On Wednesday, NASCAR announced the following penalties have been issued coming out of the event at North Wilkesboro Speedway:
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Stephen Kopcik has been suspended for one race and fined $1,500. He will be suspended from NASCAR until the fine is paid and is on probation until December 31, 2025.
The rule infraction is as follows:
12-8.1 Member Conduct Guidelines
C. #4 Intentionally wrecking another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from Competition as a result.
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Tyler Rypkema has been fined $500 and suspended from NASCAR until the fine is paid. He is on probation until December 31, 2025.
The rule infraction is as follows:
12-8.1 Member Conduct Guidelines
1. Heat of the moment actions or reactions, either on or off the race track.
E.1. Actions by a NASCAR Member that NASCAR finds to be detrimental to stock car racing or NASCAR.
9-4.2.1 On-Track Incident Procedure
A 3 After being directed to exit the vehicle, the driver must immediately proceed to either the ambulance, other vehicle or as otherwise directed by safety personnel or a NASCAR Official.
5 At no time should a driver or crew member(s) approach another moving vehicle.
A stone-faced Ross Chastain, majority owner and founding member of Motorsports Management International, put it simply for Ryan Ellis: You would be dumb not to do the DGM Racing deal.
Last summer, Ellis was deciding on his future. He had a two-year extension on the table to remain with Alpha Prime Racing after being the team’s primary driver since 2022. At the same time, he was weighing his options after bolstering a strong resume of sponsors in recent seasons. He could dictate where he landed.
The decision wasn’t easy, however. Ellis credits Alpha Prime for finding his love and passion for racing once again. Since bursting onto the national series scene more than a decade ago, the Virginia native has played several different roles away from the driver’s seat, including as the public relations and marketing director for Go Fas Racing with Matt DiBenedetto while also having full-time jobs outside of the sport.
And though Ellis didn’t know anybody at DGM, he felt a change was needed. So, he listened to Chastain, who has delivered a pair of top fives for DGM in limited starts.
“Looking at the middle to back half of last year, just getting frustrated with little things along the way,” Ellis told NASCAR.com of why he wanted change. “I know you always compare yourself to your teammates, and that’s the only real way to figure out what a driver is doing or how good a driver is. In a very respectful way, because I love Tommy [Joe Martins, Alpha Prime’s co-owner] and I love Alpha Prime, but I felt like the [No.] 44 was on a much different deal than the 43, and the 43 was a notch above the 45. I love Brennan and everyone at that team — my crew was awesome — but I wanted to make sure that I positioned myself for the optics to look good.”
Drivers within the DGM walls have been known to overachieve throughout the years. Josh Williams tallied a team-high six top-10 finishes during the 2020 season. Alex Labbe became a real threat on road courses during multiple stints, and last year, Kyle Weatherman earned a pair of top 10s.
It was time for Ellis — who is still chasing his coveted first top 10 finish in 175 NASCAR starts — to challenge himself. He is paired with Mario Gosselin, who serves as the team owner and crew chief for the No. 71 Chevrolet. Gosselin always has his competitive juices flowing, wanting to maximize DGM’s potential.
“That’s why I do this,” Gosselin said. “I don’t try to survive, go home and go to the next one — we want to go race. We can’t afford to tear stuff up every week, but I’ve won races — not necessarily in Xfinity — and championships. That competitiveness, I still have it. Just because I’m not driving, we’re not going out there to try to complete all the laps and come home with a participation award.”
Gosselin is an ideal counterbalance to Ellis, who believes the reins are loose for the first time in his career.
“I feel like I’ve always had the owner hat on being a small-team guy my whole life, even racing legends cars and late models,” Ellis said. “When Tommy would pull the reins back and give us a speech or strategy of hanging back, it would double or triple down what I was thinking. At Daytona, Mario was like, ‘We’re here to [expletive] race.’ I had never been told that before. I’ve realized it has made my mindset going into race weekends so much easier because we’re racing cars.”
It’s staggering for Ellis to be in his current position. Four years ago, he was working multiple full-time gigs, using racing as a side hustle. But as a typical racer’s mind thinks, he believes it can always be better.
“The competitive side of me would only see things that I don’t have,” Ellis said. “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life, knowing that I have a full-time job, making enough money to build a solid future for my daughters.
“It feels fulfilling to be a race car driver. I don’t want to lose that ever again because I felt like that in 2016. It wasn’t dark years, but I didn’t feel like I had a purpose in life other than making my wife happy and my dogs happy and counting down days at that point. Now, I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
The opening three months of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season have been trying for Ellis. He sits 28th in the championship standings, the second-lowest position among the full-time drivers. Gosselin can recall more than 50 points that the No. 71 team has given away, whether it be from late wrecks or mechanical woes.
The mesh of personalities has been good, though, with Ellis giving solid feedback to the No. 71 team. This positive meshing will look to continue this Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with the field returning to action for the first time in three weeks.
“I think the biggest thing was he is always there at the end,” Gosselin said, with the No. 71 team having only one DNF through 12 races. “We’ve got to work on our raw speed and qualify a little bit and get him a little bit aggressive. That’s always a fine line.
“I feel like if we’re not running top 20, I’m not happy. But then you finish just outside the top 20 and you look at who outran you and it’s like, ‘Damn, the competition has gotten really deep in the field.’ Top 20s are what we’re after.”
Ellis is already looking ahead to the 2026 season. Many of his current partners who followed him from Alpha Prime to DGM have already discussed returning and helping propel the 35-year-old forward. The goal is to remain with DGM.
The Coca-Cola 600 at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway marks the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race broadcast on Prime Video, welcoming a new era to the sport as the broadcast partner launches stock-car racing into the world of streaming.
There will be plenty of new touches that come with Prime Video’s introduction, as anticipated with any broadcast partner making its first foray into a sport. There will be, however, a considerable amount of familiarity for longtime NASCAR fans, most notably the voices they will hear.
Play-by-play announcer Adam Alexander leads the booth alongside NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Steve Letarte, both of whom previously called races together for NBC Sports. Leading pre- and post-race coverage will be another familiar face in Danielle Trotta alongside Hall of Famer Carl Edwards and Corey LaJoie, Cup Series driver and host of the “Stacking Pennies” podcast.
Additionally, 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne will join TV veterans Kim Coon and Marty Snider as pit road reporters.
So while Prime intends to leave its own imprint on the NASCAR broadcasting space, the basics are what it intends to nail out of the gate.
“The first impression that was made to me by everyone with NASCAR on Prime and Prime Sports in general,” Alexander said in a Monday teleconference, “is just to come in and respect the foundation that’s been laid in the sport of NASCAR. And I think it would be easy for someone, when you look at new partners coming into the sport, that everything is going to be changed. And it jumped off the board to me right away, the balance of new but also the respect to traditions that we’re used to in the TV world and how that matches up with NASCAR. That was something that was very attractive to me as we started having conversations about putting this deal together.
“So there’s been tremendous dialogue about ideas. But the one thing that I would say is there’s a high level of respect of the history of NASCAR and the way this sport is presented. And while there are tremendous new ideas that will come in through technology — and those are things that you will see unfold this weekend — I would say that we’re not going to get too far away from the foundation of what makes a NASCAR broadcast what it is.”
That is an intentional direction throughout the Prime Video team. Senior Coordinating Producer Alex Strand has been associated with bringing the National Football League and Premier League soccer to Prime Video, and similar care with those sports became lessons learned as Prime prepped for NASCAR. Add in a crown-jewel event like the Coca-Cola 600 to debut its coverage, and the stage is set for an immediate splash.
“We can’t be more excited to be starting with a crown jewel,” Strand said. “I think that’s my big sort of headliner. We think it’s a huge responsibility. We really take it seriously, and we’re really excited to bring that to fans. What we’ve seen when we’ve brought Thursday Night Football NFL into Prime, we saw it when we brought the English Premier League to customers throughout the UK. We spent a lot of time making sure that we’re delivering on sort of a core expectation. You know, there’s trust that viewers are putting in you to bring them the sport that they love. We take that very seriously.
“That doesn’t change if we’re starting with a crown jewel or we’re starting with a non-points race. We care about bringing the product to fans in a quality way and entertaining them. We’re fans first, and we care just as much about the experiences as fans do at home.”
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media
While Sunday will mark Prime’s debut, it will also mark an inauguration for Edwards and LaJoie in their respective roles. For much of the last decade, Edwards had been away from the sport, unsure it would welcome him back so heartily after he essentially cut ties following his January 2017 retirement. It very much has, however — with honors such as Hall-of-Fame enshrinement and acknowledgment as one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers. Now comes the emotions of picking up the microphone to broadcast the sport after “falling in love with racing again.”
“Man, I’m excited,” Edwards said. “I think I should be really nervous, but I don’t know if I am yet. For me, it’s a lot like going to my first Cup race. It’s like, man, I really don’t know what to expect. I feel like I’m kind of prepared, but I’m just so grateful for this team, to be with Steve and Dale and Corey and Danielle and Alex, everybody — all these people now. It’s wild how much talent is here and represented by this Prime broadcast. And that part really makes me feel comfortable. So I’m just ready to go have some fun. I think this is really going to be cool.”
And while streaming platforms are still fairly new to some, Edwards is confident NASCAR fans will quickly make their way to the platform.
“I was on the phone with a farmer that owns some neighboring property to ours, and we’re talking about other things,” Edwards said. “And he said, ‘Hey, you’re doing some sort of TV thing!’ And I was thinking, you know, this guy’s 85 years old, and I’m gonna have to explain this to him. And I started, and he’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, I got Prime! I’ll be watching.’ I was like, ‘Oh, OK! … I really think that they’ve [Prime Video] paved the way with the other sports that they’ve been a part of, and I think that’s going to transition well here to NASCAR.”
As Letarte said Monday, the key to nailing the broadcast out of the gates is simply “don’t reinvent it.” That mindset permeates the booth.
“Fundamentals win in everything, right?” Alexander echoed. “If you’ve got a good fundamental base, then you’ve got a real opportunity to be successful. And I think Steve touched on something, and it’s a philosophy that I’ve always carried anywhere I’ve been, regardless of sport, regardless of network, and that is, people tune in to see the competition.
“And that’s not to say that we don’t want to have fun or we don’t want to be entertaining. We do, absolutely. But you can’t get caught up in that and put yourself in front of why people tuned in. And on Sunday evening, people are going to watch NASCAR on Prime because they want to see who wins the Coke 600. And while we’ll go through the process of presenting that, I think, fundamentally, the approach needs to be selling the product that’s on the track and presenting that in a way that people at home will understand.”
Coverage of the 2025 Coca-Cola 600 kicks off at 6 p.m. ET Sunday on Prime Video, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For a brief, anxious moment Tuesday afternoon, Kurt Busch said he felt like he was back behind the wheel. The stomach butterflies that would crop up before the green flag rushed back for the 46-year-old, who sat front and center in the NASCAR Hall of Fame as the names were read for the newly elected Class of 2026.
“I felt like it was race mode,” Busch said, admitting to those nerves. “I had to put the emotional blinders on.”
Busch’s name was the last to be called Tuesday, ushering him into the stock-car shrine with fellow new members Harry Gant and Ray Hendrick alongside Landmark Award recipient Humpy Wheeler. When the video montage of his career highlights flashed in front of him, Busch said the flood of emotions mixed the past, present and future all together.
The past, he admitted, was one dotted by rough patches in his life and marked by a swift rise into the sport’s upper ranks. His future now includes a celebration with his fellow honorees come next January.
“For me, as just a blue-collar kid out of Vegas, I never would have imagined this,” Busch said. “We were a family where it was just a hobby. It’s like a hobby to race, you know. It was just fun to go to the track as father and son. My dad had his car, and he helped me build mine, and you meet this guy or you meet this sponsor or you say thank you to this person, and the next thing you know — I mean, I’ll talk about this later on at the speech — but I’m running a Legend Car in 1999 at the (Las Vegas) Bullring in September of 1999. September of 2000, I’m in Jack Roush’s Cup car qualifying at Dover. Jeff Gordon’s next to me. Dale (Earnhardt) Senior’s behind me. I mean, that’s how fast things happened for me. I don’t know how. I don’t know why.
“There was no template. There wasn’t the ladder that you see a lot of the kids these days that have a system where it’s ‘we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do this.’ A lot of mine was being in the right place at the right time, and the universe smiled down on me.”
Busch had been in a reflective mood in the days leading up to Tuesday’s Voting Day, using his social media channels to share the highs and lows from his nearly three decades in racing. Busch’s driving days at the Cup Series level ended in the summer of 2022, when an injury in a crash during qualifying at Pocono Raceway short-circuited his career.
That career was marked by brilliant highs — 34 Cup Series wins, the 2004 championship and a Daytona 500 victory in 2017. But that long tenure also included dramatic lows that ruffled the feathers of team owners, racing officials and media — many of whom were in the voting room. After Tuesday’s announcement, Busch offered a note of thanks, especially expressing his appreciation to the car owners who took a chance on him, “even after I’d stubbed my toe a few times.”
“I think the late Jim Hunter said it best to me once when I was in some trouble,” Busch recalled, singling out the longtime NASCAR communications rep and a past Landmark Award winner. “He said, ‘Son, you can get in as much trouble as you want because you have that much talent to dig yourself out of these holes you keep putting yourself in. But wouldn’t it be better if you didn’t dig those holes and you could just stay on top, riding with your talent?’ So it took a lot of lessons, but this was a fun announcement, and can’t wait to tell more stories to everyone on what this sport has meant to me and how I’ll still be around.”
Krista Jasso | Getty Images
There was a long line of well-wishers for Busch in the NHOF Great Hall. Former teammate and fellow nominee Greg Biffle was among the first to give him an embrace, followed by greetings from the Class of 2025’s Ricky Rudd and Landmark winner Wheeler. Seven-time Cup champ Jimmie Johnson (Class of 2024) waited to give his own special salutation.
Busch and Johnson had plenty of overlap in their major-league careers, and that meant a handful of noteworthy run-ins given their tendency for close side-by-side racing at the front of the pack. From those mutual competitive natures developed a mutual level of respect, one that Johnson says has grown in recent years.
“We certainly had strong opposing feelings for one another at different points, but it’s wild, man,” Johnson told NASCAR.com. “You put the helmet on and just kind of become a different person, and he and I have always gotten along really well outside of the car, and certainly in these last five, eight years, I don’t know, our relationship has gone to new levels. With his injury, the role that he’s playing now, I know it’s filling him up in a different way. He’s been very supportive of me. He came to my Hall of Fame induction and the after-party, we’ve seen a fair amount of each other over the last little bit of time and happy to see him go in.
“For me, ultimately from my seat on the bus, an amazing career. He unfortunately didn’t go out on his terms, but he has stayed engaged, he’s found new purpose, and then this moment and experiencing it and knowing how he’s going to feel in January after he leaves that stage, he didn’t maybe get the finish he dreamed of, but I think he’s going to end up with a finish that would greatly exceed that dream he had as a kid.”
For his part, Busch said he was at peace with how his career ended, driving hard for the pole position and still performing near his peak as a veteran of the sport’s highest level. He said that Pocono officials had invited him to come back as a dignitary for next month’s race weekend, which would mark his first trip to the 2.5-mile track since his crash there.
But Busch said that now as a Hall of Famer, he planned to stay active in promoting the sport, consulting with teams and serving as an ambassador. “There’s no way that I’ll be stepping away,” Busch said.
Whether that means a potential return to the fires of competition, perhaps on a recreational level, Busch didn’t rule out the possibility.
“We’ll see. We’ll see. I see my nephew tearing up the dirt tracks,” Busch said, making reference to brother Kyle Busch’s son, Brexton. “I think his first Legends race is this Thursday, up at Hickory Motor Speedway. I’ll be there. He’s going to be the one to get me back behind the wheel.”
Editor’s Note: NASCAR.com’s Zack Albert was among the voting members casting ballots to elect the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026. This year marked his seventh time participating in Voting Day. Here, he explains his three choices on his ballot, a handful of honorable mentions and his pick for the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.
Class of 2026 selections
Kurt Busch — This case for the first playoff-era Cup Series champion comes with an acknowledgement that his sometimes fiery past probably cost him some votes. Personality aside, when stacking up his statistics, accolades and longevity, Busch stood out from the crowd with a record few others on the ballot could match. His 34 Cup Series wins — which included the 2017 Daytona 500 — and premier-series title should be more than enough.
Harry Gant — Realizing that the Hall of Fame vote is not a popularity contest, it’s hard to ignore how well-loved Gant was for such a long stretch in Cup Series racing. He always said with self-effacing jest that he was probably a better carpenter than driver, but for many years — including an untold number of wins back in the Late Model Sportsman days — he was the standard for hard-nosed racers. That legacy lasted well into his 50s, when he set age records that may never be broken.
Banjo Matthews — Another difficult Pioneer Ballot choice, but the nod goes to Matthews for the second consecutive year — primarily for his work in advancing safety and performance in car-building. He was also heralded as a driver who barnstormed short tracks as a master of the Modifieds, but later in his career, his chassis were everywhere, winning all 30 Cup Series races in 1978.
Honorable mentions: This year’s ballot was among the toughest in recent memory. Strong consideration was given on the Modern Ballot to Randy Dorton for his engine-building excellence, a legacy that lives on at Hendrick Motorsports. Jeff Burton’s on-track performance, broadcast prowess and off-track influence on making the sport better will make him worthy of further contemplation for future ballots. Short-track legend Ray Hendrick was the other Pioneer Ballot nominee who drew a long look here, and his election to this year’s class is well-deserved.
Landmark Award
H.A. Humpy Wheeler — In another crowded field of superlative nominees, Wheeler’s ingenuity ushered in a new era of stock car racing by enhancing the fan experience at every turn. A promoter’s promoter, Wheeler was a forward thinker who set the bar that other speedway owners would try to meet. Night racing at larger speedways? Unheard of until Wheeler made that dream a reality at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Though Alvin Hawkins and Lesa France Kennedy were under heavy consideration on this ballot, Wheeler’s contributions continue to resonate each time fans walk through the gates.
Kurt Busch and Harry Gant from the Modern Era Ballot and Ray Hendrick from the Pioneer Ballot were selected as members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026, it was announced Tuesday. Additionally, Humpy Wheeler has been named as the recipient of the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.
The announcement came after members of NASCAR’s voting panel convened Tuesday afternoon in Charlotte, North Carolina, debating and eventually determining the 16th class since 2010 to be enshrined in Hall of Fame glory.
Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion, joins the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. The Las Vegas native won 34 times over his 20-plus-year Cup career, which included a triumph in the 2017 Daytona 500 and 2010 Coca-Cola 600. Busch competed for numerous teams, including Roush Racing, Team Penske, Phoenix Racing, Furniture Row Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing and 23XI Racing.
Gant, the winner of 18 NASCAR premier series races, including two Southern 500 victories, makes it to the Hall in his seventh year on the ballot. The Taylorsville, North Carolina, native’s run of four consecutive victories at age 51 captivated fans in 1991. Gant also won 21 times in what is now known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Hendrick, nicknamed “Mr. Modified,” amassed more than 700 victories in modified and late model sportsman series between 1950-88. Despite never capturing a modified championship, he finished top 10 in the standings nine times from 1960-69. The Richmond, Virginia, native, elected in his second year on the ballot, was named to NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list and NASCAR Modified’s All-Time Top 10 Drivers.
Wheeler, known for his flair for creativity as president and general manager at Charlotte Motor Speedway, helped usher in a new era of race-track promotions. This was the Belmont, North Carolina, native’s first year on the ballot.
Every year, 10 nominees make up the Modern Era Ballot, with five additional nominees comprising the Pioneer Ballot. The Class of 2026 was determined by votes cast by the Voting Panel, including representatives from NASCAR, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, track owners from major facilities and historic short tracks, media members, manufacturer representatives, competitors (drivers, owners, crew chiefs), recognized industry leaders, a nationwide fan vote conducted through NASCAR.com and the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion (Joey Logano). In all, 49 votes were cast. The accounting firm of EY presided over the tabulation of the votes.
Busch and Gant both received 61% of the Modern Era ballot votes. Jeff Burton finished third, followed by Harry Hyde and Randy Dorton. Ray Hendrick received 31% of the Pioneer ballot votes. Bob Welborn finished second.
The newest Hall of Fame group will be inducted Jan. 23, 2026. Tickets for the induction ceremony will be available later this month on NASCARHall.com. With the additions, the NASCAR Hall of Fame will boast 70 members to its ledger. Dale Earnhardt, Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Junior Johnson and Richard Petty made up the inaugural class in 2010.
Christopher Bell reminded the NASCAR world of why he was so dominant in the early portion of the season, out-maneuvering Joey Logano in the closing laps at a historic track to claim his first All-Star Race victory and a cool $1 million. Is another driver out there about to break through in a big way in NASCAR’s marathon race this weekend, though?
NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 Cup Series contenders after the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway and before the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 p.m. ET, Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Analysis:It’s hard to fault a guy like Larson, who’s doing the double, but it wasn’t ideal to see him finish last among the cars that were still running in the All-Star Race. Still, this is a driver essentially in a class of his own who has a legitimate shot to win two major races on Sunday.
Analysis: With no All-Star finish better than 10th entering Sunday, Bell’s win may have come as a surprise to some … but have you seen what he’s been doing this year? He’s obviously no stranger to putting together back-to-back victories, and as the defending Coca-Cola 600 winner, he might be embarking on his second hot streak of the season.
Analysis: Byron pieced together 12 laps led at North Wilkesboro but ultimately fell just shy of the top five. Still, it’s his best finish since a P3 last month at Talladega, and he mentioned over the weekend that he and his team “have the Coca-Cola 600 circled.” Watch out for the No. 24 on Sunday.
Analysis: At 11.7, Elliott is on pace to match his 2020 (the year he won the title) and 2024 average finish. He’s doing so with the second-worst average start of his career (15.3), implying he actually could have plenty of juice still left to squeeze out of the season. If he’s able to find a bit more speed on Saturdays, the wins could be coming. Worth noting: He’s started sixth or higher in four of the past five Coca-Cola 600s, a race he’s found the front of the field in every running since 2018. Feels like it could be the weekend it happens.
Analysis: All-Star Weekend tends to be a rocky one for Joe Gibbs Racing at times, and — despite winning with Christopher Bell — that was the case again for Denny Hamlin, who stumbled his way to a P12. Chalk it up as just an anomalous weekend, though, as the 2022 Coca-Cola 600 winner should be back in fine form for NASCAR’s marathon race.
Analysis: Logano sparked his season with an All-Star Race victory a year ago and nearly replicated it Sunday, instead walking away from North Wilkesboro the most frustrated we’ve seen him in quite a while and several hundred thousand dollars short of where it was looking like he’d end up after leading 139 laps. Still, the No. 22 team is finally clicking in 2025, and despite just one top 10 at Charlotte this decade, it feels like he could find a way to compete for his first Coca-Cola 600 win this weekend.
Analysis: Including the All-Star exhibition, Reddick has led just a single lap since pacing the field for 42 circuits back at Darlington Raceway; a lack of the front-of-field speed that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from No. 45. A Championship 4 driver not even a year ago, Reddick is also only on pace for 12 top 10s, which would be his worst showing since turning in nine for Richard Childress Racing during his 2020 rookie season.
Analysis: For as fast as Blaney and the No. 12 have been in 2025, it didn’t show up at North Wilkesboro, where the 2023 champ was essentially a non-factor. Somewhat unrelated but also worth noting — it seems that speed is prevalent annually, but Blaney’s average finish has dipped every year since a career-high 11.9 set in 2021, currently on pace (16.1) for what would be his worst showing since 2017 (17.3).
Analysis: Bowman and the No. 48 group have turned in wildly inconsistent results in 2025, with every finish either being inside the top nine or outside the top 25, but there are enough bright spots here that it feels like a win is certainly in the cards at some point. We’ve seen the No. 48 find streaks of dominance at Charlotte in the past, and it’s not unreasonable to think Bowman, who led 164 laps in the 2020 Coca-Cola 600, could find his way to Victory Lane at a track that has treated Hendrick quite well over the years.
Analysis: We’re starting to see this team come together, and a strong All-Star Race run — that could have resulted in a win, if Logano and Bell had continued scrapping in front of him — might be just the boost it was looking for after landing a recent Texas runner-up as well. He finally secured his first Charlotte top-10 finish last year, but it’s definitely a race he’s capable of winning; Chastain led a race-high 153 laps in 2022 before landing 15th.
Analysis: Briscoe missed the All-Star Race cut last year but did technically turn in a second straight top 10 in the event after landing P4 in the 2023 running. It does feel like this team is still finding its legs a bit, but that will only continue to improve with more time under their collective belt. With a P4 in the 2022 Coca-Cola 600, don’t be surprised if Briscoe — and the team that once led 392 laps in the 2016 running of this race — finds a way to be competitive this weekend.
Analysis: Tough weekend for Wallace and the No. 23 team, who missed the cut after leading no laps and finishing eighth in the All-Star Open. A lot of the early-season mojo seems to be petering out a bit for this group, and it’s tough to see a spark coming at a race track where he’s led a single lap and averaged a 21.6 finish across eight starts.
Analysis: One of them was an exhibition race, so take it with a grain of salt, but Cindric has been held out of the top 10 in the three races since his win — on a superspeedway, no less — and otherwise hasn’t seen a top 10 since Las Vegas Motor Speedway … in mid-March. It’s hard to rule out any Penske cars on any weekend, but this one doesn’t shape up like a strong one for Cindric, who has a 28.3 Coca-Cola 600 average finish.
Analysis: It’s not much, but an All-Star Race top 10 was a nice little boost for the No. 17 team, which had started to put some pieces together before a major penalty quashed its momentum. The Coca-Cola 600 is a decent race for him, typically, too, with top 10s in four of the past six runnings.
Analysis: Again, this was an exhibition, but Busch did still turn in his first top 10 since Darlington to stop the bleeding a bit, even finding the front for a pair of laps. Still a ways to go here, but RCR has been known to pop off a random win in the Coca-Cola 600 — a race Busch generally tends to be among the favorites.
Analysis: Berry started 11th and finished 17th in the All-Star Race, unable to string together a second straight week of solid results after a P6 at Kansas Speedway put an end to a dismal stretch since his Vegas victory. His lone Coca-Cola 600 start yielded a top-10 finish last spring, though, so he could get back on the horse this weekend.
Analysis: A bit less fireworks for Stenhouse Jr. than last spring’s All-Star Race, and a P15 in a 23-car race isn’t anything to write home about. He may never win it outright, but the Coca-Cola 600 has generally been a productive race for him, especially lately; the past Daytona 500 winner has four top 10s since 2018.
Analysis: Pro: Preece got to see a heck of a race on Sunday night, just like the rest of us. Con: It’s because he missed the cut after a mistake in the Open cost him a shot to make the main race. He looked sporty, though, and he could very well nab his first Charlotte top 10 despite a career average finish of 25.6 there.
Analysis: Nemechek continues to make a little noise in the back half of this top 20, having already matched his career high in top 10s (four) before transferring into the main event with a runner-up in the Open. He had a pair of quality runs at Charlotte in his rookie season in 2020 as well, and it’s quite possible he cracks the top 10 this weekend, too. (Especially if he gets any notes on the track from a certain boss of his.)
Analysis: If you’re looking for an up-and-comer who will really embrace the role of “All-Star” for the next decade-plus, here he is. Hocevar won the Open handily, then nearly converted on a top 10 in the main event. The arrow continues to point drastically up here, and a recent mini-slump (finished 24th or worse at Texas and Kansas) should come to an end at Charlotte.
Voting Day for the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026 is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, and there will be plenty of avenues to tune in to the momentous announcement of this year’s honorees.
The live stream where the three inductees for the Class of 2026 will be revealed starts at 5 p.m. ET from the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Great Hall. The recipient of the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR will also be announced.
Fans can watch the proceedings in multiple ways, including The NASCAR Channel, YouTube, Facebook and X. Choose your streaming option and get comfortable as legends take their next step in NASCAR glory.
Voters are scheduled to meet on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. ET at the Charlotte Convention Center. Two inductees will be elected from the 10 names listed on the Modern Era Ballot, and one will be chosen from the five legends on the Pioneer Ballot. The Landmark Award winner will also be selected from a list of five names.
Kurt Busch and Randy LaJoie were revealed last month to be the newest nominees on the Modern Era Ballot. Title-winning crew chief Jake Elder returns to the Pioneer Ballot, while H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler joins the Landmark Award list.
There was plenty of drama on Monday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as teams practiced for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 (noon ET, FOX) and major penalties were handed out to two teams.
In weather conditions (light winds and temperatures in the mid-70s) expected to be like race day, Alex Palou, in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, delivered the fastest lap (226.765 mph) of the two-hour session, followed by four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves and Takuma Sato.
NASCAR’s Kyle Larson turned in the 11th-quickest lap (225.056 mph) as he re-familiarized himself with the No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. The car came into Monday’s practice with only two four-lap qualifying runs after repairs were necessary following Larson’s crash late in Fast Friday’s final pre-qualifying practice.
The NASCAR Cup Series championship leader turned 82 laps in Monday’s session and was consistently among the fastest 10 cars. His team opted to hold pit-stop practice in the closing minutes of the session.
“I thought it was decent,” Larson said. “Just trying to get a little racy at times to learn a little bit, but it’s so different in practice, I feel like more accordion opens up passing, where in the race, it’s a little more difficult to pass. It feels a little bit different than last year.”
Larson is set to become the fifth driver to compete in both the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 p.m. ET, Sun., Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on the same day, securing his starting position on the 33-car Indy grid with a 21st-place qualifying effort on Saturday.
The 32-year-old Californian started fifth and finished 18thin last year’s Indy debut.
However, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion returned from a 21st-place finish in Sunday night’s NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway to find out he will actually roll off 19th in the 500. He — and the rest of the field — were moved up two positions on the starting grid Monday after a major penalty was handed to a pair of former race winners, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden and Will Power.
Newgarden, who has won the last two Indy 500s, and Power, the 2018 Indianapolis winner, both originally advanced to Sunday’s Fast 12 qualifying session and looked to contend for pole position. Instead, officials found technical infractions — modified attenuators — on both their Chevrolets just before they went on track. The cars were pulled off the qualifying line and Monday morning the IndyCar Series announced significant penalties.
Instead of top-12 starting positions on the grid, Newgarden and Power will roll off Sunday from 32nd and 33rd place, respectively. Team Penske has been fined $100,000 for each car. Both teams’ race strategists were suspended for Sunday’s Indy 500 and the cars forfeited Indianapolis 500 qualification points.
Penske’s third car, the No. 3 driven by Scott McLaughlin, had a big crash Sunday before the top-12 pole qualifying session. IndyCar officials did not find the same altered parts on McLaughlin’s car, so he will still start 10th.
The setbacks didn’t seem to affect their pace Monday. Power was seventh-quickest, and Newgarden eighth. McLaughlin only ran eight laps to shake down his car’s repairs.
Prema Racing’s Robert Shwartzman, 25, the first rookie in 43 years to win the Indy 500 pole position, was 26th on Monday’s speed chart.
The traditional two-hour final Indianapolis 500 practice, “Carburetion Day” will take place Friday from 11-1 p.m. ET, followed by the popular “Pit Stop Challenge” at 2:30 p.m. ET.
RFK Racing announced Monday it will appeal the L1-level penalty issued to the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford following the May 11 NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
Following further inspection at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center, officials ruled the No. 17 Ford that driver Chris Buescher drove to an eighth-place finish violated Sections 14.1.C and 14.5.4.G in the NASCAR Rule Book, regarding overall assembled vehicle rules and the front bumper cover, respectively.
As a result, Buescher and the team were respectively docked 60 driver and owner points, five playoff points and the team was fined $75,000. Additionally, crew chief Scott Graves was suspended for two events. Graves voluntarily served the first race of his suspension last weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway for the NASCAR All-Star Race and will continue to sit out the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 p.m. ET, Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“After a thorough review of the penalties issued to the No. 17 Ford Mustang, RFK Racing has decided to appeal NASCAR’s decision,” RFK Racing said in a statement posted to its social media accounts Monday. “We respect NASCAR’s commitment to fair competition and appreciate the opportunity to engage in the appeals process.”
Before the penalty, Buescher was scored 14th in the provisional playoff standings, 33 points above the elimination line. After the 60-point penalty, Buescher fell to 24th in the provisional postseason picture, 27 points beneath the line to advance.
