The 2027 NASCAR Hall of Fame Fan Vote is now open, and that means you have the opportunity to cast your ballot and help decide who should be forever enshrined among NASCAR’s greatest.
Voting begins on April 14 at noon ET and closes on May 17 at noon ET. To vote, click here.
Voters may select up to two nominees from the Modern Era ballot and up to one nominee from the Pioneer Era ballot. To complete the submission form, you must provide your email address. Fan voters may submit up to one overall vote per day, per email address.
Kevin Harvick, Ray Elder and Ernie Elliott have been added to the Modern Era Ballot, while Ray Fox and Herb Nab join the nominees on the Pioneer Era Ballot. The Class of 2027 will be announced on Tuesday, May 19, after the voting panel meets in Charlotte.
Dale Earnhardt, Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Junior Johnson and Richard Petty made up the inaugural class in 2010. Kurt Busch, Harry Gant and Ray Hendrick were elected as the Class of 2026. Don’t miss out on your chance to help honor other legends of the sport in 2027.
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Winning has always been in Ty Gibbs’ blood.
The grandson of Joe Gibbs — a Super Bowl-winning football coach who owns and operates an eponymous multi-time NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning team — lived up to and surpassed expectations in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
And after 130 previous starts, it had been a long time coming.
He seemed destined to be a NASCAR Cup Series winner, especially with early lower-series success and a tight-knit family alongside. In addition to his grandfather’s fame, Ty’s mother, Heather Gibbs, is also a team co-owner at JGR. Ty Gibbs’ cousin, Jackson Gibbs, is a tire changer on the No. 54 Toyota that Ty Gibbs drives. And Sunday, as Ty Gibbs got to drive Heather to Victory Lane and give her the checkered flag he earned, the family got to celebrate a moment of enormity with unity.
But the family isn’t as whole as it once was.
“I’d love for my father to have seen this,” Ty Gibbs said. “I knew he knew it was going to happen and expected it as well.”
Coy Gibbs, Ty’s father and Heather’s husband, died in his sleep in November 2022, just hours after Ty won the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship. The son of Joe Gibbs, Coy was immensely influential in Ty’s life, especially as the youngster rose to O’Reilly Series stardom at ages 19 and 20. The devastation of his loss came shortly after the family endured the death of Coy’s brother J.D. in 2019. Their absence, in part, added to the emotion and tears shared Sunday in the Tennessee mountains.
“My husband, I mean, I think he would have been so happy,” Heather Gibbs told NASCAR.com Sunday. “I think that’s what’s probably the hardest part today, right? So bittersweet. I wish it were him with (Ty) and not me today. I wish Coy were here to celebrate with his son, but he prepared him for all these moments.”
Coy guided his son through plenty of adversity, even in the early stages of his son’s NASCAR career. Gibbs’ fiery nature and unrelenting desire to win would, at times, put himself, his father and his grandfather’s team in precarious positions as he charged up the ranks, most notably in October 2022 at Martinsville Speedway. Gibbs crashed teammate Brandon Jones for a win that would have propelled two cars to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship race instead of just his. One week later, Gibbs was celebrating a title with his father present, beaming with pride.
That night at Phoenix Raceway, Coy Gibbs said, “We were both proud, just because he just hammered down and did his job. If he wants to do this for a living, he’s going to learn how to do that.”
It seems his son has learned. In fact, that’s why Gibbs loves Bristol so much — and why he’s done so well on the 0.533-mile bullring.
“You just hammer the hell out of it,” Gibbs described Saturday. “I might have done that too hard in the past and blown a tire out and screwed myself, but stay after it. It’s fun. It’s fast. You can lap people quick. It’s a fun track. I think it’s a driver’s track, but also I think it comes down to the car, too. I think it’s 50-50, and I think that you’ve got to hustle it to make speed up.”
Gibbs hustled it Sunday to hold off some of the best of the best. Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson dominated the day together, combining to lead 474 of Sunday’s 505 laps. Their tires were nearly 100 laps fresher than Gibbs’ when the green flag flew in overtime, but the 23-year-old Gibbs fended off fierce charges from two past NASCAR Cup Series champions, beating Blaney to the line by just 0.055 seconds for his first win with Larson in third.
“Ryan and Kyle, I have a ton of respect for them,” Gibbs said. “To be able to race them is awesome. Honestly, I was just happy that the race was sick at the end and we were all sliding around and racing for the win. I think that was super cool. Hopefully, it put on a great show for the fans. Super cool. I’ve watched those guys a lot of my life in NASCAR. To race with them is awesome. It’s an honor.”
A parade of drivers visited Gibbs in Victory Lane to offer congratulations, including Blaney, Daniel Suárez, Riley Herbst, as well as JGR teammates Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell.
Bell shared considerable praise of Gibbs on Saturday, before the breakout victory sparked a shower of confetti. The development of Gibbs, which Bell says he’s seen, has shifted the dynamics among the drivers at JGR for the better.
“His input has become so much more valuable through our team debriefs and stuff like that,” Bell said. “He’s taken a huge step, and he’s a joy to be around right now.”
Crew chief Tyler Allen has seen that growth firsthand.
“We noticed more questions from the teammates, asking sort of our philosophy,” Allen said. “As for Ty’s feedback, it’s something we’ve been working on. I think stringing together these top fives has given him the confidence to speak up in the meetings, when before we were running 24th, didn’t feel like he had a lot to contribute. He gives really good feedback. It’s been really productive working with the other three teams.”
That signifies a tonal shift around swirling narratives that have arisen from an ongoing lawsuit between Joe Gibbs Racing and Spire Motorsports over Spire’s hiring of Chris Gabehart, who spent 2025 as JGR’s competition director and much of the season as Gibbs’ quasi-crew chief. In a February court declaration, Gabehart alleged that “the No. 54 driver was not held to the same meeting attendance standards as others on the team,” as part of the “differential treatment” Gibbs received as the team owner’s grandson.
Negative perceptions and distractions could have led to dips in on-track performance. Instead, Gibbs has elevated above the noise to produce a career-best six-race streak of top-10 finishes, including Sunday’s win at Bristol. Dating back to Circuit of The Americas on March 1, Gibbs hasn’t finished worse than sixth in a Cup Series race.
“I’ve stayed after it the whole time,” Gibbs said of his dedication. “Obviously, people are going to say false things about how I wasn’t present in meetings. I’ve been the same the whole time, just to clarify that. We’ve had a ton of fun this year. Tyler has been such a great crew chief. People are going to stir stuff up in the media. I might not be the most-liked person, so everybody is going to jump on it because they don’t have much going on. That’s what’s going to happen. We’ve been in all the meetings, hammering down, working hard, pushing teammates to the win and stuff like that.”
“I know there was a lot out there,” Joe Gibbs said. “I think he did a good job of kind of putting things aside and just concentrating on racing. I think it’s kind of showed that. I think his team means a lot to him. I think he’s been able to focus on all those things. He knows when you’re in the situation he’s in, there’s going to be a lot going on. That’s part of handling it, and handling it the right way. I think he’s compartmentalized. I think he’s put it up to one side, has been able to focus and has a drive on racing. That’s what he wants to do.”
Gibbs was a phenom in his rise to Cup, winning 18 ARCA Menards Series races, the 2021 series title, his O’Reilly Series debut and posting a seven-win campaign on the way to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship in 2022. That year, he also made his first Cup start, filling in for Kurt Busch on late notice at Pocono Raceway and earning a top-20 finish.
The road has been full of adversity and pressure. But his father was willing to give him grace from the start.
“You don’t know with any of them,” Coy Gibbs told NASCAR.com the day of Ty’s Cup debut. “You bring the young ones up and you figure it’s a long, cold winter for 70, 75 races. That’s kind of traditionally what it’s been. And then hopefully at the end of two and a half, three years, you got something. And that’s the hard part because it’s a tough, tough deal up here. These guys are so fast. So you’ve just got to look at a longer-term period to see what you got. You can’t judge it off one day.”
Nearly four years later and now a Cup Series victor in his 131st start, his son still agrees that one day doesn’t define everything.
“One win doesn’t change my career not one bit,” Gibbs said. “I knew I was capable of it. My team, obviously, I know they’re capable of it. Doesn’t mean anything. I could win the next five or just win this one and be done for a long time. It doesn’t mean anything. I feel like I knew I was capable of doing it. It’s obviously about putting it together. We’ve had great runs in the past. People are going to hammer me on my position I’m in. That’s fair. I don’t really care. Just keep working hard. I really love racing, so it’s fun.”
But it wasn’t always fun. Heather Gibbs and Tyler Allen both expressed an offseason emphasis on making sure Gibbs could enjoy competition. After ending 2025 with one top 10 in the final seven races, Gibbs is having fun with the results to show for it.
“Getting your ass kicked kind of sucks. I don’t think a lot of people — maybe if they put a face on, they’ll come in here and be all butterflies and everything, but it kind of sucks sometimes,” Gibbs said. “But I really love it. If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t be doing it, maybe doing something else. I just truthfully love it.”
The 2026 season marks Gibbs’ fourth full year at the Cup level. For the first time in that tenure, Gibbs appears comfortable not only in his own skin but also contending at the front of the Cup Series field. He has found gratification through that process.
He’s also doing it with family, and that isn’t lost on Gibbs.
“Coach is after it. My mother is after it. My cousins are after it,” Gibbs said. “We’re all chasing one goal: winning.”
“This is our future,” Joe Gibbs said. “This is what we want to do as a family. We love it.”
“It’s not really Ty’s win. It’s all the people that walked through the hardest times with our family. The win is theirs,” Heather Gibbs said. “Like, this is a JGR family day, and there are special people that you’re going through really tough stuff (with), and there’s doubters. And I think just to carry them on his shoulders and be like, ‘We got this, and we’re gonna help. We’re gonna stick with you.’ It’s a win for those guys.”
NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 Cup Series drivers competing for the 2026 championship after Ty Gibbs’ win at Bristol Motor Speedway and before Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (2 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Kyle Larson enters as the defending winner.
Analysis: In case you needed further evidence of 2026 being Reddick’s year, Sunday’s fourth-place run at Bristol was, arguably, the best he’d ever had at a short track, collecting just his third-ever top five at such venues. There have been plenty of Kansas Speedway highs for 23XI Racing, himself included, over the past handful of years and despite some recent lows there, there’s little reason to think he won’t again be in the mix, given how this season is playing out for him.
Analysis: It’s become abundantly clear — not that we didn’t already know this — that Blaney’s pure talent of just passing cars is perhaps unparalleled in the Cup Series, and his pit crew continually allows him ample opportunity to flex this muscle. He’ll probably have another chance to do so at Kansas, where, like Bristol, he tends to pass a lot of cars (led laps in 11 of 22 Kansas starts) but has yet to actually land a win there.
Analysis: Larson was once again dominant at Bristol, leading a race-high 284 laps before falling short to Blaney and first-time race winner Ty Gibbs. We’ve now come full circle since Larson, the current defending series champion, has won a Cup race — as you’ll have to go all the way back to Kansas in May last year since his last trip to Victory Lane. In no way has he been bad during that stretch, but it does feel notable that we’re now arriving at the site of his last win. Probably just makes him hungrier — so, don’t expect that drought to last much longer.
Analysis: Hamlin contended at Bristol, but the “Thunder Valley” master ultimately didn’t have a winning car under him, fading to ninth at the end. The four-time Kansas winner is arguably the best ever at the track, however, and — like most weekends — he’ll have an excellent chance to pick up an eye-popping 16th top five at the track on Sunday. At least.
Analysis: Well, there you go. In some ways, it was only a matter of time that a driver in a well-engineered ride with a national series title in the not-too-distant past would eventually figure it out at the Cup level, but the questions were certainly piling up here the past couple of seasons. Regardless, Gibbs is now a full-fledged Cup winner and drove an incredible race from start to finish Sunday at Bristol. Kansas has been a bit of a trainwreck for him (24.6 average finish), but Gibbs turned in a top five there in the 2024 fall race, so we shall see.
Analysis: Elliott spent a paltry amount of time at the front of the field, but a late-race spin killed any chance of a decent finish for the short-track maven. He’s also on another level at Kansas, owning the best career average finish there among active drivers (9.9), with nearly half of his 20 starts resulting in top-five finishes. He’ll be good.
Analysis: Just an absolute throwaway weekend for the No. 24 team, which has yet to really excel there with Byron, after starting from the rear for unapproved adjustments and making no headway the entire race — very atypical of Hendrick, regardless of track. A Kansas win feels like an inevitability for him, though, and let’s not be surprised if we see a notable performance out of this group on Sunday.
Analysis: Not a banger of a race for Wallace, but he did net some stage points and did what he had to do — we’re gonna see a lot of these kind of days across the board for drivers in this revamped championship format. He has, however, had bangers at Kansas with 23XI, and could very well add a second win there this weekend, given how well he’s running this year.
Analysis: Bell appeared early on that he’d once again be capable of figuring into the win at Bristol, all derailed by a Lap 144 brush with the wall and … later on by another spin on Lap 313. No concerns here, though, especially with Kansas on the horizon. While he’s never won there, Bell owns the second-best average finish among active drivers (11.9).
Analysis: A steady but minorly impactful Bristol race for Buescher, who had a decent run but remained steadfast at 10th in the standings. Kansas has turned into a pretty decent track for the veteran, as well, and he’ll look to land one spot higher on Sunday than he did in the 2024 running of this race.
Analysis: Keselowski recovered nicely from an early spin, briefly finding himself back in the top five later on in the race, but later needing the free pass shortly before the checkered flag to ultimately finish just inside the top 15 and lose three spots in the standings. The 2019 (and 2011!) winner of this race could find himself putting all the pieces together at Kansas on Sunday, but he hasn’t had a top 10 finish in the spring at Kansas since 2021.
Analysis: Logano improved throughout the Bristol race, moving his way into the top 10 and picking up a much-needed P7 when all was said and done in Tennessee. No standings movement for him, but there’s a good chance Kansas could move the needle — the three-time champ is a three-time winner there.
Analysis: Briscoe’s No. 19 Toyota lacked winning pace at Bristol, but he hung around the top five for a significant portion of the day and landed there to quell the bleeding a bit. He’ll have to buck his career trends at Kansas if he wants that to continue this weekend, but perhaps those trends have been assuaged already now that he’s with JGR — Briscoe turned in a pair of fourth-place runs in his first races there with the team last year.
Analysis: Preece turned in an efficient, clean day at Bristol on Sunday, never quite finding the front but doing enough to escape the short track without hazard. Kansas hasn’t been overly kind to him throughout the years, but he notably did turn in his first top 10 there in this race last year; his first at the track with RFK Racing.
Analysis: You’re up, kid. Now that Gibbs has the first-win monkey off his back, much of the spotlight now shines on Hocevar, who has shown more than enough talent to become a prolific winner in the Cup Series, albeit with an unrefined race craft that has arguably kept it from happening already. Kansas could be interesting, though — he’s led multiple laps in two of his five starts there, but has yet to finish any better than 20th across them.
Analysis: Not a whole lot to take away from a messy Bristol afternoon for SVG, who just has not had a very fun time at the “Last Great Colosseum” thus far in his NASCAR journey. Kansas, however, has gone measurably better for him in its limited sample size; he posted a pair of top-20s there last year — including a P10 last fall.
Analysis: Bristol was sneakily impressive for Suárez, who fell a lap down mid-race, later got the free pass and still managed to finish just outside the top 10 and move into the top 15 in the standings. Unfortunately, that’s all likely about to be squandered, as Suárez can count Kansas as one of his worst tracks, with just two top 10s and an average finish outside the top 20 in 18 starts scattered across several teams and manufacturers.
Analysis: Cindric grabbed some points in each stage to soften the blow a bit, but he was essentially mired in the mid-pack for the remainder of Bristol. For Kansas, let’s start with the positive — Cindric has a pair of 11th-place runs in the spring race, including one last year. Unfortunately, the flip side of that is that overall, his average finish there is 24.3 across nine starts, none of which resulted in top 10s.
Analysis: Allmendinger continues to show that he’s a more-than-capable Cup Series driver who is often outpacing the performance of his equipment, and he sure did muscle his way around Bristol to notch a top 15 on Sunday. He’ll need some of that good mojo to keep it rolling this weekend at Kansas, where he has three straight finishes of 30th or worse, but interestingly did turn in a pair of eighth-place runs in 2016.
Analysis: A brief flirt with the front of the field at the beginning of the race was but a passing moment in the wind, as Chastain was unable to muster much fight to stay up there the rest of the way and landed 20th, which is about on par with his 2026 average finish (19.4). It’s fair to wonder if any of that 2022 magic is left here, but we’ve seen the No. 1 team pull a miracle out of their hats before (2025 Coca-Cola 600), and Chastain himself fended off playoff drivers for a win at Kansas in 2024. This might be a bit of a make-or-break weekend ahead; if it doesn’t go well, the standings hole may be deepening beyond repair.
Bristol Motor Speedway added another chapter and another first-time winner to its history books Sunday, with Ty Gibbs making a long-awaited NASCAR Cup Series breakthrough into the track’s Victory Lane. The 23-year-old driver held off a pair of Cup Series champs — runner-up Ryan Blaney and third-place Kyle Larson — to scratch the win column in his 131st career start.
Behind that lead trio, several other performances stand out — for reasons good and not-so-good. With the Food City 500 in the rearview mirror, here are three drivers with momentum on their side, plus three more in need of a rebound Sunday at Kansas Speedway (2 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
1. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Started: 35th
Finished: 6th
What happened: Sunday marked a remarkable comeback for Gilliland, who slotted his No. 34 Mustang in the field’s last full row in qualifying. His odds of a strong finish were further complicated by his involvement in a four-car crash on Lap 160. Gilliland continued on and said later that his car came alive once the top groove was rubbered in. The result was Gilliland’s first top-10 finish of the season.
What’s next: Gilliland enjoyed a two-spot jump up in the Cup Series standings. He enters Kansas seeking his first top-10 finish there, although his recent results in the Sunflower State have shown improvement. Gilliland was 12th in both Kansas events last season.
Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images
2. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Started: 3rd
Finished: 5th
What happened: Briscoe didn’t lead a lap Sunday — something Blaney and Larson saw to, combining to lead 474 of the 505 circuits — but his consistency near the front was measurable. Briscoe ranked third in average running position at 5.68, just behind the similarly stellar numbers posted by Larson (1.72) and Blaney (2.55). That netted out to his second top-five outcome of the year, his first since a runner-up day at EchoPark Speedway.
What’s next: Briscoe’s ragged start to the season has leveled off a bit, and Sunday’s effort bumped him up four positions to 17th in the Cup Series standings — just outside The Chase’s provisional field. Kansas bodes well for Briscoe, who has won there in NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series competition and captured one of his Cup Series-best seven pole positions last year at the 1.5-mile track.
Ethan Smith | For NASCAR Digital Media
3. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Started: 20th
Finished: 7th
What happened: Logano made steady gains from a near-midpack starting spot, jumping up to grab three stage points with an eighth-place result at the halfway point that ended Stage 2. He was lined up 11th on the next-to-last restart and picked up three more spots before another late caution forced overtime. Once there, Logano was in the middle of a three-wide sandwich for most of the two-lap dash, but fended off Carson Hocevar for one more spot to take seventh.
What’s next: The season has been an up-and-down one for Logano, but the last two races — third at Martinsville Speedway, seventh at Bristol — have provided a boost. Logano stayed put at 12th in the Cup standings heading to Kansas, where he’s a three-time winner.
Ethan Smith | For NASCAR Digital Media
THREE DOWN ⬇️
1. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Started: 14th
Finished: 27th
What happened: Last fall at Bristol, Bell left with the gladiator sword reserved for race winners. He was expected to be among the contenders again Sunday, and a second-place finish in Stage 1 bolstered his case, but a speeding penalty during the intermission knocked him to 27th in the order. Things turned worse for Bell after a wall scrape and spin prompted a Lap 144 caution period. He ended up four laps off the pace at the checkered flag.
What’s next: Bell dipped two spots to ninth in the Cup Series points, but Kansas looms as a possible rebound track. The JGR star was on the podium in both races there last year, and he’s a four-time pole winner at the 1.5-mile venue.
Ethan Smith | For NASCAR Digital Media
2. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Started: 34th
Finished: 30th
What happened: Byron last scored a top-five finish at Bristol in 2022, and getting there again was a distant hope from the start. After an uncharacteristic subpar qualifying effort, Bryon dropped to the rear of the field after adjustments to the steering system. By Lap 37, he went a lap down. By the finish, he was five laps back and saddled with his worst result of the season so far.
What’s next: A two-position drop nudged Byron to seventh in the Cup Series standings. He’s winless in 16 career Cup starts at Kansas, which was the site of his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory way back in 2016.
Ethan Smith | For NASCAR Digital Media
3. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Started: 33rd
Finished: 34th
What happened: SVG had drummed up some short-track goodwill after an 11th-place finish at Martinsville just before the Easter weekend break. A Lap 160 spin at Bristol, however, gathered up three more cars in its wake and damaged his No. 97 Chevy. Van Gisbergen was running at the finish, but 170 laps down after his crew’s repairs.
What’s next: Van Gisbergen’s development on oval tracks has been a much-ballyhooed topic as he transitions from road racing to NASCAR’s bread and butter. Kansas last fall marked a breakthrough with a 10th-place finish — his first top 10 on an oval. Another strong finish would provide a lift after a two-place drop to 16th in the Cup Series points.
NASCAR officials have adjusted the stage lengths for the 2026 Cup Series spring race at Talladega Superspeedway, the sanctioning body announced on Monday afternoon.
The Jack Link’s 500, scheduled for April 26 at the 2.66-mile Alabama track (3 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), will have changes across all three stages. Stage 1 will now end on Lap 98 (98 laps), with Stage 2 set to end on Lap 143 (45 laps). The final stage will conclude 45 laps later on Lap 188, the end of regulation for the 10th points-paying race of the 2026 Cup campaign. Original stage-length specifications were set at 60-120-188.
John Probst, NASCAR’s executive vice president and chief racing development officer, discussed the change during the latest episode of the “Hauler Talk” podcast last week, detailing that these modified stage lengths will help address fuel-saving concerns, where drivers would run at less than full throttle at the longest tracks on the circuit.
These changes, to Probst, should create newer, more unique strategies as the race unfolds.
“If you look at generally how a lot of our speedways were laid out, it was a short stage, a short stage and then a long stage to the end,” Probst said. “Going into Talladega, we’re going to flip that and adjust the lengths of the final two stages such that we’re confident that the last two stages are short enough to be made without a fuel stop.
“It could be interesting, as well, in that first stage, the length of it, if there’s some that try to do it on one stop versus some that try to do it on two. We think that if there are some that try to do it on two, they may drag the group that tried to do it on one along with them to where they won’t be able to do it in one, so it’s got the potential there for some pretty interesting strategies.”
Per the NASCAR Rule Book, the race is considered official at the end of Stage 2 or at the halfway point. With these new stage lengths, the halfway point will now be following Lap 94.
Austin Cindric is the defending Talladega spring winner. The Cup Series will battle at the Alabama track another time this season, doing so on Oct. 25, the eighth of 10 races making up The Chase (2 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series next travels to Kansas Speedway for a contest at the 1.5-mile intermediate venue on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Brandon Jones is the defending race winner, and while the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing pilot will look to go back-to-back in the winning department there, four other drivers — Brent Crews, Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil and Sheldon Creed — will contend for the win and also do battle for $100,000 in the second of four Dash 4 Cash races this season.
Luke Baldwin will make his second career O’Reilly Series start this weekend as driver of the No. 5 Hettinger Racing Ford. Baldwin finished 38th at Martinsville Speedway in March. Two NASCAR Cup Series regulars will additionally drive this weekend, with Cole Custer wheeling the No. 0 SS GreenLight Racing Chevrolet and William Byron piloting the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
Thirty-seven cars are entered into this weekend’s event.
The NASCAR Cup Series treks from half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway to the intermediate Kansas Speedway on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Kyle Larson is the defending spring winner. Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs, who is coming off his first career Cup Series win thanks to his Bristol triumph, is currently on a stretch of six consecutive 2026 finishes of sixth or better.
Corey Heim will make his second Cup Series start of 2026 this weekend as pilot of the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota. Heim finished 28th in the Daytona 500.
Thirty-seven cars are entered into this weekend’s event.
Kyle Busch’s frustration at Bristol Motor Speedway manifested itself in multiple ways Sunday, with a trade-off of in-race bumping incidents with Riley Herbst but also with some over-the-air tension on the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing team’s radio.
Busch, an eight-time NASCAR Cup Series winner at the 0.533-mile Tennessee oval, finished two laps down in 25th place in Sunday’s Food City 500. He triggered the last of nine yellow flags on the 498th of 505 laps after making sustained contact with Herbst, Busch’s foil in an earlier incident that sent his No. 8 RCR Chevrolet spinning.
During the caution period for the first Busch-Herbst incident, the No. 8 team communications became animated as Busch toiled in 26th place. Radio frustrations had mounted through the race’s first half, with Busch, first-year crew chief Jim Pohlman and spotter Derek Kneeland all striving to solve the No. 8 Chevrolet’s handling problems — with Busch specifically asking for help with rear grip.
Earlier in the race, Pohlman had called for adjustments to tighten the car up, but Busch struggled to make forward progress. On Lap 277, Pohlman asked for feedback from Kneeland: “What is the freakin’ problem now? Is the thing sideways or is it plowing? What the (expletive) does it look like?”
After getting a response of “still not getting into the corner,” Pohlman pressed: “Why? I don’t get it. We tightened it up and why can’t it get in the [expletive] corner?” Kneeland replied: “I don’t know. I’ve got a headset on, not a helmet. I don’t know.”
Busch spun after a Herbst run-in on Lap 313, but continued after slight contact with the trailing car of Erik Jones. During that yellow, Kneeland radioed in: “Listen, I know you’re frustrated. I don’t like running 30th either, but us yelling at each other during the race isn’t going to help [expletive]. Like we’ve gotta keep the glue molded together here. We’re all still in it together and it’s not over. We’re only barely halfway through this thing. … You copy?”
“Yeah, copy,” Pohlman replied. “Just same [expletive] every week.”
Busch’s radio was relatively quiet after the second incident with Herbst’s No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota. There was resignation over the No. 35 team radio after that contact: “Well, third time’s the charm.”
Busch ranks 24th in Cup Series standings, mired in one of the slowest starts of his career. Since winning the pole position for the season-opening Daytona 500, Busch has managed a best 2026 finish of 12th place at the Circuit of The Americas road course. Sunday’s result at Bristol was his fourth consecutive finish outside the top 20.
“Not the finish any of us wanted for the No. 8 Bank OZK Chevrolet here this afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway,” Busch said post-race. “We battled the rear of the car the entire race, and despite the best efforts of the team, we got a lap down in the third stage and were never able to get back that track position. We’re going to keep putting in the work, and hopefully that begins to translate next weekend in Kansas.”
Now is your opportunity to support your favorite driver for a chance to compete in the 2026 NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway. The NASCAR All-Star Race Fan Vote is officially open, giving fans the power to place one driver into the All-Star Race lineup.
Fans can cast votes for any NASCAR Cup Series driver not already eligible for the All-Star Race, helping determine who advances through fan support.
The voting period opened Monday at noon ET and will close Sunday, May 17, at 9 a.m. ET. The fan vote winner will be revealed on Sunday, May 17, before engines fire for the main event at 1 p.m. ET (FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Fans can vote up to five times per day per unique email address throughout the voting window. Fans who vote through the Fan Rewards Dashboard will receive a one-time bonus of 25 Fan Rewards points for their first vote during the promotion period.
Notable past winners of the NASCAR All-Star Fan Vote include familiar names on the list, such as inaugural winner Ken Schrader (2004), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2011), Danica Patrick (2013, ’15) and Chase Elliott (2016-18). Noah Gragson captured the honor most recently, earning the nod in each of the past three seasons.
Only one driver in the history of the fan vote has gone on to win the All-Star Race on the same day: Kasey Kahne, who accomplished the feat in 2008 after starting 24th.
Stay tuned to NASCAR.com for updates on the progress of the fan vote as the All-Star Race weekend at Dover Motor Speedway approaches.
Track position proved pivotal during the Icebreaker 150 and Kopcik knew his best chance at usurping McKennedy would likely come on pit road. Kopcik credited his Wanick Motorsports crew not only for their efficiency at Thompson, but for the hard work they’ve shown through the first three events.
“That pit stop was crucial,” Kopcik said. “They killed it once again. By coming out first, that gives you lane choice and that means a lot here with 40 to go. It’s unbelievable because yesterday I was wondering if I knew how to drive this place. To come here and win on the Whelen Modified Tour is unbelievable.”
Kopcik now joins a small, but elite group of drivers who have won a Thomposn NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event. That includes the all-time series wins leader Mike Stefanik, along with Justin Bonsignore, Ted Christopher, Jeff Fuller, Richie Evans and many others.
The speed Kopcik possessed at Martinsville carried over into a cold day around Thompson’s fast, banked layout. He qualified three one-thousandths of a second behind front row starters Jon McKennedy and Matt Hirschman, neither of whom have won a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Thompson.
It didn’t take long for Kopcik to find his way around Hirschman, but passing McKennedy proved to be a more arduous task. With McKennedy receiving the benefit of clean air, Kopcik was forced to follow him for most of the Icebreaker 150’s middle portion, all while he patiently waited for an opportunity to materialize.
Ronnie Williams’ crash inside of 45 laps remaining was the break Kopcik and Wanick Motorsports needed. Kopcik’s crew did their job with an efficient stop that got their driver the lead, meaning Kopick just had to figure out how to maintain the top spot with McKennedy applying pressure behind him.
Every attempt McKennedy made at Kopcik proved fruitless, which eventually led him to lose the second position to two-time series champion Ron Silk. Although he gradually erased Kopcik’s advantage, Silk didn’t have enough laps at his disposal to earn his first victory of the 2026 season.
Had Silk chased down and overtaken Kopick, he would have become the fifth driver to amass double digit NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins at Thompson alongside Stefanik, Bonsignore, Christopher and Fuller. Instead, Silk was left disappointed with a runner-up finish.
“[It all comes down] to track position,” Silk said. “We’re all running the same speed. In that last run, there was a part at the beginning of it where Jon [McKennedy] was the best, there was a part where Stephen [Kopcik] was the best and a part where my car drove great too. It’s very tough to pass, but it was a good race with everybody and congrats to Stephen and his team.”
Stephen Kopcik now has victories at Martinsville Speedway and Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park to open the 2026 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season. (Photo: Rachel O’Driscoll/NASCAR)
Kopcik is one of many drivers Silk will need to deal with to obtain a third title, especially since the former has now won two of the first three races to open the season. The wins have helped Kopcik overcome a minor points deficit that stemmed from a 13th in the season-opener at New Smyrna Speedway to now lead the standings for the first time in his career.
“We’re going to keep working hard and try to show up with fast cars we can build on,” Kopcik said. “Momentum is huge, but nothing is going to beat hard work. You’ve got to keep working hard and keep making sure our cars are ready and prepared to the best that we can prepare them. We’ll see what happens.”
Mike Christopher Jr.’s solid day at Thompson ended with a third-place finish. McKennedy settled for fourth after a strong start to his day, with Hirschman completing the top five.
Up next for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be the series’ long awaited return to Oxford Plains Speedway on May 2. The green flag will wave at 6:15 p.m. ET that evening, with FloRacing providing live coverage of all the on-track action.
