Jeremy Clements Racing aligns with Haas Factory Team for 2026 season

Posted on November 17, 2025December 4, 2025 by Team Release

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Jeremy Clements Racing unveiled a new technical partnership with the Haas Factory Team (HFT) for the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season. As part of the partnership, JCR will campaign the No. 51 Chevrolet out of HFT’s facility in Kannapolis, North Carolina. This alliance represents a significant leap forward for the family-run team, providing enhanced resources, advanced technology and expanded opportunities for JCR to pursue its goal of competing at the top tier of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

“We’ve always fought hard as a single-car team, but this is a major opportunity for us, and partnering with the Haas Factory Team means a lot! We’re excited for what’s ahead,” Clements said.

Clements also expressed gratitude to the team’s loyal sponsors and partners, whose support makes each season possible. “Our sponsors have always had our backs, and honestly, we wouldn’t be here without them. We’ve got a ton of sponsors to thank for making all this possible. Huge thanks to All South Electric, Alliance Driveaway Solutions and One Stop Convenience Stores for always going above and beyond for us. We are also extremely grateful to All Weather Power Equipment, Fly and Form, First Pacific Funding, Kingdom Truck Sales, Spartan Waste, Fox Sports Spartanburg and Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet. Without their support, this partnership wouldn’t have been possible.

JCR enters its 16th full-time season in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and the team remains dedicated to Chevrolet and looks forward to leveraging Haas Factory Team’s technical expertise for future success.

Follow Jeremy and the team on all social media platforms to stay updated:
X: @JClements51 @JCR_Clements51
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Posted on November 17, 2025November 21, 2025 by Staff Report

RISING, a five-episode docuseries highlighting up-and-coming NASCAR stars Carson Hocevar, Jesse Love and Rajah Caruth is set to air on NASCAR’s YouTube channel from Nov. 17-21. With a new episode launching each night at 7 ET, bookmark this page and come back to watch the entire series created by NASCAR Studios in partnership with Words + Pictures.

RELATED: Learn more about the series

EPISODE 1: Mon., Nov. 17, 7 p.m. ET:

EPISODE 2: Tue., Nov. 18, 7 p.m. ET:

EPISODE 3: Wed., Nov. 19, 7 p.m. ET:

EPISODE 4: Thu., Nov. 20, 7 p.m. ET:

EPISODE 5: Fri., Nov. 21, 7 p.m. ET:

Posted on November 17, 2025November 17, 2025 by Staff Report

The story of growth, success and even greatness will be on display in RISING, a new docuseries presented by Craftsman that’s releasing on YouTube with a new episode at 7 ET every night this week (Nov. 17-21).

NASCAR Studios, in partnership with Words + Pictures, will chronicle the stories of three young, up-and-coming drivers throughout the 2025 NASCAR season.

The featured drivers — 22-year-old Carson Hocevar (Cup Series), 20-year-old Jesse Love (Xfinity Series champion) and 23-year-old Rajah Caruth (Craftsman Truck Series) — will give viewers exclusive access to their respective racing campaigns.

RELATED: Hub page for the five episodes

Through an array of new and exciting challenges in the pursuit of success, these drivers will additionally be chronicled through their intertwining ups and downs, victories, crashes, tears of joy and tears of pain, all captured by behind-the-scenes cameras.

Hocevar, full-time driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, is not your typical NASCAR up-and-comer. At 21, he defied expectations and made the leap from Truck Series to Cup, skipping the Xfinity Series entirely. The move paid off; Hocevar captured 2024 Sunoco Rookie of the Year thanks to six top-10 finishes in his debut season.

Hocevar’s story, though, begins much earlier. A kid from Portage, Michigan, he created stop-motion animations of die-cast cars racing around a homemade track. His love for the sport evolved into a career when he began racing quarter midgets at the age of six. By age 12, he had already won 55 national races, more than any driver in United States Auto Club (USAC) history.

Fast forward to 2025, and Hocevar faces a new challenge: proving he’s more than an upstart. Thanks to an aggressive driving style, Hocevar must now balance that competitive edge with the maturity required to become a true contender.

MORE: Start times, networks for 2026 season

“Ultimately, you always want to show people more of the insights and everything,” Hocevar said about the docuseries. “I remember as a kid buying every DVD I could find of mini docs. I think Kasey Kahne had one, Tony (Stewart) had one, (Dale) Jr. had plenty. And obviously (Dale) Sr. had a lot of them. So, yeah, I mean, that’s what made me a fan, or just kept me in racing. So, the more we can do of that as a sport is big, and for me to be a part of it, I think, is super cool.”

Love first got behind the wheel at age 5. By 15, he was already making history, winning the first of back-to-back ARCA Menards Series West championships before capturing the national ARCA title in 2023. The Menlo Park, California, native made his Xfinity Series debut in 2024 and finished eighth in the championship standings, claiming Rookie of the Year honors. This year, he upset good friend Connor Zilisch to win the Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway.

From his behind-the-wheel performance as pilot for the historic Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to his passion for surfing, wakeboarding or DJing, Love brings a competitive fire that makes waves throughout his journey.

Caruth’s journey is anything but conventional. Raised in Brooklyn, New York, and Washington, D.C., Caruth utilized a computer screen to race. By 16, he was competing in iRacing, NASCAR’s youth esports league.

Such talent and determination earned him a spot in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity development program. Through late models, ARCA and now the Truck Series, Caruth has illustrated his competitive drive, with the then-rookie capturing his first career Truck victory in 2024 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, becoming the third Black driver to win a NASCAR race. From balancing the demands of racing and academics to showcasing discipline, Caruth continues to grow into his role as a trailblazer and will graduate to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly Xfinity) next year.

Words + Pictures is a documentary production studio that has created several series, including NASCAR: Full Speed, Super League: The War for Football, and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. Tune in to NASCAR’s YouTube channel for the release of a new episode each day at 7 p.m. ET this week.

Posted on November 17, 2025November 17, 2025 by Nathan Solomon

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series in which we review the top 30 drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in reverse order of the 2025 final standings.

Driver: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
Crew chief: Mike Kelley
Final 2025 ranking: 30th
Key stats: 0 wins, 1 top five, 3 top 10s, 8 laps led

How 2025 ended: For much of the summer, Stenhouse and the rebranded organization struggled to place competitive results, at one point going 13 consecutive races without finishing better than 20th. But over the final five weeks of the season, the 38-year-old started to turn the corner, picking up three finishes of 19th or better heading into the winter, including a top 15 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Stenhouse failed to extend his career-best two-year win streak, but transitions to the offseason with some momentum.

Best race: While Stenhouse is often known as a superspeedway ace, arguably his best race in 2025 came at Texas Motor Speedway in May. Qualifying 34th, the Olive Branch, Mississippi, native benefited from mass attrition and an overtime attempt to finish sixth, his best result in 21 tries at the 1.5-mile track. That set him up for top 20s in the next two races, both at intermediates, to end May sitting 13th in points.

Other season highlights: Stenhouse contended for the win in both his trips to EchoPark Speedway (formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway) in 2025, finishing fifth in the spring and sixth in the summer. His 11th-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 was equally impressive, qualifying in the same spot and remaining in the mix for a majority of the race. He also qualified second for the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway, and in both races there, he spent more than 46% of laps inside the top 15, according to NASCAR’s loop data.

Stat to know: Stenhouse finished 30th or worse 10 times this season, all of which came in the final 23 events of the season. Conversely, in the first 13 races, he finished 19th or better eight times.

Quotable: “Being in Mexico, it’s the reason I just went and talked to him instead of letting him get out of the car and making sure nothing did happen that I would have regretted later … Just walking up and doing it in the garage — that’s what got me in trouble for the All-Star Race (in 2024). It’s been two out of three weeks, so I’m sure there might be something else. We’ll just see how that goes … I’m tired of giving the kid any publicity,” said Stenhouse, referring to Carson Hocevar after run-ins at Nashville Superspeedway and Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez over the summer.

Looking ahead: Stenhouse is expected to return to the No. 47 Chevrolet for the seventh consecutive season and his second under the Hyak banner. Although 2025 didn’t play out in his favor, history shows this season was likely an anomaly. Until this year, Stenhouse never finished worse than 26th in points, and wins in both 2023 and 2024 prove that the veteran remains plenty capable in the Cup Series.

Posted on November 16, 2025November 17, 2025 by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — With a dozen reporters surrounding Connor Zilisch outside his team transporter in the Daytona International Speedway garage Saturday afternoon during a break in preseason IMSA testing, the 19-year-old racing protege looked around and allowed that all the media attention still felt a bit new.

Only two weeks after celebrating his 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year award and record-setting 10-win season, Zilisch was back in a race car for the first time. He joined Cup Series driver AJ Allmendinger at the Daytona road course over the weekend — the two learning the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Series GTP sports cars they plan to steer in the Jan. 24-25 Rolex 24 at the “World Center of Racing.”

When pressed, Zilisch conceded that the media reception he drew this weekend was quite different than when he showed up in the sports car garage as a young, yet-unproven driver three years ago.

“I remember walking around this paddock, and I could walk around when nobody knew who I was, and it’s so cool now that people appreciate what I do, and it makes all the hard work feel worth it,” Zilisch said.

“Those moments for me as a kid and I was looking up to people was something I remember often, and I want to be that guy that kids can look up to and want to be like one day.”

After enduring a heartbreaking championship loss to his best friend Jesse Love two weeks ago in the Xfinity Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway, Zilisch said the best thing for him to do was get back behind the wheel again. And sports cars have certainly been an impactful, positive part of his career — arguably the launching point for his NASCAR success.

In 2024, at only 17 years old, Zilisch claimed the Rolex 24 at Daytona LMP2 championship trophy, then answered it with another class win in the very next race, the legendary 12 Hours of Sebring.

That road-racing prowess helped gain the attention of NASCAR’s Trackhouse Racing team owner Justin Marks, himself a former IMSA competitor. And after a season setting records and learning the stock car ropes driving for JR Motorsports in what is now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Zilisch will compete full-time in the Cup Series in 2026, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet. His Trackhouse teammate and friend, New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen — who he co-drove with in last year’s Rolex 24 — used the No. 88 this season in his own Sunoco Rookie of the Year work, but will carry the No. 97 going forward.

While the initial pain of losing the season title after such an incredible year-long performance still stings, Zilisch said he is ready to move on; being in a race car and preparing for a race as a former winner seemed like the correct path forward.

“The first time I came to Daytona racing was in MX5 Cup,” Zilisch said. “And I’ve loved it ever since, and just being able to race in the 24 hours is something that I dreamed of as a kid, and that’s why I always come back and keep doing it.

“It’s my third time doing it and my third different car that I’ve done it in. So, I don’t know if I’m doing it, but if I do get to end up doing it then that would be cool. I’m just excited for the opportunity to even be here today and get this chance to test the car. It’s been such a dream of mine to get to drive in the highest class of IMSA, and doing that today has been really cool.”

The Kaulig Racing driver Allmendinger, who is teaming up with IndyCar champion Scott Dixon and sports car standouts Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun, was third quickest in the two-day session in the No. 60 Acura Meyer-Shank Racing prototype. Zilisch’s team — with co-drivers Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti was sixth fastest overall in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac among the 10 GTP cars that participated in the test session.

“It’s been good,” Zilisch’s co-driver Aitken said. “Connor’s obviously got plenty on his CV [resume] already. He’s already won two of the biggest races on the endurance calendar over here, so I’m not really concerned about the driving side of things, it’s really just more about getting him up to speed on the technical side of these cars. … honestly just the boring stuff.

“Today has gone well. He had a couple of pretty long runs just getting laps and getting miles, and he seems comfortable and happy. He’s done a good job. But of course, he would.”

Although Allmendinger won overall in the race’s 50th anniversary edition in 2012, he hasn’t competed in the Rolex 24 since 2021. As was the case with Zilisch, who has never competed at the GTP level previously. Allmendinger conceded there is a learning curve with the new prototypes.

“There is definitely a lot to this car, a lot to learn,” Allmendinger said, adding, “Trying to just get as comfortable as possible [this weekend], the biggest thing compared to like the [NASCAR] Cup car is the steering is just so much heavier, hard to turn the steering wheel compared to a Cup car.”

Brandon Badraoui | Lumen Digital Agency

Certainly, NASCAR fans will enjoy having two drivers with legitimate shots at a Rolex 24 victory to start the 2026 season. It’s a race win both Zilisch and Allmendinger have treasured. And a race opportunity both are eager to take again.

“It’s cool to come back here,” Zilisch said. “I always love seeing the people. The atmosphere is so much different. The people from all across the world that come and run this race.

“It’s been really cool just to experience it all again and kind of shift my mindset. It’s a much different language. Everything is different when you come and do these races versus NASCAR. So, just getting adjusted, it’s been fun, it’s all good. It’s all learning for me and that’s what I enjoy most.”

Posted on November 14, 2025 by Staff Report

NASCAR officials issued technical updates for the 2026 rule book on Friday, including specifics for the Cup Series’ rules configuration for 750-horsepower tracks and a mandate for A-post flaps at every track.

Competition officials announced Oct. 8 that the Cup Series would increase engine output to a target 750 horsepower at tracks measuring less than 1.5 miles in length. Those tracks will use the short-track/road-course rules package introduced to the Cup Series in 2024, with a three-inch rear spoiler and fewer diffuser strakes.

Five tracks will shift from the intermediate-track rules configuration to the short-track/road-course package for 2026: Bristol Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Dover Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

Competition officials also mandated A-post flaps for the Cup Series at every track, starting next season. The body post — which runs from the hood’s edge to the roof along the windshield’s sides — is equipped with a flap designed to deploy in tandem with roof flaps to reduce the possibility of liftoff in the event of a spin.

The change was made for superspeedway events only last season, starting with the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway, but will now be implemented for each race in 2026. Additionally, officials specified that the surface underneath the flap must be bright orange, instead of merely a high-visibility or contrasting color.

NASCAR officials also established a new set of rule book parameters outlining testing procedures for new manufacturers (OEMs) entering any of the three national tours — Cup Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts (formerly Xfinity) Series or Craftsman Truck Series.

In each series, testing guidelines for prospective new manufacturers include:

A maximum of three tests for new OEMs, with each test limited to a maximum of three affiliated organizations with two vehicles each
Tests must be a maximum of two consecutive days each
Tests to be completed by March 1
Tests prohibited at tracks that have been repaved, are new to the schedule, or that will host events within 60 days of the test session

Competition officials expect to release sporting rules and procedures updates in January.

Posted on November 14, 2025November 14, 2025 by Zach Sturniolo

There is no denying the disappointment that the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season brought Kyle Busch.

The two-time champion finished a career-worst 21st in points with his fewest top fives (three) in his 21 full-time seasons, with a 17.9 average finish that only betters his 18.3 low from 2024. The good news is that 2025’s campaign is over, and Busch ended it with a top-five finish at Phoenix Raceway that hopefully helps put this year in the rearview mirror.

And no, he is not willing to reflect too long on what 2025 was.

“I’m not giving grades,” Busch said ahead of the season finale. “It hasn’t been a good one. We all know that and got to get better.”

MORE: Final 2025 standings | 2026 Cup schedule

Indeed, the 2026 season should look different for Busch after his second straight winless year driving the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Jim Pohlman heads from JR Motorsports’ NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program as crew chief for Justin Allgaier to Welcome, North Carolina, where he will crew chief Busch in 2026. Andy Street served as Busch’s crew chief for the final five races of the year, replacing Randall Burnett, who led Busch to three wins in 2023.

One man’s entry to the team may not be a cure-all, but Busch is optimistic for what lies ahead with Pohlman in what will be a busy lead-up to the 2026 Daytona 500.

“I think this offseason will be different just based off of trying to build some camaraderie and some time with Jim,” Busch said. “Being able to spend some time with him and just kind of figure things out and what makes him tick, and obviously ways of things of what makes me tick and getting on the same page to start our season. Those are always the best ways of being the most successful with a crew chief is when you know when each other’s thinking, what they’re thinking and you can anticipate what’s next.”

David Jensen | Getty Images

Austin Dillon, driver of RCR’s No. 3 car and grandson of team owner Richard Childress, has played a more significant role in his family’s team recently. Dillon largely replicated his 2024 stats in 2025 — a Richmond win serving as his lone top five of the season, coupled with five total top 10s — but improved his average finish from 22.6 to 20.8 with new crew chief Richard Boswell. Looking on for the betterment of both his No. 3 team and the whole of RCR, Dillon believes the organization is poised to take its next step toward Cup Series success through the offseason, adding that his father, Mike Dillon, plans to be more involved in the process as well.

“Obviously, bringing Pohlman in as the 8 crew chief, Richard Boswell and him and (technical director) Johnny Klausmeier and Andy Street all working really closely together, I think that is a powerhouse team between the four of them,” Dillon said. “I like where all those guys stand as humans and workers (to) just be pushing our cars to make them better and more competitive for Kyle and I. And I think you’ll see my dad more, which is a good thing. He was a competition director for RCR for a long time, and I think a lot of people love to work with him and know where he stands on getting these things right.”

Busch is NASCAR’s winningest driver of all time across its national series, collecting 63 Cup wins, 67 Craftsman Truck Series wins and an astounding 102 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victories. The winning has slowed over the last two seasons, though. And through his experience across 20-plus years at NASCAR’s highest levels, he knows he’ll need to crawl before he walks back to Victory Lane again.

“There’s still a building process that’s got to take place to get us to that avenue,” Busch said. “And being most consistent each and every week and finishing consistently in the top five is the easiest way to prove that you’re capable of your next win. So we’ve got to get to that point first.”

Posted on November 14, 2025 by Zack Albert

Chevrolet revealed its updated car body for the NASCAR Cup Series on Friday, unveiling a refreshed Camaro ZL1 that will make its competition debut in 2026.

The subtle updates to the Cup Series body take styling cues from a performance accessories kit that Chevrolet recently released for the car’s road-going counterpart. NASCAR officials said that these performance updates, which have been incorporated into the race-ready Camaro, were the product of collaboration with the manufacturer and have satisfied the competition department’s requirements for a new-look body next season.

According to Chevrolet, the racing version of the Camaro now features a larger hood dome, revisions to the front grille and redefined rocker panels. The automaker indicated that those design features align with the Carbon Performance Package Accessories Kit’s carbon-fiber pieces on the hood and rockers, plus a new grille and front splitter.

Chevrolet debuted the Camaro ZL1 model for NASCAR competition in 2018, when it replaced the outgoing Chevy SS. The body style was updated to the Camaro ZL1 1LE in 2020, and a Next Gen version launched when that platform debuted in the Cup Series two years later.

Chevrolet ended production of the passenger-car Camaro line with the 2024 model run. When that news broke in March 2023, Scott Bell – Global Chevrolet’s vice president – hinted that the venerable nameplate could return.

“While we are not announcing an immediate successor today, rest assured, this is not the end of Camaro’s story,” Bell said.

Whether an all-new Camaro or some other model could reach NASCAR’s tracks in future seasons is undetermined. A Chevrolet statement said: “While we do not comment on future products, we can assure you we are working on what’s next for Chevrolet in NASCAR. Again, our commitment to competing in NASCAR remains steadfast.”

The updated Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will make its competition debut in the season-opening Cook Out Clash exhibition at Bowman Gray Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 1 (8 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, HBO Max).

MORE: 2025 season, by the numbers

Chevrolet clinched this year’s manufacturer’s championship in NASCAR’s premier series, marking the fifth consecutive season that the bowtie brand has topped fellow competitors Ford and Toyota. Chevy scored a series-best 15 wins last season and captured the 2025 Cup Series driver’s title with Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson.

Posted on November 13, 2025December 1, 2025 by Neil Paine

NASCAR’s official awards ceremony was held last week, with its glamorous red carpet and fancy dinner ceremony for the best and brightest of the year. There, Kyle Larson gave a speech next to his big shiny trophy as NASCAR Cup Series champion — but he wasn’t the only driver who deserved hardware. With the 2025 NASCAR season officially in the books, it’s time for another annual tradition: Handing out some offbeat awards of our own to the overachievers, late bloomers, track specialists and statistical weirdos who made this season worth remembering.

Dale Jarrett Award (Most improved driver): Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing.

In some ways, it would have been a disappointment if Briscoe didn’t end up here at the end of the 2025 season. After all, the No. 19 ride — vacated by the retiring Martin Truex Jr. — was always going to be a plum opportunity for some driver to step into, ready to unlock their full potential. But it’s fair to say Briscoe took the opportunity and drove away with it. After an early period of adjustment, he rattled off one of the best (and longest) sustained periods of success by any driver this season, capping things off by making his first career Championship 4 appearance with a playoff win at Talladega Superspeedway. Exceeding any and all expectations with his new team, Briscoe solidified his status as one of NASCAR’s top-tier drivers with what was, by far, the best season of his Cup career to date.

Other candidates: Ryan Preece, John Hunter Nemechek.

Mr. Consistency Award (Best average finish relative to dominance): Chris Buescher, RFK Racing.

On the one hand, this was a challenging season for Buescher: His first winless campaign since 2021 saw him rank 17th in the standings and finish outside the playoff picture for the second year in a row. But he was much more consistent than we might think just from the top-line results. Buescher posted an above-average Driver Rating in 75% of his races — a rate comparable to that of several playoff drivers. (Kyle Larson was at 78%, for instance, while Denny Hamlin sat much lower at just 66%.) Further, Buescher’s average finish of 14.3 ranked sixth among full-time drivers, sandwiching him between a couple of Champ 4 drivers in Hamlin (14.0) and William Byron (14.5). No, Buescher didn’t have the same high ceiling as they had, but his week-to-week reliability made him one of the most underrated drivers this year.

Other candidates: Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch.

Jerry Nadeau Award (Best in qualifying relative to races): Austin Cindric, Team Penske.

The best qualifier of the year overall was probably Briscoe, who was tied with Byron for the lowest average start (9.9) and recorded the co-most poles in a season (seven) of anybody in the past decade. But as we wrote earlier, Briscoe had an outstanding string of performances on race day as well, using that track position to great effect when the green flag dropped. By comparison, the Cup driver whose qualifying performances most outpaced his actual race results was Cindric, who tied Joey Logano for the eighth-best average start (13.3) but ranked 23rd in average finish (20.9), trailing names like Erik Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Dillon and Todd Gilliland. Cindric’s solid 74.9 Driver Rating was better than his finishes gave him credit for, and he booked a second straight playoff trip with an early win at Talladega, but he never quite translated his Saturday speed into wins on Sunday this season.

Other candidates: AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs.

Ricky Rudd Award (Best journeyman driver): Ryan Preece, RFK Racing.

Preece was one of the best stories of the season after overcoming his third team change in four years — this time going from Stewart-Haas to RFK when the former ceased operations after the 2024 season. All the new driver of the No. 60 car did in response was record nearly as many top fives (three) and top 10s (14) in 2025 as he’d had in his entire seven-year Cup career previously (four and 16, respectively). Along the way, Preece had a better average finish than Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch, among others. Coming at age 34, it was one of the best mid-career level-ups we’ve seen in recent years, and it will be exciting to see what Preece can do for an encore in 2026.

Other candidates: Josh Berry, Erik Jones.

Dale Earnhardt Award (Best on superspeedways): Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports.

It was a wide-open year on the superspeedways, with the six available wins going to six different drivers: Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric. And some of the best stats belonged to drivers who weren’t even in that group: Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson boasted the top average finishes at “restrictor plate” tracks, while Joey Logano had the best Driver Rating — with Bubba Wallace third, narrowly trailing Reddick. (Also, Carson Hocevar had the most top 10s outright, at four.) In the face of all that, picking an Earnhardt Award winner wasn’t easy, but we gave the nod to Elliott for his win at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway), his lack of DNFs (just one in six races), his 15.2 average finish and his 79.8 Driver Rating at the track type this year.

Other candidates: Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, William Byron.

Marcos Ambrose SVG Award (Best on road/street courses): Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing.

Anytime an award is renamed after you, that’s probably a sign that you had a dominant season. Such was the case with van Gisbergen, who went into the year as merely one of the best road racers in Cup Series history and left it as pretty much the unquestioned GOAT. In six road-course starts, SVG sat on pole three times, finished sixth or better every race, won five straight times (and counting) — at Mexico City, Chicago, Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval — including three with victory margins in the double-digit seconds, highlighted by a stunning 16.6-second win at Mexico City. After what was the greatest road-course season in NASCAR history, there’s not much more to say about SVG except to wonder when — or if — his winning streak on the twisty tracks will end.

Other candidates: Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick.

Darrell Waltrip Award (Best on short tracks): William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports.

As the only multi-time winner on short tracks this season — capturing checkered flags at Iowa Speedway and Martinsville Speedway, the latter of which came in both clutch and dominant fashion during the playoffs in the Round of 8 finale — Byron stood out most among the short-track aces of 2025. But he had competition. Denny Hamlin was good (as usual), winning at Martinsville in the spring, and Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson also posted wins while finishing top 10 in four of six races. And the best numbers of all might have belonged to a non-winner: Ryan Blaney, who had five top fives in six short-track tries with an average finish of 4.8 and a 111.1 Driver Rating. That was higher even than Byron’s 105.2 mark on short tracks this season, though Blaney couldn’t quite seal the W in any of them despite leading at least 29 laps in five different races (and 177 at Martinsville before Byron passed him in the final 50 laps to take the win).

Other candidates: Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson.

Jeff Gordon Award (Highest peak during the season): Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports.

Much like SVG on the road courses, this award might eventually be renamed after its recipient if he keeps this up. In May, we looked into how Larson’s streaks of near-perfect dominance stack up not just against his peers today, but against the greatest peaks in NASCAR history — finding that nobody in the modern era hits that ceiling more often. And nobody did this season, either, with Larson’s stretch from early March to mid-May — with seven top fives and an average Driver Rating of 110.9 (including two outings within one point of a perfect 150) in a nine-race span — rising as the best such period of sustained domination the Cup Series saw all year.

Other candidates: Ryan Blaney (late July to late September), Christopher Bell (mid-September to mid-October).

David Gilliland Award (Best vs. teammates): Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing.

Like Buescher, Reddick didn’t quite have the season he was hoping for in terms of overall results. The driver of the No. 45 car failed to win a race for the first time since 2021 (back when he was with RCR), posted only seven top fives — snapping a three-year streak in double-digits — and while he made the playoffs, Reddick didn’t return to the Championship 4, instead bowing out in the Round of 12. But 23XI wasn’t as good this season, either, with Bubba Wallace not being quite as consistent as a year ago (18.5 average finish vs. 15.3 in ’24) and the addition of a third full-time car with Riley Herbst affecting the team’s overall averages as well. So Reddick still managed to post a 52-24 head-to-head record against his teammates (68.4% winning percentage), which was the best of anybody in Cup, and he bested teammates by a series-high 24.5 points of Driver Rating per race as well. (Nobody else was especially close; AJ Allmendinger was second at +18.3.).

Other candidates: Ryan Blaney (Penske), A.J. Allmendinger (Kaulig), Ross Chastain (Trackhouse).

Greg Biffle Award (Best non-playoff driver during the playoffs): Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing.

It was a tale of two seasons for Keselowski, who was as bad as we’ve ever seen him early on, with crashes ending five of his first 12 races while he posted an average finish of 27.2 (with a 61.5 Driver Rating) over that span. But as the season progressed, Brad K. began to drive much more like the former champion we expect to see in the No. 6 car — and no stretch of the season was more indicative of how far he’d come than the playoffs. While Keselowski wasn’t close to making the playoffs (he was 22nd in the points through 26 races), he rattled off an average finish of 14.2 with five top 10s in the last 10 races of the year, carrying a 143 Adjusted Points+ index (well above Cup average) and a 72.8 Driver Rating during that stretch, continuing to build up his best segment of the season. Last year’s Biffle Award winner, Ross Chastain, ended up returning to the playoffs, so we’ll see if a 42-year-old Keselowski can use this run as the same kind of springboard next year.

Other candidates: Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece, Ty Gibbs.

Good Enough To Win Award (Non-winner who “should” have won the most): TIE – Chris Buescher, RFK Racing and Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing.

Thanks to this co-award, Buescher and Reddick will both walk away with multiple pieces of hardware here, which I’m sure will be a silver lining for their seasons. But kidding aside, this was a very close battle to decide the non-winner most deserving of a W this season. As a refresher for this category, we use Driver Ratings from each race to assign every driver a probability of winning, based on how well they drove over the course of the entire event. This is generally a good estimate of “deserving” winners, since it filters away luck-based elements like late wrecks or overtime restarts, etc. And while most of the top actual winners this year did rightly win a lot of races, Buescher and Reddick were tied among the non-winners with 0.9 Expected Wins apiece. Buescher’s highest chances came at Daytona International Speedway in the summer (26.6%), Michigan International Speedway (13.6%) and Pocono Raceway (13.1%), while Reddick missed out on potential wins at Chicago (13.3%) and Darlington Raceway twice (11.9% in the spring and 9.9% in the summer).

The big question is whether this will predict a breakthrough for both or either driver next season. Last year’s award went to Ty Gibbs, who still didn’t win in 2025 — though he tacked on 0.8 more Expected Wins this season, tied with Alex Bowman for third-most in Cup among non-winners this season.

Other candidates: Ty Gibbs, Alex Bowman.

Posted on November 12, 2025November 12, 2025 by Staff Report

For the first time in five years, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch is returning to Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, to take part in the Snowball Derby on Dec. 4-7.

Busch will drive the No. 51 Lucas Oil-sponsored entry for Bryson Lopez Racing in the annual Super Late Model crown jewel event. The team will be led by Danny Stockman, who guided Jesse Love and the Richard Childress Racing No. 2 team to the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in 2025.

“It’s been a few years since I’ve been to Pensacola, but I haven’t forgotten how to get around Five Flags,” Busch said. “The Snowball Derby is one of those bucket-list races you always want to win again and again, and I’m fired up to be back with the No. 51 Lucas Oil team and FloRacing. We’re showing up to take that trophy home.”

Busch is no stranger to Five Flags Speedway and the Snowball Derby, as he has made five previous starts in the event since 2002.

After finishing 33rd in his first start in the event in 2002, he returned for his second Snowball Derby start in 2009, where he led a race-high 91 laps to claim the Tom Dawson Trophy for the first time. He returned to the Snowball Derby again in 2012, leading 15 laps and finishing third.

MORE: How to watch the NASCAR Channel

Busch’s next start came in 2017, which saw him start 15th, lead 28 laps and secure his second triumph in the prestigious race. During his most recent Snowball Derby appearance in 2020, Busch started ninth and finished in seventh.

The Snowball Derby, first held in 1968, has a long history of NASCAR involvement.

The Snowball Derby is widely considered one of the most important short track races in the country and annually attracts stars from NASCAR to compete. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)

Among the early winners of the Snowball Derby who have also enjoyed success in NASCAR are 1970 Daytona 500 winner Pete Hamilton, 10-time Cup Series winner Donnie Allison and three-time Cup Series champion Darrell Waltrip.

More recently, many NASCAR drivers have used the event as a launching point for their careers. They include current stars like Busch, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Christian Eckes, Noah Gragson, Ty Majeski, Chandler Smith and Kaden Honeycutt.

All of them are Snowball Derby winners.

This year, several active NASCAR competitors will again be among the more than 50 drivers looking to earn starting positions in the Snowball Derby.

Joining Busch on the entry list are Jones, Gragson and Ryan Preece. In addition, several drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series are also entered.

Among them are Honeycutt, Majeski, Jake Garcia, Dawson Sutton and Bayley Currey. Johnny Sauter, the 2016 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, and David Gilliland, the 2007 Daytona pole winner and owner of Tricon Garage, have also filed entries.

Snowball Derby weekend begins with practice on Thursday, Dec. 4. Teams will qualify on Dec. 5, with the top 30 qualifiers locking into the race. The remainder of the field will be set Dec. 6 via a last-chance race and a pair of provisionals.

The 58th running of the Snowball Derby goes green at 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Dec. 7. Action all week at Five Flags Speedway airs live on FloRacing, with Friday’s qualifying session also scheduled to be broadcast live on the NASCAR Channel.

A full schedule events can be found here.