps down at these tracks ever, and now just the speed’s not there. I’m trying to work hard with my team and my group to get that back. There’s only so much I can do.”
The 27-year-old sits 29th in points just past the quarter pole of the 2026 season, scratching his head about the team’s early performance. He finished on the lead lap just four times — with three of those results coming at drafting tracks — including a season-best ninth-place finish Sunday at Talladega. Until last weekend, Gragson went six consecutive races without a finish better than 26th, and has just one DNF: a mechanical failure at Phoenix.
Based strictly on points, he’s off to a better start this year than last, when he sat 31st in the series through 10 races. He attributed last year’s finishes to being “in the wrong place at the right time,” while struggles in 2026 are based more on speed. Gragson places 30th in average running position (25.4), and per NASCAR Insights, entered Talladega 31st in both speed and passer ratings.
But admittedly, he’s still adjusting to a new leader. Veteran engineer Grant Hutchens took over as crew chief for the No. 4 Front Row Motorsports team in the offseason as previous shot-caller Drew Blickensderfer was promoted to competition director, overseeing the organization’s three full-time Fords.
“I’m still trying to get to know [Hutchens],” Gragson said. “He’s trying to figure out what I like, point him in the right direction. But with all that being said, I feel like we get along great. I don’t know why our results haven’t been there, but we’re working hard, and I think we’re not frustrated with each other by any means.
“Our relationship’s really good. Just, I don’t know why we’re slow. There’s a lot of hard work, a lot of great people. The Ford horsepower has been great. The team’s been great. Just kind of scratching our heads … I don’t know what we’re missing, but we’re trying to figure it out.”
David Jensen | Getty Images
And as one of the more entertaining drivers in the Cup Series garage, Gragson believes his performance directly impacts his personality. He spent time with NFL legend Marshawn Lynch and other internet personalities at Talladega, taking them around the 2.66-mile venue with behind-the-scenes access on pit road. During his dominant O’Reilly Auto Parts Series run at JR Motorsports, he developed a reputation for iconic victory celebrations: killer burnouts, climbing fences and shotgunning beers. And with eight wins and 21 top fives in 2022, he could certainly back up his boisterous, almost larger-than-life character.
But if he can’t, Gragson says, that version of the Las Vegas native goes by the wayside.
“These last three years haven’t been much fun, just not being able to be myself,” he explained. “Everybody’s got an opinion, and if you’re winning, you’re OK. When you’re not winning, it’s a firestorm, and people just want to point ‘Oh, it’s this, this or this.’ Well, [people] never said none of that stuff when I was winning races, so what’s the difference now? … If you’re winning, people don’t care. You can do whatever you want.”
“At the same time, I do think it is a balance. At the end of the day, I think the people who are closest to me know that I work hard behind the scenes throughout my whole career, and I truly am passionate about the sport. It’s not like I’m going out there and messing around. I do my work throughout the week, and when I get to the race track, I try to enjoy myself as much as I can.”
Gragson heads to Texas Motor Speedway this Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with a turnaround in mind. In three starts, he has a best finish of 18th in 2024. His race last year ended early due to a crash.
“I don’t know if I’ll be the fastest thing in Texas or I’ll be the slowest thing in Texas,” he quipped. “But I’m preparing to be the fastest thing in Texas.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. knows a thing or two about pressure. And when you drive for the first ballot NASCAR Hall of Famer, that pressure falls squarely on your shoulders.
After a challenging rookie campaign with JR Motorsports still resulted in a Championship 4 berth, Carson Kvapil set sky-high expectations for the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season. But through 53 career series starts, he remains winless.
“His runway is not as long as others,” Earnhardt told NASCAR.com of Kvapil. “Tomorrow isn’t promised. Next season isn’t promised. Every race that goes by that he doesn’t snatch a win and do things that he knows he’s capable of doing, we’re getting closer to the end of our runway, and it’s a scary thought. I’ve been accused of worrying about things, and I like to be positive and stay positive about it, but the simple fact is he has to win for this to continue.”
Until Kvapil, 22, basks in Victory Lane glory, he maintains that he is “going to have 1,000 pounds on my shoulders.” With 14 career top-five finishes — including a quartet of runner-ups — he’s been painfully close. That weighs heavily on the North Carolina native.
“I feel like whenever we do give one away like Phoenix, where we had the dominant car, we were the ones to win the race, and we didn’t win. That’s a big cut to the program, and it hurts,” Kvapil said. “I need to win five races. To be transparent, I need to win and be dominant. Obviously, I can’t do that without winning a race.”
One of the setbacks of Kvapil’s No. 1 Chevrolet in 2025 was losing spots on pit road. That changed for 2026 as Connor Zilisch’s No. 88 Trackhouse Racing team in the NASCAR Cup Series is the No. 1 team’s pit crew this season. Sources revealed that because a Trackhouse pit crew is working with the No. 1 team, that is the primary reason for Kvapil running nine races between JRM’s fifth entry — the No. 9 car — and DGM Racing’s No. 91 ride.
The No. 1 team is Kvapil’s bunch by default. It’s where he feels most comfortable and meshes the most with Cup championship-winning crew chief Rodney Childers. The weeks when he’s not in the No. 1 car consecutively can be straining, bouncing back and forth between meetings with the different groups.
Said Kvapil: “Anytime I drive any car other than the 1, I still go to win the race, but you have to have a little bit different expectations for what’s going to happen.”
James Gilbert | Getty Images
It wasn’t until he clinched a spot in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway that Kvapil knew he would have another swing at an O’Reilly championship. Before the penultimate race of 2025 at Martinsville Speedway, Kvapil was only slated for 24 races in 2026.
“In no way was I ready to give up on Carson,” Earnhardt said. “I believed that we were going to figure it out, and eventually we did. His deal coming together this year was really close to not happening. We are very transparent with him about how fortunate he is to be racing and how he needs to know that every single lap of every race is an opportunity for him. He has to know that and understand the urgency.”
Earnhardt believes having Kvapil in different entries can be motivating. His work ethic, which was never in question with the time he spends working on his own hot rods, has grown. When Zilisch won in early April at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kvapil, who finished fifth, brushed it off and was happy for Childers and Co.
“It definitely didn’t bother me by any means that he won,” Kvapil said. “I was super happy for Rodney and that 1 team because those guys have worked their tails off to try to win races, and they had a really good day.
“I’m just waiting for that to be us. There shouldn’t be any reason why we’re not winning races like that. I don’t know when it is, but one of these weekends, there’s no way we can’t win one of these things.”
Andrew Overstreet, Kvapil’s former crew chief, is also having in-house success, already posting three race wins this season with Justin Allgaier, holding a 105-point lead in the regular-season championship standings.
Earnhardt believes this, too, is a variable the young driver measures.
“Carson is looking across the aisle, so to speak, watching Overstreet have success and win races,” Earnhardt said. “It’s a guy he struggled to produce results with last year, went with Justin and is doing things that Carson wants to do. I think that’s interesting because it can be motivating or debilitating, and I’m still not sure where Carson lands in all of that. I would hope that he sees it as motivating.”
Earnhardt simply wants Kvapil to be the next driver from JR Motorsports’ late model team to succeed. Cup stars William Byron and Josh Berry were standouts in the program, which led to major opportunities.
“There is a ton of pressure on this guy, and I feel a ton of pressure,” Earnhardt said. “It’s hard to know how to talk to him every week to help him feel great about what he’s doing, be prepared and come to the race track every week and do what he needs to do without the weight of the pressure of trying to win, crushing him. I think that’s the battle right now.”
While Kvapil bounces back and forth between entries during the regular season, all nine Chase races will be with the No. 1 team. Aside from scoring that coveted first triumph, the immediate goal is to soar back up the point standings. After two consecutive finishes outside the top 20 — including a rollover wreck at Kansas Speedway — Kvapil ranks seventh in the standings heading into Saturday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“My goal was to be top three in the points when the playoffs start; I would settle for top five,” Kvapil said. “I think that’s the best spot you could be to try and win a championship.”
The ultimate end goal for Earnhardt, however, is to position Kvapil for the future. He wants him not to worry about making a living and just focus on racing.
“That kid should be dreaming about trying to win championships,” Earnhardt said. “But really, he’s trying to figure out how to survive and stay.”
