Front Row Motorsports announced Friday that Todd Gilliland has signed a contract extension to continue driving the team’s No. 34 Cup Series Ford in 2027.
Gilliland, 26, has been a long-term piece of the organization’s equation and will now remain a cornerstone for the three-car operation.
Originally from California, Gilliland first joined Front Row for the 2020 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. He spent two years driving the No. 38 Ford in Trucks, winning once and making the playoffs in both seasons, before earning a Cup call-up in 2022.
As a rookie, Gilliland scored a pair of top 10s, including a banner fourth-place effort at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He made noticeable gains in 2023, upping his top 10 total to four in a year split between four entries across two organizations. Most of his races came in the team’s No. 38 entry, but he also made a start in Front Row’s part-time No. 36 car while contesting five races for Rick Ware Racing. He returned to the No. 38 Ford full-time in 2024, finishing a career-best 22nd in series points and scoring four more top 10s.
Last year, after the departure of Michael McDowell to Spire Motorsports, Gilliland moved into the team’s flagship No. 34 entry and paired with crew chief Chris Lawson. He recorded a personal-best 20.8 average finish with five top 10s, nearly winning in the fall at Talladega Superspeedway.
Through 20 races this season, Gilliland sits 24th in points, 93 markers below the provisional Chase cutline. He’s set to compete in the semifinal Round 4 of the In-Season Challenge on Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway (7 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and owns a best finish this season of sixth at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Gilliland is the son of former NASCAR driver and Truck Series team owner David Gilliland. Todd has a win driving for his father’s Tricon Garage team, as well as a win in 2019 with Kyle Busch Motorsports. He’s also a two-time ARCA Menards Series West champion and first began racing on his fifth birthday.
Editor’s Note: Keep tabs on this page for lineup advice following qualifying, including changes you should consider.
Fantasy Update: After an extended 50-minute practice session at North Wilkesboro Speedway, my lineup remains unchanged. Christopher Bell was the class of the field over the long haul (fastest on 10-, 15-, 20-, 25- and 30-lap averages), with Kyle Larson close behind. The issue for the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet — which is why I debated keeping him in my lineup — is that, with qualifying getting canceled due to inclement weather, Larson will take the green flag in 27th position and could miss out on stage points. Trackhouse Racing also impressed in practice, with Ross Chastain leading five-lap averages. But his outlook took a major hit when the No. 1 Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection three times, forcing Chastain to serve a pass-through penalty at the start of the 450-lap race. Denny Hamlin and William Byron are also strong lineup considerations.
Starting five: Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott.
Garage pick: Ty Gibbs.
There have been 10,885 days — almost 30 trips around the sun — since the NASCAR Cup Series last had a points-paying race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Three All-Star Races have provided some recent data, but Sunday’s 450-lap points race under the lights is an entirely different challenge. More than three months have passed since the Cup Series last visited a short track, where Team Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports have typically set the standard.
Returning to Fastlane this year is my weekly NASCAR 36 for 36 pick,where you can come play along. It’s a season-long points battle introduced in 2024 where strategy is the primary emphasis. With 36 chartered cars and 36 races on the 2026 schedule, players can choose each car once for the duration of the season.
Driver: Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford Selections remaining: 6 Comment: Logano is amid a 45-race winless drought, currently sitting eight points below The Chase cutline. Fortunately for the No. 22 team, four of the final six races in the regular season will be contested at venues in Penske’s wheelhouse. Logano is one of two drivers to have top 10s in all three visits to North Wilkesboro for the exhibition race, and he has led 338 of the last 450 laps in the last two visits here.
Driver:Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford Selections remaining: 2 Comment: Blaney is at his best at short tracks, despite putting on an absolute clinic last weekend at EchoPark Speedway. The 2023 champion is in the middle of a career-best eight-straight top-10 streak — tied for the best streak ever in the Next Gen era. He also has 11 finishes of sixth or better in the last 13 short track events, scoring points in 14 of the last 15 stages.
Driver: Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Selections remaining:4 Comment: As the scorching heat is taking over most of the United States, Bell is warming up, too. The No. 20 team has consecutive runner-up finishes, and he is the first driver since Kyle Larson in 2018 to have five second-place efforts without a win in a single season. Bell won last year’s All-Star Race and has 12 top-10 finishes in the last 17 short-track events.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
DRIVERS TO AVOID
Driver: Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota Selections remaining: 4 Comment: Reddick saw some return to normalcy at EchoPark, running at the front and banking a top 10. Unfortunately, the five-time 2026 winner doesn’t have a hold on short tracks – yet. He has top 10s in two of the three exhibition go-arounds at North Wilkesboro, buthas a single top 10 in the last 10 points-paying short-track races.
Driver: Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford Selections remaining: 6 Comment: The last three months have been a fall from earth for Keselowski, going the last 11 races without a top 10 (seven finishes of 26th or worse in that timespan). He won the pole for last year’s All-Star Race and led 62 circuits before wrecking out. He has a best finish of 15th in three Wilkesboro attempts.
Patrick McDermott | Getty Images
SLEEPERS OF THE WEEK
Driver:Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Selections remaining: 8 Comment: There are signs of life for Chastain, cracking the top 20 in points for the first time in over two months. He has a pair of top 10s in the three All-Star races, placing third last season. Chastain also has six top 10s in the last 11 short-track races.
Driver:Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Selections remaining:10 Comment: Bowman has only participated in one All-Star Race in Wilkes County, finishing fourth in 2025. He has a trio of top 10s in his last five short-track starts, including a runner-up at Richmond Raceway last summer.
James Gilbert | Getty Images
FEATURED MATCHUPS
Christopher Bell vs. Ryan Blaney Pick: Blaney Comment: The bell – no pun intended – has rung for a heavyweight bout between two of NASCAR’s dominant forces. Gibbs vs. Penske in the Final Four. While Toyota has largely dominated the 2026 season, I like Blaney in this matchup by a hair, and you might have to win the race to win this matchup.
Todd Gilliland vs. Chase Elliott Pick: Elliott Comment: This is more of a battle of David vs. Goliath. However, David – in this case, Todd – has come out on top the last three weeks, and he has two top 10s in the last three short-track events. But Elliott finished eighth or better in all three All-Star visits, including a pair of fifth-place efforts.
Kyle Larson vs. Denny Hamlin Pick: Larson Comment: Another flashy bout, but Larson has outshone Hamlin in the three events at Wilkesboro. The No. 5 car drove through the field in the return trip in 2023 to hoist the $1 million check. Hamlin is a short-track ace but has two finishes of 12th or worse in the three Wilkesboro exhibitions.
Ty Gibbs vs. Bubba Wallace Pick: Gibbs Comment: Wallace’s North Wilkesboro resume is impressive, with a pair of top 10s in three All-Star starts, highlighted by a runner-up result in 2023. Yet recent form tilts toward the No. 54 team, which won the last short-track race at Bristol and has recorded three top 10s in its last four short-track starts.
MY LINEUP
Starting five: Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott. Garage pick: Ty Gibbs.
Don’t look now, but we’re just four races away from the Craftsman Truck Series Chase, where 10 drivers will battle over seven races for championship glory. Full-timers have won just seven of 14 races this year, but the postseason picture is rapidly taking shape after a springtime surge from Layne Riggs.
Beginning this Saturday at North Wilkesboro (12:30 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX One, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the tailgaters begin a stretch of five races at tracks a mile in length or shorter, spanning through the regular-season finale at New Hampshire and to the Chase opener at Bristol in September. While some drivers yearn for the rough-and-tumble style of racing ahead, others may be looking back at missed opportunities at recent road courses and intermediates.
With just over a month until The Chase, see how the standings look before the truckers head for the North Carolina foothills, and which drivers are on the right and wrong sides of the bubble.
Just two drivers have secured postseason berths so far, and they are in the midst of a heated battle for the elusive No. 1 seed. Riggs leads the series by 41 points over Tricon Garage’s Kaden Honeycutt, but Honeycutt made a noticeable dent into his deficit at Lime Rock. The two were caught up in a late-race incident, and Riggs suffered the worst of it, finishing 23rd after leading 48 circuits. Honeycutt finished third and boasted a 54-point afternoon, shaving 21 points off Riggs’ series lead. The two spoke after the race and calmly found an understanding.
Both, obviously, are among the top championship contenders come November, and their numbers back it up. Riggs’ four wins are best in class, but Honeycutt tops him in top fives, top 10s and average finish, also earning three poles. He owns just one win at Watkins Glen in May, but it certainly feels like the No. 11 driver has more in the tank down the stretch. But if Riggs continues his torrid pace — winning three of the last five — he’ll be tough to track down in the next four races.
SAFE
Chandler Smith, Christian Eckes and Gio Ruggiero are near shoulder-to-shoulder in the ranks, making up spots three through five with just ten points separating the trio. Of them, Smith is the only one with a victory, winning the season opener at Daytona and pacing the series after each of the first four races. But after taking the checkered flag fourth at Rockingham, the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team was disqualified following post-race inspection, a major points swing that will likely remove Smith from contention for the No. 1 seed. He’s 154 points back from Riggs, but also 140 points above the cutline.
Eckes and Ruggiero are among the most consistent in the series, each scoring four top fives this season and ranking inside the top five in average finish. Surprisingly, despite four victories apiece in 2023 and 2024, Eckes hasn’t scored a win thus far in his return to McAnally-Hilgemann Racing after a year in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Meanwhile, Ruggiero is searching for his first dub since his maiden victory at Talladega last fall, though both he and Eckes are comfortably above the cutline at +130 and +139, respectively.
David Jensen | Getty Images
ABOVE THE BUBBLE
This is where The Chase tightens, starting with 2024 champion Ty Majeski — currently sixth in points. It’s pretty much feast or famine right now for the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford, alternating top-12 efforts with finishes of 23rd or worse. He’s +62 to the cutline. Meanwhile, his teammate and two-time champion Ben Rhodes is right behind him at +54, going on three years without a series victory. Rhodes started the year strong with three straight finishes of 12th or better — including a pair of top fives — but enters North Wilkesboro finishing 21st or worse in three of the last four.
McAnally-Hilgemann’s Daniel Hemric is eighth at +53 and quietly on an upturn after sitting 18th in the series ranks through five races. He’s earned seven finishes of 15th or better in the last eight races, including a runner-up last month at Naval Base Coronado. Could he be a postseason dark horse? Grant Enfinger turned his season around in the biggest way possible last weekend at Lime Rock Park, prevailing in a wild race for his first win in nearly two seasons. That victory shot him inside the top 10 in points for the first time all season (+42 to the cutline), but the question is, can he sustain this? Enfinger has just four top 10s so far, and seven finishes of 22nd or worse. Finally, Tyler Ankrum is the 10th and final driver above the cutline for now, but he has just one top-five finish. Road courses have been his weakness this year, finishing 25th or worse in three of the four, but maybe he can heat up with ovals the rest of the way.
BELOW THE BUBBLE
The six drivers immediately below The Chase cutline are within 41 points of Ankrum, further emphasizing the postseason hunt. Stewart Friesen and Jake Garcia are the closest, each just 17 points behind. Friesen scored a much-needed top 10 at Lime Rock after a Naval Base Coronado DNF, jumping him two spots in the series ranks. He’s shown flashes of speed, but the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing squad hasn’t had sustained consistency. The same goes for Garcia, who’s failed to finish two of the last four after surging as high as eighth in points.
Leading the Kaulig Racing brigade is Brenden Queen in 13th, 21 points below the cutline. Growing pains were certainly expected for the five-truck operation in its first year in Trucks and with Ram. But with back-to-back strong road-course efforts, the longtime late model ace is right in the thick of it. Andrés Pérez is 14th, and despite just two top 10s — both at road courses — he’s only 31 points back in Niece Motorsports’ No. 44 Chevrolet. He’s finished inside the top 20 at each of the last three ovals, so maybe a breakout is on the way. Justin Haley (minus-34) and Tanner Gray (minus-41) make up spots 15 and 16 in the ranks, and both are looking for sustained consistency over the final weeks of the regular season.
The bubble battle couldn’t be tighter, and with a short-track swing on the horizon, it’ll make or break drivers’ hopes to pursue a championship.
For the first time since 1996, NASCAR Cup Series drivers will be chasing points at North Wilkesboro Speedway when they take the green flag for Sunday’s Window World 450 (7 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
For those who have been counting the days between points races at the iconic 0.625-mile short track, 10,885 days will have passed since Jeff Gordon beat Dale Earnhardt by 1.73 seconds on Sept. 29, 1996.
At 450 laps (281.25 miles), Sunday’s race will be the longest in North Wilkesboro history on an asphalt surface that was repaved in November 2023.
The Window World 450 comes at a point in the Cup Series season when the race for the top seed in the Chase has tightened considerably, the quest for the final spots in the Chase is excruciatingly close, and the battle for the $1 million In-Season Challenge prize has gotten serious.
Denny Hamlin wrestled the series lead from fellow Toyota driver Tyler Reddick on June 28 at Sonoma Raceway, but last Sunday at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta, his advantage shrank from 44 points to 24.
Ryan Blaney’s victory at the Georgia track left him 65 points behind Hamlin, the closest margin from first to third since the second race of the season, also at EchoPark.
With six events left before the Chase field is set, and with huge swings in the points already an established fact, the battle for the top seed in the Chase is far from settled.
Though three editions of the NASCAR All-Star Race were contested at North Wilkesboro (2023-2025), this will be the first full-field event there in 30 years.
“I would never have thought five years ago that we’d have a points race there, but now we are,” said Blaney, the only Ford driver to visit Victory Lane since Team Penske teammate Joey Logano won at Texas Motor Speedway on May 4, 2025.
“I think it’s great for the series, great for that race track, obviously, but it’s just good to be racing around there. I think it puts on a great show, and it’s going to be a fun one … It’s going to be a long race — that’s for sure — a little bit different from the All-Star Race, a different feel with a full field of cars.
“It’ll take rubber a little bit differently, but last year that place got really wide. I think the race will continue that way as we put laps on it. So, I think it’s going to be the best race that we’ve seen at that race track.”
Blaney is one of four drivers still competing for the winner-take-all $1-million prize in the In-Season Challenge. He is paired against 2025 All-Star Race winner Christopher Bell, with the higher finisher at North Wilkesboro advancing to the tournament finals on July 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
On the other side of the bracket, Chase Elliott faces underdog Todd Gilliland for the right to race for the In-Season title.
The intensity in the battle for the final Chase spots can’t be understated. Just 50 points separate 16th-place Erik Jones (in the last Chase-eligible position) from 22nd-place AJ Allmendinger. Jones is eight points ahead of Logano, who won the 2024 All-Star race from the pole.
With a sixth-place finish at EchoPark, Shane van Gisbergen held 15th place in the standings, 31 points above the current cut line. With six tracks left — all ovals — the road-course ace from New Zealand faces a challenging path to remain in the Chase, but the Atlanta run was encouraging.
“I was thinking about it at the end of the race,” van Gisbergen said. “There was no one around me that I was racing for points, so really needed to consolidate where I was. It didn’t change my approach.
“Got a P6 out of it, and it gives us really good momentum heading to North Wilkesboro. It’s a short track — those seem to be good for us — so hopefully we are able to grab some points and get a good result.”
Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, co-owner of JR Motorsports in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, indicated in a SiriusXM NASCAR Radio interview Thursday that Justin Allgaier plans to return to the organization in 2027 and beyond.
The comments come after Allgaier, the 2024 champion, recently admitted that he has considered retiring following the 2026 season.
“I’m so glad that we talked him into coming back for a couple more years and not retiring yet,” Earnhardt-Miller told SiriusXM. “We might have him sticking around … I think you can count on him being with us and seeing him here at JR Motorsports in the future, for sure.”
In 21 races this season, Allgaier has racked up a career-high six victories and leads the series standings by a whopping 240 points. His victory at EchoPark Speedway last weekend clinched the No. 1 seed for the Chase, which begins in September at Darlington Raceway.
After a win at Nashville Superspeedway in May, Allgaier revealed his thoughts about stepping away from full-time competition after this year.
“We’re kind of working through what that looks like,” Allgaier said in a press conference. “There’s a lot of factors that kind of weighed in on my decision of what 2027 and what the future looks like. If you asked [JRM Director of Communications] [Mike] Campbell in January, he would tell you that it was 100% I was retiring. Actually, 105% — I mean, I bought a house in Illinois, if that gives you any consolation.
“I don’t know what the future looks like. What I know is that I’m having probably the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire career right now … I would say today you’ll probably see me — there’s a higher likelihood of you seeing me next year than there isn’t.”
Allgaier’s 34 career series victories rank sixth all-time, four behind Carl Edwards for fifth. He’s in his 16th full-time season in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and his 11th with JRM. Additionally, Allgaier has made 87 Cup Series starts, racing full-time in 2014 and 2015. He also delivered a ninth-place result in JRM’s first-ever Cup race, the 2025 Daytona 500.
Those who plan to compete in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series postseason would be well-advised to sharpen their short-track skills.
Starting with Saturday’s FaithFest 250 presented by Mercer Transportation at North Wilkesboro Speedway (12:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), positions in The Chase will be set in races at three traditional short tracks (North Wilkesboro, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and Richmond Raceway) and a 1-mile flat oval that races like a short track (New Hampshire Motor Speedway).
Against that backdrop, seven drivers are locked into a tight battle for the final spot in the 10-driver Chase, which begins Sept. 17 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Tyler Ankrum currently holds the 10th position, but he’s only 17 points ahead of 11th-place Stewart Friesen.
Tanner Gray, currently 16th in the standings, trails Ankrum by a mere 41 points, with Jake Garcia (tied with Friesen), Brenden Queen (13th), Andrés Pérez (14th) and Justin Haley (15th) all within 34 points of Ankrum.
With a 25th-place finish last Saturday at Lime Rock Park, Ankrum’s position in the standings became a bit more tenuous, but the next four races offer the opportunity to solidify his claim to a Chase spot.
“I’m super thankful the road courses have come to an end this season, that’s for sure,” said Ankrum, who finished eighth and third in his last two trips to North Wilkesboro. “It has been a disappointing start to the season, but we’re headed back to a short track where I’m always ready to get out there and get rolling.
“North Wilkesboro has been so good to us in the past, and it’s such a fun track to race at. Looking forward to it this weekend, and hopefully we can be in contention for a solid finish.”
If Lime Rock Park was a struggle for Ankrum, such was not the case for Grant Enfinger, whose upset victory at the road course left him ninth in the standings with a 42-point cushion over the current Chase cutoff.
At the top of the standings, series leader Layne Riggs holds a 44-point lead over second-place Kaden Honeycutt in what has evolved into a two-driver battle for the top seed in The Chase.
In his two North Wilkesboro starts, Riggs has finished third and second, tying Butch Miller for best average Truck Series finish (2.5) all-time at the track. Honeycutt ran 17th at the 0.625-mile track in 2023 and eighth in 2025 in his only two starts there.
Editor’s note: This story originally published on July 16, 2026:
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Bowman Gray Stadium announced that it will host the Kyle Busch Invitational on Friday, Aug. 21. The event, featuringLegends and Bandoleros races, will honor the life and legacy of Kyle Busch, with all proceeds benefiting The Samantha and Kyle Busch Bundle of Joy Fund. It will be broadcast live on FloSports and the NASCAR Channel.
“It’s an honor to host the Kyle Busch Invitational at Bowman Gray Stadium and celebrate the life and legacy of one of racing’s most accomplished drivers,” said Clay Campbell, President, Martinsville Speedway, and VP, NASCAR Mid-Atlantic Division. “This event brings together the passion of our fans, the rich history of the Madhouse and an incredible cause through The Samantha and Kyle Busch Bundle of Joy Fund. This will be a special night for our fans, our community and everyone involved.”
The Kyle Busch Invitational will feature up to 51 Legend Cars and 18 additional Bandolero Cars competing at the historic quarter-mile oval.
Drivers will earn an automatic bid if they are in the top five of the 2026 Summer Shootout final point standings in Pro, Semi-Pro, Masters, and Young Lions. Any Pro, Semi-Pro, Masters, or Young Lions drivers with an A-Main Feature victory during the 2026 Summer Shootout who do not finish in the final top five in points will also receive an automatic bid.
“The Legend Car played an important role in Kyle’s development on his path to becoming one of the greatest race car drivers of his generation,” said G.E. Chapman, Vice President of U.S. Legend Cars International and the INEX Racing Series. “To celebrate Kyle’s life and legacy with a Legend Car and Bandolero event at Bowman Gray Stadium, while also recognizing the incredible impact he and Samantha have made through The Bundle of Joy Fund, is a tremendous honor. We’re proud to be part of an event that celebrates both his accomplishments in motorsports and the lasting difference he continues to make off the race track.”
The Samantha and Kyle Busch Bundle of Joy Fund is a proven difference maker. Founded by Samantha and Kyle Busch in 2015, The Bundle of Joy Fund is a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance to individuals and couples facing the challenges of infertility. Inspired by their own journey to parenthood, the fund awards grants for fertility treatments and helps families pursue their dream of having children.
And now race fans will have an opportunity to add to that legacy by attending the Kyle Busch Invitational on Friday, Aug. 21. Ticket gates open at 2 p.m., with practice and qualifying taking place from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Racing begins at 5 p.m. with five 10-lap Legends Car heat races. The evening will continue with two 15-lap Legends Car B-Main races before culminating with the Bandolero and Legends Car feature races.
Bowman Gray Stadium is offering a two-day ticket package that includes admission to the Kyle Busch Invitational on Friday night, as well as Saturday’s Weekly Racing Series Championship, the AGSouth Farm Credit 150. Single-day tickets may be purchased at the gate or online through the TicketHoss App, while two-day tickets are available online only.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the event page.
At first, the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season looked destined to be the Tyler Reddick show — after all, Reddick won three straight races to begin the schedule and later tied or challenged records for the most wins in the first six and nine races of a season. Then, as Reddick faltered in June, Denny Hamlin stepped into the breach and threatened to take the regular-season title from his star employee with a hot streak of his own.
Between Reddick and Hamlin, one of those two has led the 2026 point standings each week of the season (Reddick in Rounds 1-17; Hamlin ever since) and they still have the best odds to win either the regular-season or Chase trophies when all is said and done.
But recently, another name has forced himself into what seemed like a closed conversation: Ryan Blaney.
After winning the rain-delayed Quaker State 400 in the wee hours of Monday morning, Blaney has finished no worse than 11th in any of his past 10 starts — while no other driver can say their worst finish is any better than 23rd (Erik Jones) over that same span. Blaney is on such a heater recently that his worst finish is better than every other regular driver’s average finish, with the exception of Hamlin (whose average is 7.9).
The early narrative of Blaney’s season was that of speed — and an early win at Team Penske’s favorite playground, Phoenix — but also mistakes and missed opportunities for the No. 12 car. He picked up infractions in five of the first 10 races of the season, and had one of the lowest-rated pit crews according to NASCAR Insights’ metrics. Through 10 races, he only ranked No. 7 in average finish despite sitting No. 3 in average Driver Rating. Clearly, Blaney and his Penske team had better finishes that they could wring out of the days they were having.
And over the past two-and-a-half months, that’s exactly what they’ve done. The race craft has been decidedly improved: Despite starting near the back and running 19th on average at Texas, Blaney worked his way toward the front late and grabbed a top 10, and he also squeezed top-11 finishes out of less-than-fully-dominant days at Watkins Glen, Michigan, Pocono and Chicagoland.
But when the 12-car’s peak performance level has been there, Blaney has also taken advantage. He’s posted a Driver Rating of 99.5 or higher five times in the past 10 races — only Reddick, Hamlin and Kyle Larson have more over that span, at six apiece — finishing ninth or better each time. (Contrast that with Larson, who has managed to turn a 112.0 rating into a 23rd-place finish at Nashville and a 97.5 rating into 34th-place run Monday morning.) We’ve always known that when Blaney’s speed and execution align, watch out.
The most impressive run of all for Blaney? It might have come just this past week, south of Atlanta.
While EchoPark Speedway is shorter than your traditional superspeedways, it has behaved like them in terms of drafting and pack-racing since its reconfiguration in 2021-22 — and that means the expectations for mayhem and chaos run high. Forget dominance; survival is the keyword here. So for Blaney to come out and lead 171 of 263 possible laps (65.0%) en route to victory at this type of track is a special accomplishment indeed.
In NASCAR’s modern era (since 1972), that was the 19th-highest share of laps led by a race-winner at a superspeedway — and the most in just over a decade, since Brad Keselowski led 71.4% of laps at Daytona on July 2, 2016:
Along with all of those laps led, Blaney also finished with a 134.5 Driver Rating at EchoPark, his best showing of the 2026 season thus far and the sixth-highest of his career overall. (Four of his top fives came at intermediate ovals, with his career-high of 146.0 coming at Iowa, a short track, in 2024.) Including Monday morning’s win, Blaney’s average Driver Rating over his past five starts is 107.1, including five straight over 90.0 and three in triple-digits.
In recent terms at least, then, Blaney’s form has surpassed that of both Hamlin and Reddick, as he pulls within 65 points of both in the standings. What once looked like a two-man show now has a third headliner.
Even better news for Blaney? We’re coming up on another short track, North Wilkesboro, where he finished top-six in the 2023 and 2024 All-Star races, and where only Hamlin projects to be better based on similar tracks. Then it’s on to the Brickyard, Iowa, Richmond and Loudon, all places where Blaney ranks among the Cup Series’ best drivers in the Next Gen era.
It’s still going to be tough to unseat Hamlin and/or Reddick for the regular-season crown — my simulation model only gives Blaney a 10% shot at it, though that’s higher than anybody outside the Reddick/Hamlin duo has had in a while. More importantly, though, Blaney is very unlikely to rank any worse than third in the Chase standings, placing him within striking distance of what will probably be Hamlin and Reddick at Nos. 1-2 to begin the championship hunt.
And based on how he’s been converting speed into results lately, that may be all the opening Blaney needs to add another Cup championship to his trophy shelf — stealing the ending from a season that had seemed destined to belong to Hamlin and Reddick.
Just four drivers remain in the 2026 In-Season Challenge, and while the biggest wild card — EchoPark Speedway — is in the rearview mirror, an unknown still lies ahead. The Cup Series heads to North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday (7 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for the first points-paying race in the North Carolina foothills since 1996. Though these drivers have dueled it out for $1 million in the All-Star Race there in years past, it’s difficult to set expectations for a marathon 450-lap event.
Round 3 at EchoPark provided plenty of excitement and tightly contested battles, including No. 25 seed Todd Gilliland advancing over No. 32 seed Alex Bowman by just two positions. No. 4 Chase Elliott advanced by 23 positions over No. 12 Chase Briscoe, but that doesn’t tell the story, as both drivers contended for the win until Briscoe crashed late. No. 10 seed Christopher Bell knocked off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and No. 2 seed Denny Hamlin, and of course, No. 3 seed Ryan Blaney dominated the night to win the race and eliminate No. 11 seed William Byron.
If you’re a fan of college basketball, this semifinal round couldn’t line up any better. Three drivers represent three blue-blood organizations, while a Cinderella story looks to continue wreaking havoc throughout the bracket.
Because the Cup Series hasn’t contested a points-paying race at the 0.625-mile short track in this era, it’s tough to pin down the exact list of contenders. The All-Star Race gives at least some sample size, but a much shorter race combined with a much smaller field doesn’t fully paint the picture. All four remaining drivers, however, have stout short-track resumes.
This season, Blaney has the second-best average finish at 4.0 in this style of racing — only to Ty Gibbs — and is third best in both total points (94) and laps led (192). His seven consecutive short-track top 10s are tops in Cup, and he won earlier in the season at Phoenix. Speaking of winners, his opponent, Bell, banked the 2025 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro. Previous victories at Bristol, Martinsville, Phoenix and New Hampshire show he’s plenty capable — even though a win hasn’t been in the cards … yet … this season.
Meanwhile, Elliott has a victory in the two true short-track races this season, winning this spring at Martinsville. He’s generally a factor at every type of track, and North Wilkesboro could provide an opportunity for Chevrolet to catch up to red-hot Toyota. Don’t forget about Gilliland, though. While he hasn’t contended at short tracks, he owns four top 10s in 25 starts and finished sixth this spring at Bristol.
Bigger picture, according to Racing Insights, the driver who led the most laps won just once in the last five short-track races. At both Martinsville and Bristol earlier this year, a driver swept the stages but didn’t win the race, and two of the last four short-track winners didn’t score any stage points. What does this mean? One strategy call could easily shake up how Round 4 plays out.
MATCHUP OF THE WEEK: (No. 3) Ryan Blaney vs. (No. 10) Christopher Bell
With a spot in the Champions Round on the line, two of the best at flat tracks will go head-to-head in the Cup Series’ first points-paying race at North Wilkesboro Speedway since 1996.
Through three In-Season Challenge races, these two drivers have been flawless. Blaney won a thriller on Sunday at EchoPark Speedway — leading a race-best 171 laps — and hasn’t finished worse than seventh all tournament. Bell doesn’t have a win yet this season, but his stretch of three consecutive top fives nearly one-ups his rival.
But with both riding significant momentum — and both carrying impressive short-track resumes — this matchup is a complete toss-up. Six of Bell’s 13 Cup victories are at shorter, flatter tracks, and he also boasts a North Wilkesboro victory in last year’s exhibition All-Star Race. Blaney has similar numbers with six short-track wins — and Ford always seems to thrive at those types of circuits. In three All-Star events at North Wilkesboro, Blaney has two top 10s.
Heading into the semifinal round, both of these drivers have found their stride at the right time — and this head-to-head in the North Carolina mountains will surely come down to the wire.
Gilliland’s certainly facing an uphill battle both on the track and in popularity contests by facing 2020 Cup champion and perennial most popular driver Elliott. In three All-Star Races at North Wilkesboro, Elliott’s been one of the best, never finishing worse than eighth. Meanwhile, Gilliland never qualified for an All-Star Race at the track and has never finished better than 12th in the All-Star Open.
The odds are certainly in Elliott’s favor here. Even though the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports driver is quietly on a slide with just one top 10 in his last nine races, he still finds a way to maximize days and finish races. That said, both he and Gilliland have had lady luck on their side over the last three weeks. The Front Row Motorsports driver hasn’t finished better than 16th during the In-Season Challenge, but benefited from uncharacteristically bad days from opposing Spire Motorsports drivers Daniel Suárez and Carson Hocevar in the first two rounds, before last week’s opponent, Bowman, suffered damage in a late wreck. The same goes for Elliott’s opponent last week, Briscoe, who contended for a chunk of the night before exiting in the same crash.
Is it likely for Gilliland to pull another upset? No. But with some unknowns heading to North Wilkesboro and an opportunity for some potentially wild strategy, a window at least exists.
CONCORD, N.C. — Three blue bloods highlighted the 2018 men’s college basketball Final Four. Villanova. Michigan. Kansas.
The fourth team? Loyola Chicago.
Similarly, three powerhouse drivers spotlight the In-Season Challenge semifinals. Ryan Blaney. Chase Elliott. Christopher Bell.
The fourth driver? Todd Gilliland.
Maybe he doesn’t feel quite as dangerous as the Ramblers that March. But the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports driver still has an opportunity to pull off the unthinkable in Sunday’s semifinal Round 4 at North Wilkesboro Speedway (7 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“We’ve been barely hanging on by the skin of our teeth each one of these rounds,” Gilliland told reporters Wednesday at the NASCAR Production Facility. “But we’re here now, and now we only got two more guys to beat.”
Entering the In-Season Challenge as the No. 25 seed, the Californian turned North Carolinian barely scraped by in each of the first three rounds. Gilliland’s 29th-place finish at Sonoma knocked out No. 8 seed Daniel Suárez after the Spire Motorsports driver suffered an early tire failure, forcing him to run the race on an alternative strategy. At Chicagoland, he finished 16th, but also benefited from the Zane Smith/Carson Hocevar melee as Hocevar suffered damage and placed outside the top 20.
And for most of Sunday night’s race at EchoPark, which stretched into Monday morning, it seemed as if Gilliland’s fairy-tale story had an expiration date. Admittedly, all three FRM cars struggled over the course of 400-plus miles, but when opponent and No. 32 seed Alex Bowman suffered damage in a late crash, his window suddenly opened.
Bowman lined up just behind the 26-year-old for the overtime restart. At that moment, Gilliland knew the stakes with $1 million still on the line.
“Maybe the first time I have heard anything about the In-Season [Challenge] over the radio or during the race was after [Bowman] spun and he restarted right on my bumper,” Gilliland explained. “I was at least hoping to keep him behind me. If it didn’t happen, it didn’t happen, but I wasn’t going to do anything crazy. It would be nice to keep this one single car behind me, and we were able to do that.
“It has been a lot of fun just to see my team kind of buy into something and have something to kind of look at and pay attention to. Obviously, we’re all competitors and we’re competing against 36, 37 other guys out there, but it is just fun and a little bit of something different.”
Widening the scope, through 20 races — and just six until the 16-driver Chase field is set — Gilliland ranks 24th in series points, 93 points behind the provisional cutline. He has only one top 10 with an average finish a half a spot better (20.8) than 2025 (21.3).
Now in his fifth full-time Cup season, Gilliland realizes the door for a postseason berth is rapidly closing, and barring unusual circumstances, he’ll be on the outside looking in. A stretch of four tracks roughly a mile or shorter over the next six races, though, has the No. 34 Ford driver encouraged about what could lie ahead.
“Going back to some short tracks will be really good for us,” he said. “When we show up to places like Martinsville, Richmond, those are places that I feel like we should be able to go out and honestly compete in the top 10 all day. North Wilkesboro, I feel like, should be in that category, but we’ve never really ran that great there [in three All-Star Weekends].
“I think consistency still just needs to be our main goal from the 34 side. Seeing what [teammate] Zane Smith has done, I think he’s shown much more speed than us, which is always tough to kind of look yourself in the mirror, and I think that goes for everyone on my team. He’s kind of showing us what the potential of our cars and our team can do. There’s definitely some room to improve, but we’re trying to chip away at it.”
With a date in the semifinals against No. 4 seed Chase Elliott, Gilliland is most certainly an underdog. The 2020 Cup Series champion is a contender nearly every week and has three All-Star top 10s at North Wilkesboro. However, Gilliland has shown flashes at short tracks with a sixth-place finish at Bristol this spring, plus a pair of top 10s in the last three Martinsville races.
Even if his underdog journey ends in the semifinals, as Loyola’s did, the still-budding driver hopes this In-Season Challenge run can create a team boost for the rest of the campaign.
“I think there’s small wins along the way,” Gilliland said, “But I definitely think from an enthusiasm side, attitude side in the shop, that this In-Season [Challenge] — any positive momentum — can definitely help us.”
