Overlooked to chosen: No. 7 NOAPS crew chief Andrew Overstreet details journey

Posted on August 26, 2026September 2, 2026 by Dustin Albino

Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a two-part series detailing the No. 7 JR Motorsports team in 2026. Read Part II here.

When Jim Pohlman decided to leave JR Motorsports after three seasons as Justin Allgaier’s crew chief in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, the 2024 champion had one request: Keep the core of the No. 7 team together.

Enter Andrew Overstreet.

“We weren’t sure what to do with Overstreet,” Dale Earnhardt Jr., co-owner of JR Motorsports, told NASCAR.com. “We had a couple of different ways we could have went about putting our teams out for this year as far as drivers and crew chiefs. I’m glad we went with what we did because Overstreet has found a really badass situation with Justin and it’s worked. I don’t know what Overstreet would be doing if he didn’t get that opportunity.”

Overstreet’s 2025 campaign was a mixed bag, leading the way for rookie Carson Kvapil. The No. 1 team made it to the Championship 4, but Kvapil went winless, while fellow rookie Connor Zilisch won a league-best 10 races.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve worked with a lot of rookies,” Overstreet said. “I think there was a lot of people frustrated because they saw what the other rookie did, and that leads to unrealistic expectations a lot of times. You can sit there and beat yourself up, but at the end of the day, I had to right the ship.

“When you get to the point where you feel like you should have won by now, sometimes there is finger-pointing. It’s tough to try to make it right.”

Overstreet, whose brother Tyler was a longtime public relations representative for Earnhardt, has deep ties to both the Earnhardts and Hendrick Motorsports. He grew up in the NASCAR hub, native to Concord, North Carolina, a hop-and-a-skip away from Charlotte Motor Speedway and had family who worked within the Hendrick walls. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a mechanical engineering degree, and many of his classes met in UNCC’s Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory.

While navigating the college lifestyle, Overstreet secured an internship at Hendrick. He did odds and ends with the hope of getting to the race track. Upon graduating, he had a role with Jimmie Johnson’s 2006 championship-winning team.

Overstreet needed a full-time gig and departed Hendrick for Red Bull Racing in 2007, working in the R&D department as the data engineer while testing with Brian Vickers, AJ Allmendinger and Mike Skinner. He made stops at a handful of other teams before returning to the Hendrick pipeline at JRM, including Michael Waltrip Racing, Turner Motorsports, Red Horse Racing, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Wood Brothers Racing and Team Penske.

Upon returning to JRM in 2023, a directive from Earnhardt led to Overstreet having a direct approach in his first of two starts of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Dale pulled me aside whenever he was going to run Bristol, and he told me, ‘I want you to have your hands on this car,’ ” Overstreet said. “Dale had a shot to win and caught fire. It was a lot of fun, and I think that opened people’s eyes.”

That success led to a part-time opportunity in 2024, with Overstreet named the crew chief of JRM’s part-time fifth entry. Zilisch won in his series debut at Watkins Glen International, and Kvapil scored a trio of top fives in nine starts.

“We did a lot with a little, and it led to what we had last year,” Overstreet said of 18 attempts as a leader in 2024. “We didn’t win any races, but we finished top four in the championship with a guy who had no heavy stock-car experience before that. A lot of people would say that’s actually a win.”

Last September, JRM hired NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief Rodney Childers as the new leader of the No. 1 entry, splitting time between Kvapil and Zilisch. That left Overstreet in the dark until rumblings began that Pohlman would leave the organization to seek Cup opportunities.

Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

Whether Overstreet would get a shot with Allgaier was pending. But if he was relegated to the part-time entry yet again, he had one motive.

“When they made the announcement with Rodney, I told Dale that I’m fine just making the fifth car better than ever,” Overstreet said. “We will make sure it’s not a hindrance to the team and the organization, and we will make sure we win races.”

Less than a week after the 2025 season finale at Phoenix Raceway, Overstreet recalls a conversation with Allgaier. The savvy veteran knew the crew chief paid his dues and gave him words of wisdom along the way. In 2011, he interviewed to be Allgaier’s lead engineer at Turner.

“We sat down, and I told him I don’t care what you do, but I know I believe in everything that you can do and I know that this team is capable of it,” Overstreet said of that conversation. “If I got the opportunity, the sky is the limit.”

Switching crew chiefs comes with unknowns. Both parties are north of 40 but have a lot left in the tank. Allgaier quickly realized Overstreet would fill in smoothly.

“I’ve raced against Andrew and have been teammates with Andrew for a long time, but until you get down to brass tacks and start to work with somebody, you don’t know what to expect,” Allgaier said. “Andrew came in and plugged and played really easily. Some crew chiefs come in and want to change things immediately and put their own stamp on it. Andrew was able to come in and fine-tune, tweak the details of what we already had that was good and made it even better.”

MORE: O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule | O’Reilly Auto Parts Series standings

Allgaier leads the series in most statistical categories in 2026. He has the most wins (six), top fives (14), top 10s (17) and laps led (559). He clinched the No. 1 seed for The Chase with three regular-season contests remaining after winning his sixth race of the year at EchoPark Speedway.

“We still have our goals, and we’ve talked all year of just putting another brick on the pile each week,” Overstreet said. “We’re building that championship, and that hasn’t changed. We’re focused on one week at a time, and we know the end goal is that big trophy.”

Posted on August 25, 2026August 25, 2026 by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — An exceptionally small number of people can impact the world through their life’s work and continue to do so in a legacy thereafter.

Betty Jane France not only helped foster the sport of NASCAR alongside her husband Bill France Jr. in its vital early years, but she found a way to cultivate the heart of the sport – its people — well into perpetuity.

Mention her name in racing circles and the response is immediate: A huge grin and a tale of France’s generosity followed by a story of gratitude for her work and mission.

“I give my sister-in-law, Betty Jane, the credit for really helping spearhead that direction,’’ NASCAR Chairman Jim France said. “As a family, we have been contributing and still do individually. But she had the vision to try and bring something together for our entire sport that could contribute to the needs of many.”

As founders and leaders of one of America’s great sports leagues, it’s easy to first consider the France family in terms of their work on the race track. But Betty Jane France, who died in 2016 at age 78, created a masterful and loving vestige in the communities — both big cities and small towns – surrounding the tracks; and, by extension, the areas nearby.

She essentially tipped the first block, and her work has resonated ever since.

The Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award – which honors volunteers and charities for their work — has been a bright star in the sport and beyond for the last 15 years. Its recipients are honored yearly at the championship celebration and provided additional funding to both continue the work and raise the profile.

The four 2026 finalists for the Betty Jane Humanitarian Award were announced just this month and include a longtime leader of a New York food pantry, a volunteer of a Richmond, Virginia, Ronald McDonald House, the founder of a Florida organization that supports families of fallen service members and the founder of a two-decades old foundation committed to providing free medical care for pediatric cancer patients in memory of his young son.

These people and their life’s missions are indicative of what France’s work means and show an unmistakable common theme in her legacy – making a difference in the lives of kids and families.

“My mom felt like every child deserved a chance,’’ France’s daughter and NASCAR’s Executive Vice Chair Lesa France Kennedy said. “They deserve a healthy life. They deserve to be heard and to be seen. And she saw that opportunity. It was extremely important to her.”

The NASCAR Foundation, which Betty Jane France established, just celebrated 20 years of work in the community, having raised millions of dollars and provided a very direct and lasting impact on kids and their families.

“I think my mother will always be remembered for her heart,’’ France Kennedy said. “I think The NASCAR Foundation was the start of that and the start of the example that she showed to everyone.

“I also think that it shows everyone that they have an opportunity. They can find their passion, just as my mom did with The NASCAR Foundation, and they can live that and make a difference.”

Seeing the joy on the kids’ faces or the tears in the eyes of people called to and able to make that difference in their communities is impactful.

Getty Images

Those were the reactions just this summer as NASCAR rolled into San Diego for its first-ever street race on the famed Naval Base Coronado, allowing a whole “new” group of people to see France’s legacy of care in action.

A joyfully chaotic scene featuring more than 100 children of United States servicemen and women who participated in The NASCAR Foundation’s Speediatrics Fun Day Festival, a weeklong curriculum culminating with a NASCAR-themed obstacle course on race weekend, and were then surprised with brand new bicycles and helmets. Brightly colored balloons framed a huge sign that hung high across the crowded San Diego race midway, proclaiming, “This isn’t just a race, it’s a mission.’’

And indeed it has been.

“It’s the synergy that Betty Jane kind of led the charge on and asked others [to do the same] for the Foundation,’’ said NASCAR Vice Chairman and Senior Advisor Mike Helton, who stopped by the San Diego event, soaking in the smiles.

“The bigger and broader part, in addition to millions of dollars of help with children that need help, whether it’s medically or, quality of life, is that it was also a statement made that NASCAR, everywhere we go – and our footprint is across America — everywhere we go, we’re still a local community-driven event.”

“Everybody’s got their own interests, but you’ve seen this whole sport industry come to this cause,’’ he added. “I’d like to think that The NASCAR Foundation was the seed of that saying, ‘you can organize this and do bigger and better.’ And we’ve seen the industry do that over the last 20 years.”

It’s a passion of giving that has permeated the sport. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell has unfailingly found his experiences reaching out on behalf of The NASCAR Foundation to be powerful and lasting. Like so many of NASCAR’s stars, Bell views any opportunity to do something on behalf of the foundation as a privilege.

“It’s heartwarming and humbling experience anytime you visit a children’s hospital,’’ Bell said. “And being able to bring a little joy to a child’s day means the world to me. The NASCAR Foundation does an amazing job spreading the love of racing across the country and giving us the opportunity to spend time with these kids and their families.

“I’ve been lucky to be a small part of what they’re doing.’’

It’s one thing to have grand ideas and sincere purpose, but it’s another to put them into action. And it is yet another to have that work prosper exponentially.

One of France’s dear friends, NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace, was an immediate and ardent supporter of The NASCAR Foundation. The 1989 NASCAR Cup Series champion still smiles when he recalls France asking him to be an active voice as the organization first began. And the famously candid driver still smiles about it.

“She laughed and said, ‘Well, you’re non-controversial now, since you’re not a driver,’ ’’ Wallace shared with a grin. “But, you know, I really saw her passion and I really got passionate about helping raise money for children and doing these causes. And it just got bigger and bigger for me. I really enjoy it. I feel doing it is really meaningful and appreciated by people

“That’s how I’m so involved in it. And I don’t see myself backing off.”

Adds Jim France: “It’s a community effort by everybody within the sport. And it makes you proud of our folks and people that participates.”

It’s indicative of how Betty Jane wrapped personality, heart and commitment into a legacy that so lovingly reverberates still today.

“Betty Jane was charming, beautiful, intelligent and she played her role in NASCAR to perfection,’’ NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip said of France when she passed away in 2016. “She was the right person to do all she had to do. Just a great lady.”

And she lived the lessons in generosity her actions perpetually taught others.

“My mom was the one that spearheaded that for our family,’’ France Kennedy said. “She set the example. She was the role model, and we’re all hopeful that we can continue it with the vision that she started.”

Helton has no doubt that is the case.

“She would be very happy, very proud, and maybe a little bit surprised,’’ Helton said of how France’s work continues to thrive and make a difference in the world all these years later. “We sit around sometimes and talk about different business elements in the sport. What would Bill [France] Sr. think about this moment that we were participating in, or what would Bill Jr. think?

“And you know, on the foundation side, when we’ve just come off an event having 300 bicycles delivered or shoes for kids who don’t have shoes.

“Nichole [Krieger] will say to me often, ‘I wonder what Betty Jane would think,’ ’’ he said of the longtime NASCAR Foundation executive director. “And I tell her, ‘Betty Jane would be proud.’ She would be very pleased with that seed that she planted to grow into such a beautiful forest.”

Her perpetual light is still shining brightly upon it all.

Getty Images

Posted on August 25, 2026 by Staff Report

NASCAR officials issued a penalty to the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team in the NASCAR Cup Series following last weekend’s action at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the sanctioning body announced Tuesday.

Rear-tire changer Orane Ossowski and jackman Allen Holman have been suspended for the next two events, running through Darlington Raceway on Sept. 6, after the detachment of William Byron’s left-rear wheel on Lap 233 in Sunday’s USA Today 301, causing a caution and violating Sections 8.8.10.4.A&D in the NASCAR Rule Book.

Byron finished the race in 30th but clinched a Chase berth.

The Cup Series next races at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday in what will be the 2026 regular-season finale (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on August 25, 2026 by Nathan Solomon

NASCAR will return to San Diego to race at historic Naval Base Coronado next season, the sanctioning body announced Tuesday, shedding light on a long-term plan for future events at military installations on a rotation basis in 2028 and beyond.

The West Coast trip — slated for Aug. 1 on TNT Sports and the cornerstone event of NASCAR San Diego Weekend presented by Anduril — marks the second consecutive season the NASCAR Cup Series will race on the active military base, and the fifth time a street course is on the schedule in the modern era. The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will also join, with the preliminary event planned for July 31 on The CW and the ESPN App.

NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Ben Kennedy welcomed the unique event’s return next season, saying that the reception from Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth before this year’s race prompted talks with Kennedy, Julie Giese — NASCAR Vice President of Market Development & Strategic Scheduling — and their team about future activations on other military sites.

“He obviously loved the event, enjoyed the event and that helped spur conversations around what the future relationship might look like with them,” Kennedy said. “So we agreed in 2028 we’re going to go to another military installation as a part of a long-term plan as we think about rotating these not just to other parts of the military, but to other branches within the Department of War, and it’s been a really good collaborative conversation. Still remains to be seen where and what and when those other locations might look like, but the team and Julie have already been digging into a number of different markets that we feel like are priority markets for us to be in that we frankly don’t have a large presence in today, along with just iconic installations that everyone knows of. So, a lot of work to go on that front.”

Naval Base Coronado’s August date marks a shift from Father’s Day weekend, when the races were hosted on the 2026 calendar. The Cup Series main event will be featured as the championship round of the 2027 NASCAR In-Season Challenge, the third edition of the five-race, 32-driver midseason tournament.

In conjunction with the U.S. Navy, NASCAR officials constructed the 16-turn, 3.4-mile Qualcomm Circuit, which Kennedy said would return largely unchanged for the 2027 running. That course layout weaved around the active Naval Base Coronado, featuring stunning views of downtown San Diego and the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier. Dubbed “Race the Base,” all three national series contested events in 2026 — a celebration for America 250, the country’s semiquincentennial anniversary.

Corey Heim broke out with his first career Cup Series victory in just 13 starts, just weeks before following up with a crown-jewel Brickyard 400 triumph. Austin Hill won the O’Reilly Series race — which marked Richard Childress Racing’s first since the death of Kyle Busch in May. Layne Riggs secured the victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, prevailing in overtime.

The Truck Series won’t return to San Diego in 2027 but will instead visit Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in September.

After a long tenure at Auto Club Speedway outside of Los Angeles, the trips to Naval Base Coronado and San Diego continue a key chapter in NASCAR’s, the military’s and the region’s history.

MORE: Recap Heim’s San Diego triumph

Kennedy deemed the inaugural race “a tremendously successful event” in a post-race press conference back in June at San Diego, saying “we would love to return” for a second edition. “Sports bring people together,” he said. “It brings all walks of life together. It was really neat to see a lot of folks from the military, from the Navy, be a part of this weekend. It’s a great unifier for us. It feels authentically NASCAR.”

Kennedy said this week that the Coronado race’s leaders and organizers spent a day and a half at an offsite retreat in Charlotte, discussing what worked and what needed improvement for a potential return. An analysis of industry feedback, data and “a lot of learnings” will help to shape the next San Diego event, as it has with other recent trips to one-of-a-kind venues at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a first trip to Mexico City and the evolution of the Chicago Street Race.

“Fans will expect some changes to the experience,” Kennedy said. “The course, for the most part, is going to stay intact, so we don’t expect any big changes related to that, but really focused on ingress, egress, concession stands, the viewpoints and perspectives for a lot of our fans that are sitting in the stands and continuing to improve that experience, and then as we talk about potentially going to other installations or other temporary courses in the future, we’ll at least have a good blueprint that we can then take and apply to other locations.”

One element that will return in 2027 is a Navy Community Night on July 30. Base access will be exclusive to U.S. Navy personnel and Coronado community members that day, which will feature O’Reilly Auto Parts Series practice and qualifying on track.

More details about the 2027 Naval Base Coronado race weekend will be revealed at a later date.

Contributing: Zack Albert

Posted on August 25, 2026 by Staff Report

Goodyear will bring a proven tire setup for Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Cup Series teams will utilize the same tire setup from February’s Daytona 500 and April’s spring race at Talladega Superspeedway. The left-side tire compound has been used at the “World Center of Racing” since the 2022 season, while the right-side tire compound debuted in last year’s Daytona 500.

RELATED: Daytona weekend schedule

Additionally, Goodyear will introduce a new right-side tire for NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series teams. The new tire features an updated construction but no compound change, which will pair with the left-side tire that previously ran at Daytona and Talladega earlier this year.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series regular-season finale is Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET (The CW, ESPN Unlimited, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“Our Goodyear Racing Eagle superspeedway package is well established, so teams have a strong baseline heading into this weekend’s race,” said Justin Fantozzi, Goodyear’s Director of Racing for the Americas. “The new right-side 15-inch tire is a continuous improvement of the package and follows similar changes we’ve made at other tracks.”

Tire allotment for each team competing this weekend:

Cup Series: 7 total sets — 6 new for the race, 1 for qualifying, which transfers to the race.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: 4 total sets — 3 new for the race, 1 for qualifying, which transfers to the race.

Posted on August 25, 2026August 25, 2026 by Pat DeCola

LOUDON, N.H. — For years, Tyler Reddick had a system for waking up in the morning: set five or six alarms and hope one of them worked.

Sometimes they didn’t.

The 23XI Racing driver could shut them off without realizing it, but would eventually emerge from a deep slumber in what he now describes as “a trance.” On race weekends, if the schedule allowed, he might sleep in until 9 or 10 a.m. and still have to drag himself into the day. His wife, Alexa, had long told him “for years, quite possibly decades” how badly he snored, and there were nights when she would jolt him awake with a shake after something considerably more unsettling.

He had stopped breathing entirely.

Reddick would snap up, confused, beckoned by Alexa — “Are you OK?”

“I mean, I thought I was,” Reddick told NASCAR.com on Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

That answer makes more sense when Reddick explains how thoroughly he had normalized the problem. He’s 30 years old, already a Daytona 500 champion, prolific winner and one of the most adeptly gifted drivers in NASCAR, but poor sleep had been part of his life for so long that it barely registered as something to fix anymore.

“I think I’ve dealt with this probably most of my life,” Reddick said. “You think, ‘Oh, it’s just how I sleep.’ Whether it’s how bad you sleep or the amount of times you wake up, how you feel when you wake up after sleeping — all these things, I thought, ‘Well, it’s just me. It’s the way I live my life.’

“So I think for the longest time I chalked it up to that.”

What finally broke through was the same instinct that has carried Reddick to NASCAR’s highest level: the suspicion that somewhere, somehow, there was still more performance to uncover in himself.

At the end of last season, Reddick began taking inventory. Fitness, preparation, recovery — all the usual levers available to an elite athlete were essentially accounted for already. Then he landed on a more basic question.

“What stones have I not unturned?”

Sleep topped the list.

Initially, when seeking answers, Reddick expected little more than confirmation that he had been right all along. Do the sleep study, check the box, establish that nothing significant was wrong and move along. But once he began paying closer attention and putting all the contextual pieces together while waiting for the appointment, years of evidence clicked into place as he realized what was actually happening.

The snoring. The exhaustion. The alarms. The fact that more time in bed rarely produced the recovery he expected.

By the time the study confirmed sleep apnea, Reddick’s reaction was not one of alarm — it was relief.

“As crazy as it sounds, I was like, ‘Yes, thank goodness,’ ” he said. “Because if it wasn’t this, I don’t know why I’m the way I am.”

Reddick began continuous positive airway pressure treatment in March, using a CPAP device to help keep his airway open while he sleeps. The first night was enough to recalibrate his understanding of what “rested” is actually supposed to feel like.

“Literally the first night I used it, it was a huge difference,” Reddick said. “It blew my mind. I could not believe that what I thought was normal was beyond not normal.”

The most meaningful changes since then have been almost stubbornly ordinary.

Reddick says he wakes with more energy and no longer needs “mountains of caffeine” simply to get himself moving. A smaller CPAP device travels with him, taking away the anxiety that came with sleeping somewhere unfamiliar and wondering whether he would wake up when he needed to. Some mornings now, he beats the alarm altogether.

And then there is home life.

“It was really, really incredible how much it helped my day-to-day stuff as well. I’m a dad, and now I’m able to wake up in the morning and be sharp and tackle whatever happens.”

Before treatment, a relatively open race morning could mean sleeping as late as possible while his wife took the children somewhere. Now, when the schedule allows, Reddick gets up and goes with them. After the kids are asleep at night, he can finish the work that tends to pile up at the end of the day without assuming the next morning will be a trade-off he’ll have to deal with.

His wife sleeps better, too. The snoring that kept her awake has subsided, along with the frightening interruptions — and the frantic commotion that followed.

“For me, it was such a 180 from what I’ve been dealing with, and it was like, holy cow, yeah, obviously, I think I had it in mind for trying to be, how can I just continue to find things that make me better as a driver?”

Chris Graythen | Getty Images

It’s worked so well for him, in fact, that his experience has now led to a commercial chapter as well.

23XI Racing announced Tuesday a new partnership with ResMed, the company whose CPAP equipment Reddick had already begun using on his own in March. ResMed branding will be featured on track with Reddick’s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota at Bristol, Talladega and Homestead this season. According to the team, 23XI was separately in conversations with ResMed before learning that Reddick was, coincidentally, already using the company’s devices. His personal experience ultimately provided a natural connection between the two, and a partnership seamlessly followed.

Cup teams spend entire seasons chasing hundredths of a second through simulation, setup, aerodynamics and pit-road execution. When they’re not behind the wheel, drivers conduct their own version of the same search through training, nutrition, hydration, reaction time and recovery. Reddick went looking for another place to get better, and found one in the portion of his day when he had assumed for years there was nothing to optimize, humbly coming to terms with his apparent fate of needing to sleepwalk through life.

But not so.

Even before his sleep study, he began experimenting and tinkering with his sleep hygiene and habits on his own. As part of that, Reddick changed the way he positioned himself in bed, trying to sleep more upright in hopes of keeping his airway open while he waited to see a doctor months after booking the appointment.

“It sucked,” he said. “I’m not gonna lie, it wasn’t very comfortable.”

But he thought he was indeed sleeping tangibly better, ever so slightly, but another clue that this particular stone, once flipped over, may uncover an edge both in racing and in life.

What treatment has now offered him is not something super flashy but, heading into The Chase with something to prove, potentially quite useful: the capacity to meet his demands.

“Typically, this time of the year, it just kind of feels a bit run down,” Reddick said. “It’s like, holy cow, we’re getting ready to go start the real true grind with all the stakes in play.

“I think just mentally, I’m naturally in a better place than I normally would be, year in, year out.”

That is where Reddick is comfortable drawing the connection between his sleep and his Sunday duties. Not just horsepower, lap times, or RPMs, but also the REM cycles and circadian rhythm that allow him to complete the work required every day of the week.

“If there are late nights of prep and trying to get caught up, or doing the extra, putting in the extra hours, whatever it might be, I’m not as worried about being tired the next day,” he said. “When you do have those late nights and everyone’s grinding, working hard, I’m walking into work or the track on those tougher days or stretches with a better mindset.

“It just has a huge positive influence on my energy, all the things, and then that, in turn, is positive on those around us.”

All of this makes the timing difficult to ignore.

Reddick returns to Daytona this week for the regular-season finale, six months removed from leaving the same track with the Harley J. Earl Trophy and forever marked as a Daytona 500 champion, sparking what became the hottest start to a season of his Cup career and arguably anyone else’s. Back then, the No. 45 team looked almost untouchable. Now, with his Chase berth secure but the weekly consistency harder to locate over the summer, Reddick heads toward the championship portion of the season, trying to recover the form that made him the standard.

The vibe has shifted; the ceiling has not.

Five wins in astoundingly short order already proved how good Reddick and the No. 45 can be. The task has become, however, to rebuild enough of that foundation underneath to revert their gaze back up at the next level.

There is no magic answer in a sleep study for that.

Reddick’s race car still has to be right, his team still has to execute, and the driver still has to deliver. But the longest, highest-pressure part of the season is arriving, and he believes he is entering it with one less source of wear and tear accumulating in the background.

Consistency matters with the treatment, too. Reddick travels with his device and can monitor usage and mask seal through an app from ResMed. If he accidentally falls asleep putting one of his children to bed or dozes off on the couch without it, the difference is apparent the next morning, and the data reflects it … pretty accurately.

“You don’t feel amazing,” he said.

The larger change is that an imperfect night no longer starts the same familiar slide toward feeling completely depleted. That can’t be stressed enough, as Reddick embarks shortly on his best shot at a title yet.

“The more consistent you stay with it, it is ultimately way better,” Reddick said.

That same word — consistency — now hangs over the racing side of his year, with 11 races to go, 10 of which will decide a champion. The Chase will determine whether that historic opening stretch, where Reddick was an overwhelming early championship favorite, was merely the spectacular first act of a nice season or proof of a level of dominance the No. 45 can summon again when it matters most.

Either way, the driver entering that grind now understands something crucial about himself that he spent years brushing off, mistaking as normal.

For most of his life, Tyler Reddick needed five or six alarms just to start the day.

And now, when the first one goes off, he’ll be ready for it.

David Jensen | Getty Images

Posted on August 25, 2026August 25, 2026 by John Crane

NASCAR.com’s John Crane ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series drivers after Ryan Blaney’s win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and before Saturday’s 2026 regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Analysis: From the jump, it looked like it was going to be one of those days, with Hamlin getting caught in a slippery Lap 1 mess with Tyler Reddick. But Hamlin weathered the storm, and as Mother Nature’s conditions improved, so did Hamlin. The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was rewarded with a seventh-place result and the No. 1 seed in The Chase. Daytona International Speedway hasn’t been kind to Hamlin since the Next Gen era began in 2022, but at this juncture, it doesn’t necessarily matter. Now, it’s about prepping for the 10-race postseason afterward.

Analysis: Resolve could best describe the No. 12’s Loudon day. After outlasting the early weather lulls and triumphing in Stage 2, pit-road trouble following the second segment looked to be a dagger. Earlier in the season, it was. Now, though? Hardly, with Blaney rebounding to capture his second lobster in as many seasons. A 32-point gain to the cutline was, naturally, the biggest improvement among all drivers, and with a race win and four top 10s in nine Daytona starts in a Next Gen machine, more momentum could certainly be up for grabs.

Analysis: He hasn’t won (yet?), but Bell has been on the uptick for a fair bit now, with a New England P4 acting as the No. 20 driver’s seventh top-seven result in the last eight races. Overcoming a pit-road miscue following Stage 1’s conclusion further illustrates Bell’s scorcher of late. Bell, who enters the top five in the Cup standings for the first time this season, will next contest Daytona; in 13 career Cup starts, he has three top-10 results. The good news? All three have come since the Next Gen car’s introduction in 2023.

Analysis: A P6 at Loudon was Gibbs’ first top 10 at the track in four Cup attempts, continuing a 10-race streak with finishes of 10th or better dating back to Pocono Raceway in June. The question for the No. 54: Can the team A) hold off the Toyotas behind him in the standings and B) make a play against Denny Hamlin and Blaney at the top? Daytona will be the last chance to sharpen the playoff blade before Chase action begins, with Gibbs possessing two top 10s at the Florida track, including an eighth-place result in last summer’s bout.

Analysis: Waiting for the next shoe to drop has been a theme of Reddick’s summer. That theme looked like it would continue at Loudon, where, despite starting on the pole, the No. 45 spun from the lead on the opening lap. Rolling up the proverbial sleeves after a P31 result in Stage 1, Reddick gradually worked his way to contention, finishing Stage 2 in 11th and concluding Sunday’s contest in eighth, only his third top 10 in the last nine races. Can Reddick keep momentum going at Daytona, the site of his first win of 2026? We’ll see.

Analysis: Chalk Loudon as a forgetful day for the No. 19, with Briscoe’s 26th-place finish snapping a four-race streak of sixth-place results or better. As such, it’s no surprise that Briscoe’s 26-point drop to the cutline was tied for the biggest dip of the day (Chase Elliott). Despite already having clinched a Chase berth, that stings. Next is Daytona, where Briscoe hasn’t had much success in the results column, only totaling three top 10s in 11 starts. That said, he has led laps in six of the last seven Daytona races, so maybe this can shift for the better.

Analysis: Larson was one of six drivers to clinch a Chase berth Sunday, capturing his fifth stage win and tallying his first top five since Sonoma Raceway in June. Leading double-digit laps (18) for the first time since Chicagoland Speedway in July and totaling 48 points — his most since Charlotte Motor Speedway in May — perhaps suggest the defending champion is close to a breakthrough on the victory front, but then again, this tune has been sung before. Is this the time? To be determined. Larson has six top 10s and zero top fives in 24 Daytona Cup starts.

Analysis: Given the wave Logano is riding — seven consecutive finishes of 14th or better — it only makes sense that the No. 22 Team Penske Ford also clinched a Chase berth at Loudon following a P14 finish. Logano continues to hold serve at ninth in the Cup Series standings, but there remains a chance that the three-time Cup Series champion could scoot higher. In 35 Daytona Cup contests, Logano has one victory, nine top fives and 12 top 10s. In nine Daytona races in the Next Gen era, Logano ranks second in points (288). The wave of momentum could continue.

Analysis: For the first time since 2023, Buescher will go postseason racing, clinching a bid after finishing 18th at New Hampshire. It was a quiet day for the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford otherwise, save for getting clogged in Reddick’s Lap 1 slide and finishing seventh in Stage 2. It could crank up quickly at the “World Center of Racing,” where, in nine Next Gen races, Buescher leads full-timers in average finish (11.1) and points (292). Much like Bell and Larson, we have been waiting for that checkered flag to wave for the No. 17. This could be the place.

Analysis: Speaking of quiet, look no further than Elliott at New Hampshire, finishing 23rd in both stages and ending the day one lap down in 25th. The 2020 Cup champion has not rattled off back-to-back top fives since Talladega Superspeedway and Texas Motor Speedway — the site of his second win of 2026 — in April and May, respectively. When will the next hot stretch come for the No. 9? Will it come? Daytona offers a mixed bag, with seven career DNFs, but his 176 laps led in 21 races does rank fifth among active drivers.

Analysis: A Loudon runner-up — matching his best finish of 2026 (San Diego), not to mention his best Loudon finish in nine attempts — could be the shot in the arm Wallace needs as the No. 23 camp heads into the regular-season finale without a locked-in Chase berth. Now 75 points above the cutline, the drafting afficionado heads into the regular-season finale facing one of his top tracks; Wallace ranks second among full-timers in average finish (14.7), fourth in points (259) and sixth in laps led (97) at Daytona in the Next Gen era. This is Wallace’s bread and butter.

Analysis: It could’ve been worse at Loudon, I suppose. Sure, Hocevar had a little Slip ‘N Slide action during pace laps. Yes, the No. 77 Spire Motorsports machine spun again on Lap 84, this time after contact with Connor Zilisch. And while we’re here, Hocevar spun out a third time on Lap 203. But the 23-year-old still salvaged a top-20 finish and clinched a Chase spot. Still, some sign of upward momentum would be preferable with the postseason looming. That momentum swing might be on hold for another week, with Hocevar possessing three DNFs in five Daytona Cup starts.

Analysis: A 12th-place result at New Hampshire was acceptable for Cindric and the No. 2 camp, but the team did lose 13 points to the cutline. With seven of the last eight races resulting in finishes of 14th or better, Cindric has positioned himself inside the 16-driver cut, though a 44-point cushion is not a concrete buffer. Though Daytona was kind to Cindric to start his Cup career — a 2022 Daytona 500 win and third-place finish in that year’s summer race qualify — it has been bumpier since, with five finishes of 20th or worse. Don’t breathe too easy.

Analysis: Byron started Sunday’s New Hampshire race well, leading laps on the wets to begin action and eventually finishing Stage 1 in fourth. It was downhill from there, though, with pit-road chaos following the opening segment, coupled with a detached left-rear wheel on Lap 233, relegating the No. 24 to a 30th-place finish. Though Byron clinched a Chase berth, potential crew suspensions over the detachment could be a blow, especially for a pit crew that ranks second among all teams, according to Racing Insights. Daytona has been hit-or-miss for Byron; he has three wins and eight DNFs there.

Analysis: One of the biggest story lines of the season has been van Gisbergen’s improvement on non-road-course tracks. That continued Sunday at Loudon, with the No. 97 pilot leading 30 laps in the early going, showing the Kiwi’s adaptability to the wet-weather sets. Nevertheless, SVG lost 19 points to the cutline and heads to Daytona clinging to a 31-point lead. Three out of SVG’s four Cup starts there have resulted in finishes of 30th or worse. Can SVG cash in on that oval progression en route to a Chase berth? It’s possible. Either way, it’ll be close.

Analysis: Suárez rounded out the six drivers who clinched a Chase berth following New Hampshire action. A 20-point day for the Spire Motorsports pilot — thanks to a 17th-place finish — isn’t the end of the world, but it’s worth noting that Suárez has not accumulated a 30-point race performance since Pocono and has only tallied two top-10 results since his Charlotte victory. That big-time performance has simply eluded the No. 7 team for a bit now. Eleven DNFs in 18 Daytona Cup starts isn’t ideal, though he did finish runner-up in last year’s Daytona summer contest.

Analysis: Preece needed that performance. A 38-point day at Loudon thanks to a ninth-place finish at his home track keeps the No. 60 in the postseason hunt, with 19 markers gained to the cutline. Can his fortunes turn for the better at Daytona? They will have to if he wishes to make The Chase. In 13 Cup starts at the 2.5-mile Florida superspeedway, Preece has just three top 10s, with all three coming pre-Next Gen era (2019, 2021). He’s going to give it the college try, though. In his words: “I’m gonna race the hell out of it.”

Analysis: Similarly to his teammate in Preece, Keselowski’s 11th-place, 31-point day at New Hampshire has the RFK Racing co-owner/driver with a mathematical chance to sneak into the 16-driver Chase. With 12 points gained to the cutline, the 2012 Cup champion is still 66 points out of a spot, so help will likely be needed to prevail. That said, Keselowski has been dynamite at Daytona in the Next Gen era; his 126 laps led are tied for second-most (Cindric), and his 250 points rank fifth. Experience could be key, and Keselowski has plenty of it, especially at this venue.

Analysis: A last-place finish at Loudon officially eliminated Chastain and the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing team from Chase contention, a far cry from where Chastain and Co. had their sights set after a 10th-place finish in the standings in 2025. What’s next? That’s a good question. What can be said, though, is that there has been a drop-off, and a return to the drawing board will be necessary over the course of the remainder of the campaign should 2027 wish to be a rebound campaign. The capability is there. Can it be reacquired?

Analysis: Though he has long been eliminated from Chase contention, flowers are needed for Berry here given his run of late. His third-place finish at Loudon — his best result so far in 2026 — was his first finish of third or higher since his runner-up at, ironically, the same track a year prior. With four consecutive finishes of eighth or better since Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July, continuing momentum at Daytona and beyond will be key as the driver searches for a new race team come 2027.

Posted on August 24, 2026August 26, 2026 by Staff Report

GAF 150

Stafford Speedway

Entry list

Car No.	Driver	Team	Crew Chief	Chassis Mfg.	Sponsor
1	Patrick Emerling	USNE Motorsports	Dale Hedquist	LFR	USNE Power
3	Tyler Rypkema	BRE Racing	Greg Fournier	Boehler Racing	Northeast Drilling; SYP
05	Teddy Hodgdon IV	Teddy Hodgdon Racing	Ted Hodgdon	FURY Race Cars	Business Time Motorsports; Omaha Beef; The Landau Team of Re/Max
8	John-Michael Shenette	Eighty-Two Autosport	George Bessette Jr.	LFR	USNE Power, Eighty-Two Services
15	Joey Cipriano III	Fueled Up Motorsports	Tyler Hines	FURY Race Cars	Dependable Energy; The Bass Plating Company; Creative Racing
18	Ken Heagy	Heagy Motorsports	Greg Gorman	FURY Race Cars	Merkel Racing Engines
20	Max Zachem	Morgan Zachem Racing	Ken Zachem	Troyer	Lu-Macs Package Store; USNE Power; Dunleavy’s
21	Stephen Kopcik	Wanick Motorsports	Nick Kopcik	Troyer	Wanick Construction; Newtown Pools
28	Doug Coby	Jett Motorsports	John Mckenna	LFR	Nucar
31	Michael Christopher Jr	Elite Motorsports	Eugene Orlando	LFR	Elite Towing
36	David Sapienza	Sapienza Racing	Greg Kleila	FURY Race Cars	Sapienza Enterprises
44	Chase Dowling	Tinio Racing	Danny Gamache	LFR	SS Paving / Harshaw Paving
50	Ronnie Williams	Ronnie Williams	Adam Skowyra	FURY Race Cars	Empower Financial Advisory
51	Justin Bonsignore	Kenneth Massa Motorsports	Ryan Stone	FURY Race Cars	Phoenix Communications, Inc.
54	Tommy Catalano	Catalano Motorsports	Rick Kluth	Troyer	FX Caprara; USNE Power
56	Trevor Catalano	Catalano Motorsports	David Catalano	Troyer	USNE Power
58	Eric Goodale	Goodie Motorsports	Rob Hyer	FURY Race Cars	GAF Roofing; Riverhead Building Supply
60	Matt Hirschman	Pee Dee Motorsports	Mike Stein	Troyer	Bar Harbor Bank & Trust; Pee Dee Motorsports
64	Austin Beers	KLM Motorsports	Ron Yuhas	Troyer	G&G Electrical Supply, Lumiere Electrical, Dell Electric, Andrew James Interiors, AP Marquadt & Sons, Hughes Motors.
73	Paulie Hartwig III	Hartwig Racing	Bobby Geiger Jr	FURY Race Cars	Professional Therapy LLC; Jersey Shore Contracting
79	Jonathan McKennedy	Jonathan McKennedy Racing	Patrick Walsh	FURY Race Cars	Stuarts Automotive, Christophers Towing, Boyle Electric, Hillsboro Ent., Levasseur HVAC, J Young Landscaping
82	Andrew Molleur	DWR Racing	Michael Molleur	LFR	Danny’s Cesspool Service, Village Springs Water
89	Matt Swanson	Matt Swanson	John Swanson	FURY Race Cars	Ceravolos Auto; Swanson GMC
95	Matt Kimball	Apex Racing	Cory Plummer	Apex Race Cars	Tuckers Fabrication & Welding; Croteau Machine; Apex Race Cars; Apex Racing
106	Cory Dimatteo	TJS Holdings LLC	John Lowinski	Troyer	Manafort Brothers; Sargis Associates Inc.; TWM Development

Posted on August 24, 2026August 29, 2026 by Staff Report

Note: 23XI Racing announced Saturday that Harrison Burton will drive the No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota in place of Riley Herbst, who woke up with “lingering effects” from a crash last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Sunshine State for Saturday’s regular-season finale: the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The race will be the 26th points-paying event of the 2026 Cup Series season. Ryan Blaney is the defending winner at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

ENTRY LISTS: Cup Series | O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

With only one race remaining until The Chase, all eyes will be on the cutline battle as Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen currently holds the 16th and final provisional postseason spot, maintaining a 31-point advantage over RFK Racing driver Ryan Preece.

Five drivers in non-chartered cars are entered for the 400-mile Daytona summer race — Joey Gase (No. 44 NY Racing Team), Casey Mears (No. 62 Beard Motorsports), Gray Gaulding (No. 66 Garage 66), Corey Heim (No. 67 23XI Racing) and Daniel Dye (No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports). One driver will fail to qualify for the event.

41 cars are entered into this weekend’s contest.

MORE: Weekend schedule | How to watch NASCAR on NBC, USA Network

View the full entry list here:

Posted on August 24, 2026August 24, 2026 by Staff Report

After two weeks off, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series returns to action for the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Friday’s Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola will be the 24th points-paying race of the 2026 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season. Connor Zilisch is the defending winner, who had assistance from Parker Kligerman.

ENTRY LISTS: Cup Series | O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

The battle to make the 12-driver Chase will feature three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers. William Sawalich and Brent Crews both sit a single point above the cutline, with their teammate Taylor Gray the first driver out. JR Motorsports’ Rajah Caruth is 15 points away from a Chase berth.

39 cars are entered into this weekend’s event.

MORE: Weekend schedule | How to watch NASCAR on the CW

View the full entry list here: