Even though the 2025 NASCAR season’s wrapped up for a couple of weeks now, the sport is very much in the headlines. All thanks to the latest update in the ongoing antitrust lawsuit about the leaked chats of NASCAR’s top leadership. This evidence has been pretty damning for NASCAR, as it’s revealed their true perception about their fans and the garage, which is not on the positive side.
How NASCAR has dug its own grave
To give some background, it all started with the charter agreement negotiations in 2022, set for the 2025 season. These negotiations ran for two years until NASCAR issued a ‘take it or leave it’ offer. Naturally, most of the teams felt threatened and coerced into signing the agreement, but 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports held out. CEO Jim France was against making the charters permanent.
That’s when 23XI and FRM acted, filing the infamous anti-trust NASCAR lawsuit, and the battle’s been going on for over a year now, with the December trial dates approaching soon. And that’s where the situation took a very hot turn, as the leaked text messages that are coming in daily are increasing problems for NASCAR day by day. The latest one is a chat exchange between Scott Miller and John Probst.
These messages were from 2022, and the subject was how the smaller teams like RFK, Kaulig, Rick Ware, and Spire could be more competitive. Miller and Probst both joked about some of the NASCAR teams being on ‘government welfare’ and just about surviving. Their casual roast references didn’t go well with the fans. Check out their tweets here:
In one message, John Probst wrote, “You can help the ones that want help. The rest just suck up your resources.”
Scott Miller responded, saying, “Spire and Front Row may be ‘helpable’ but Ware and McCloud are already on the Govt teet, they’ll just make more babies LOL.”
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“Spire is a tweener,” Probst said, agreeing with Miller.
Other leaked threads were also controversial, like how Steve Phelps said Richard Childress needed to be ‘taken out back and flogged’. Phelps also dubbed the 7-time Cup Championship owner and Hall of Famer a ‘stupid redneck’.
This insult by the leadership to its own employees and staff hasn’t gone down well with fans at all. And now, with the latest thread expose, fans are questioning their ethics.
Fans are not taking the insults lightly
“It seems that NASCAR hates its talent at all levels. Shameful.”
Fans did not find this funny at all. These leaked messages about owners and teams have just intensified the ongoing frustration, making many of them feel that NASCAR is not being ethical and not respecting the very people who keep the sport alive.
Others predicted that the higher-ups could be in for a huge fall from grace. As one fan put it, “The more texts that come out, the more NASCAR executives look like they will be soon seeing the unemployment line.”
Before this, another conversation leaked between Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson and an unnamed person, where the use of slurs like “DARFs” were used. Journalist Steve Taranto opined that it could be one of the teams, too, but Denny Hamlin’s response made it clear that it was someone from NASCAR.
Many fans agreed with the sentiment, saying, “Steve Phelps, Steve O’Donnell, Scott and John Probst should right now be drafting their resignation letter.”
All in all, everyone is seeing what the big bosses truly think. “I love all their true personalities coming out,” another fan said.
Yet more fans began calling for heads to roll, “I’ve seen enough, time to clean house at NASCAR. This is unacceptable.”
Some people brought up interesting points about chasing away potential teams, “Why would any team want to do business with nascar after finding out this what they think of everyone.”
The fans’ anger is completely justified. And with more such leaks, that justification is only getting stronger. If people at the top talk this way, then calling for a “clean house” doesn’t feel extreme at all.
And for others, the frustration makes sense too. Why would any new team want to join a sport where the leadership appears to look down on the very people who make it run?
“These clowns are ‘executives’ for NASCAR? Imagine if this was messages among execs at a Fortune 500 company! They’d all be fired! If there’s not a house cleaning next week I’m not sure they’ll survive as a sport.”
Given the kind of messages exchanged, if not a clean house in the leadership, then the sport might definitely lose out on its precious fandom. Whatever happens, one thing’s for sure: NASCAR might have indeed just dug its own grave with this move.

Jeremy Mayfield hasn’t raced in the Cup Series since 2009, when a failed drug test turned his world upside down and ended with an indefinite ban. He fought NASCAR in court for years, lost, and faded from the spotlight.
Now, more than eleven years after the judges ruled against him, Mayfield is teasing the biggest comeback of all: a full-blown tell-all backed by 5WideMedia that could drag NASCAR’s darkest chapters back into the light.
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Mayfield and 5WideMedia drop the bomb
It started with two little words from 5WideMedia:
“Stay tuned.”
That was enough to send fans into a frenzy, but then they reposted an old Dave Despain segment about Tim Richmond’s shady 1980s drug test ban, and the message was crystal clear.
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Richmond was a superstar who got run out of the sport over what many still call rigged results. Pair that with Mayfield’s own story, and it feels like 5WideMedia is gearing up for a no-holds-barred look at NASCAR’s history of silencing drivers who step out of line.
Mayfield has never stopped saying he was wronged. He tested positive in 2009, but he has always insisted it was his prescribed Adderall mixed with Claritin D, nothing illegal. He has called the testing process broken, the lab biased, and the whole punishment unfair.
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In a blistering Newsweek interview, he went as far as saying NASCAR is “capable of anything.” He claims he was never given a real chance to clear his name, and that plenty of other drivers stayed quiet because they were scared of the same hammer coming down on them.
Life got even uglier in 2011 when police raided his house, found meth and allegedly stolen property, and charged him. Mayfield has denied it all, calling the raid part of a bigger vendetta to keep him buried. At 56, he is still racing and winning on short tracks, but the scars from that era are deep.
If this 5WideMedia project happens, it will not be a gentle stroll down memory lane. It will be Mayfield finally getting the mic for as long as he wants to talk about power, testing, fear, and what he believes was a conspiracy to end his career. And with NASCAR already bleeding from its own lawsuit leaks right now, the timing could not be more explosive.
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While Mayfield sharpens his knives for a potential 2026 exposé, NASCAR is busy bleeding in public from its own lawsuit mess. The latest bombshell hit just days before the December 1, 2025, trial: leaked 2023 texts from former president Steve Phelps trashing Richard Childress in ways nobody expected to see in writing.
Kenny Wallace left stunned as more NASCAR messages come to light
Kenny Wallace could not believe his eyes when he read them on Coffee with Kenny. He kept stopping, shaking his head, and asking the camera, “Should I repeat that?” before quoting Phelps word for word: Childress is an “idiot,” a “dinosaur,” a “malcontent,” a “total a** clown,” and worst of all, a “stupid redneck who owes his entire fortune to NASCAR” who “needs to be taken out back and flogged.”
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It all started because Childress went on SiriusXM and dared to ask who a new media deal would actually help. He pointed out he could build fourteen old Cup cars for the price of seven Next Gen cars and basically said the math didn’t add up for owners.
That sent Steve Phelps and chief revenue officer Brian Herbst into a private texting meltdown during a charter meeting. Phelps told Childress to sell his charter and get out if he did not like it, then unloaded every insult in the book.
Wallace repeated the worst lines over and over, stunned that the guy who used to run NASCAR would talk that way about one of the sport’s true builders, the man who gave Dale Earnhardt his rides and kept RCR alive for half a century. Phelps reportedly called Childress later to say he didn’t mean it, but the texts are now public forever, sitting in court filings for the whole world to read.
With the antitrust trial about to start, these leaks are pouring gas on an already raging fire. Teams are accusing NASCAR of acting like a monopoly, and now everyone gets to see how leadership really talked about the people who helped make the sport what it is.
Mayfield, watching all this from the sideline, must feel like the perfect storm: the same organization that crushed him is now tearing itself apart in public. If his 5WideMedia project lands while this trial is still burning, the two stories could feed off each other and force NASCAR to answer for decades of behavior all at once.

Corey LaJoie has never been the type to keep his life in two separate lanes. On one side, he’s the guy racing door to door in the Cup Series, hunting for every spot he can grab. On the other he’s the dad posting goofy videos of his boys and talking openly about how fatherhood keeps him sane in a sport that can eat you alive.
Fans love that mix. They tune in for the racing, sure, but they stay for the realness.
It started back in 2019 when LaJoie and his wife, Kelly, announced they were expecting their first son, Levi, right around Easter 2020. Then in 2021 came the news of baby number two, Jenson Daniel, due the following May of 2022.
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Each time, the garage and the grandstands lit up with congratulations because the LaJoies have this way of making big moments feel like they’re happening to the whole NASCAR family.
That’s why the newest announcement hit so hard. LaJoie and Kelly dropped the sweetest post on Instagram showing the whole crew, Levi, Jenson, and now the hint of a third little one on the way.
It wasn’t some huge reveal, but just some beautiful pictures and the quiet joy of a growing family. For a driver who’s always been open about loving the chaos of boys running wild at home, adding another member feels like the most natural thing in the world.
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LaJoie’s podcast, Stacking Pennies, has given fans a front row seat to all of it. He’ll go from breaking down tire fall off one minute to laughing about diaper changes the next. That honesty makes him one of the most relatable guys in the garage.
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When he talks about parenting being “a lot of fun” and jokes about building a small army, you can hear the grin in his voice. So when the news broke that the army is growing again, the love poured in fast. Friends and fans on Instagram cannot contain their excitement.
Friends and fans wish well
Jordan Fish kept it short and perfect: “Awwwwwww Congratulations.”
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It’s the kind of warm hug in comment form that feels exactly right. She’s been around the NASCAR circle forever and knows how special these family moments are, especially when everyone’s watched the boys go from babies to little racetrack regulars.
Mark Martin, the legend himself, didn’t need words. He just dropped a simple “ ”
Coming from a guy who doesn’t post much, that little emoji carried a ton of weight. LaJoie grew up in the sport with his dad, Randy, being a two-time champ, so when a Hall of Famer like Martin celebrates the news, it’s a quiet stamp of approval from one generation to the next.
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Fans couldn’t stop talking about the pictures. “Beautiful pictures” showed up over and over, and it’s easy to see why. Kelly has a gift for capturing the soft, real moments, the kind that make you smile even if you’ve never met them. The whole feed feels like flipping through a family album you’re lucky enough to peek at.
Of course, NASCAR fans wouldn’t be NASCAR fans without a little fun. Someone suggested, “Name him LaBubu, LaBubu Lajoie sounds cute,” and you can practically hear LaJoie laughing at that one. With Levi, Jenson, and Pierce already tearing up the house, the name game is always open season, and the fans love jumping in like they’re part of the brainstorming session.
Then there were the hopeful ones: “Congratulations, this is so awesome!! Hopefully, a Girl will join your bunch.”
Three boys already means pure chaos and pure joy, and a bunch of fans are crossing fingers for a little girl to round out the crew. Corey Lajoie’s talked plenty about the wild energy of raising sons, so the idea of pink bows and tutus mixed in has everyone smiling at the thought.
The news is still fresh, but the love is already huge. Another baby LaJoie on the way just feels right, another chapter for a family that’s never been shy about letting the NASCAR world come along for the ride.

NASCAR has everything a killer TV drama needs: family feuds that last generations, rivalries that feel like blood feuds, and enough money and glory on the line to make anyone snap. Hollywood has peeked at it before, think Days of Thunder or Cars, but nothing’s ever stuck like a full-blown series.
Until now. AMC, the $1.13 billion-worth folks who gave us Breaking Bad and Marco Polo, just gave the green light to a new scripted NASCAR show that’s got the potential to be the sport’s big break on the small screen.
AMC bets big on ‘Thunder Road’
The series is titled ‘Thunder Road’. And it isn’t some low-budget racing flick. Thunder Road is getting the full AMC treatment, with NASCAR’s own blessing.
The title nods to the 1958 movie about moonshine runners, those outlaws who basically invented NASCAR. So this show isn’t just about modern wrecks and wins, it’s digging into the roots, the grit that started it all.
The story follows the Whitlock family, a deep-rooted racing dynasty from the South, where every turn on the track comes with a side of secrets, betrayals, and old grudges. It’s all about legacy, the kind that gets passed down like a family recipe, but with way more horsepower and heartbreak.
Veteran screenwriter John Fusco is the guy behind it all. You know him from Young Guns or Netflix’s Marco Polo, and he’s calling this “Succession with stock cars.” That means power plays, brother-against-brother drama, and a business where your last name can make or break you.
Fusco is teaming up with Cliff Roberts from Untamed, Mark L. Smith from The Revenant and Twisters, and NASCAR insiders like Tim Clark and John Dahl. On AMC’s end, Dan McDermott and Ben Haigh are pushing it hard as part of their Americana push.
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With AMC’s track record for messy, addictive stories, Thunder Road could pull in racing nuts and drama junkies alike. There is no release date informed yet, but if they nail the roar of the engines and the sting of family fights, it might just change how the world sees stock cars.
While Thunder Road hypes up Hollywood dreams, NASCAR’s real-life soap opera just got uglier. The charter lawsuit keeps coughing up texts that make the garage look like a high school locker room on steroids. The latest batch has former commissioner Steve Phelps unloading on Richard Childress, one of the sport’s true old guards.
NASCAR commissioner in hot water again
It all blew up from a 2023 team owners meeting, where charter talks were white hot. Richard Childress went on SiriusXM and poked the bear, saying he could build fourteen old Cup cars for what seven Next Gen ones cost. When asked if a new media deal was good news, he hit back with “For who?” A simple question, but a massive fallout.
Phelps got live updates from Brian Herbst, NASCAR’s media cash guy, and the texts turned vicious quickly. “Childress is an idiot. If they don’t like the state of the sport, sell your charter and get out,” Phelps fired off. Then he piled on: “Did I mention Childress was an idiot?”
Herbst kept feeding him notes, and Phelps kept swinging: “If he’s that angry, sign your charter extension and sell. He’s not smart, is a dinosaur, and a malcontent. He’s worth a couple of hundred million dollars, every dollar associated with NASCAR in some fashion. Total a–clown.”
The worst came next: “Childress needs to be taken out back and flogged. He’s a stupid redneck who owes his entire fortune to NASCAR.”
These dropped right before the December 1 trial, where 23XI and Front Row are calling NASCAR a monopoly on tracks and TV money.
Phelps reportedly called Childress later to say he didn’t mean it, but the words are out there now, public as a victory lane kiss. Thunder Road might glamorize the family drama, but this real-life version is messy, ugly, and way too close to home. As the trial heats up, NASCAR’s got a lot more than scripts to worry about.

NASCAR is having a rough month. Leaked texts from the big antitrust lawsuit have shown top execs talking about veteran owner Richard Childress like he’s the enemy, calling him a “stupid redneck” who should be “taken out back and flogged.” In other messages, they trashed the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) that Tony Stewart helped start, labeling it “trash” and talking about putting a knife in it.
Fans are furious, teams are furious, and suddenly everyone is digging through old interviews looking for proof that this attitude isn’t new. That’s exactly how a year-old Tony Stewart clip is blowing up all over again. In the video, he’s calm, matter-of-fact, but the message is brutal. NASCAR stopped listening to the people who actually race the cars a long time ago.
Stewart remembers a meeting where he and almost twenty veteran drivers sat down with leadership to offer five specific fixes they all agreed would help the sport. They suggested some real changes, born from thousands of laps and decades in the seat.
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But according to Stewart, one executive shot every idea down, claiming that the drivers were “180 degrees backwards” from what they felt could fix the sport.
Stewart’s problem? The executive had never turned a wrench or driven a race car in anger. Not once.
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He didn’t yell. He just looked at the camera and said that if the sport keeps changing at the rate it was going, it wouldn’t even be recognizable from when he started. And here we are years later, watching leaked texts prove the disconnect he warned about is still alive and ugly.
Stewart has never been shy about speaking his mind. He’s said flat out that NASCAR cares more about filling its own pockets than making sure teams stay healthy and the racing stays exciting.
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He’s called the charter system a joke that locks competition in a box. In fact, that very system was a reason he exited from SHR because of the way the charters were handled.
And now, free from the Cup Series and any fear of fines, he can say whatever he wants. That freedom makes every old clip feel brand new, like he saw this exact moment coming.
The timing couldn’t be better, or worse, depending on who you ask. While NASCAR fights in court and tries to explain why its leaders talk about legends like Richard Childress that way, Stewart’s quiet warning from years ago is playing on repeat. It’s not just nostalgia. It’s evidence that the gap between the boardroom and the garage has been widening for a long time.
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Fans on X have had enough and are speaking against it.
Fans can’t bear the disrespect
“I will they ever admit that the CoT destroyed the sport? left and never went back after that, and now I’m not alone.”
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That one hurts because so many feel the same. The Car of Tomorrow rolled out in 2007 for safety, but drivers hated how it drove, and fans hated how it looked. Tony Stewart himself once called it the biggest pile of crap he ever drove.
A lot of people point to that car as the moment the soul started leaking out of the racing, and seeing these new leaks just brings all that old anger rushing back.
“Pretty much how every company and the entire country is run. Suits show up with their degrees and think they know more than the people who have been doing the job longer than they have.”
Exactly what Stewart was getting at. A room full of champions with thousands of starts between them gets told they’re wrong by someone who’s never felt a car loose in turn four. It’s not just NASCAR, it’s everywhere, but when it’s the sport you love, it hits different.
“Most Corporations don’t survive the 3rd generation. The 1st earns it, the 2nd enjoys it, and the 3rd squanders it.”
Family teams are the heartbeat of NASCAR, and fans see the same pattern. The people who built it from moonshine runners are long gone, and now some worry the current bosses are spending the goodwill instead of protecting it.
“Saw Tony in the pits in NHRA this year. He was telling someone how glad he was to be out of NASCAR.”
That one stings, too. Stewart’s racing dragsters and dirt cars now, smiling in a different pit area, and apparently telling anyone who’ll listen that he’s happier away from the Cup Series. After everything he gave the sport, three championships, millions of fans, that relief says a lot.
“Mayfield has always been right. Did you see how they treated the late Tim Richmond? NASCAR even came out afterwards of the Richmond deal and said. Oh ya, Our bad.”
Some fans are connecting all the dots. Richmond in the eighties, Mayfield in the two thousands, drivers today are scared to speak up. Same pattern, different decade. When the Childress texts dropped, it felt like another chapter in a story plenty of fans already believed.
Stewart never asked for this moment, but the internet handed it to him anyway. An old interview, a few calm sentences, and suddenly it’s the soundtrack to NASCAR’s latest mess. He warned that putting people with no seat time in charge would steer the sport off course. Watching the current storm, a whole lot of fans are starting to think he called it exactly right.

If you grew up in America any time before the mid-2010s, you probably remember a time when real cars actually meant something. Sedans, coupes, muscle cars, V8s, small sporty models, and family cars that were not the size of a living room. Chevy had the Impala and Malibu. Ford had the Fusion and the Focus. Dodge had the Charger, Challenger, Dart, and Neon. These cars filled driveways, filled highways, and filled NASCAR starting grids.
Today, that world is disappearing, and the consequences are hitting not only car culture but the sport that depended on it. NASCAR was built on the idea that the car you watched win the race on Sunday was a car you could buy in a showroom on Monday. That link is now thinner than it has ever been, thanks to government policies and automakers.
The Big Three abandon traditional cars
There is a growing feeling in the country that a slow “war” on American cars has been taking place. That does not mean people hate cars. It means the entire ecosystem around American cars has shifted, partly because of government policy and partly because of decisions by automakers themselves.
The most obvious sign of the change is that the Big Three companies that built America’s car identity have pulled away from building traditional cars altogether. Chevy, Ford, and Dodge have spent the last decade shrinking their sedan lineups to almost nothing.
Chevy dropped the Cruze, the Impala, and the Sonic. Ford axed nearly every non-SUV model except the Mustang. Dodge discontinued the Charger and Challenger as we knew them. When you look at their lineups today, the only things left are trucks, SUVs, and crossovers that all look like different sizes of the same box.
How this broke NASCAR’s ‘Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday’ formula
This shift completely undercuts NASCAR’s original marketing engine. The phrase “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” was not just a slogan. It described what made NASCAR special. Fans were watching souped-up versions of cars they could actually buy. When Dale Earnhardt drove a Monte Carlo, people wanted a Monte Carlo.
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When Jeff Gordon piloted a Rainbow Warrior Chevy, people saw the same shape at their local dealership. That connection already took a hit when NASCAR moved to modern spec bodies. But today it is even weaker. There are fewer street cars available to even base the race cars on. You cannot sell what no longer exists.
Turning point
A big turning point in this story came during the Obama administration with the “Cash for Clunkers” program in 2009. On paper, it was a stimulus plan and a push toward newer, more efficient vehicles.
In practice, it wiped a huge number of older, cheaper cars off the road. Many of them were the kinds of sedans and small cars that younger buyers or lower-income families depended on. Dealers were required to destroy the engines of these cars, which meant they could not be resold or reused.
The used car market has never really recovered from that mass purge, and today we are seeing the results. Older used cars are scarce and expensive, and new vehicles are larger and cost more than ever.
Exploiting loopholes for profits
Stricter fuel economy standards also reshaped the car market. Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules were meant to push automakers into building cleaner small cars. But a legal loophole allowed trucks and SUVs to follow a different set of rules. They were treated as “light trucks,” which let companies meet the standard even while selling vehicles that were not very efficient at all.
That loophole became a gold mine. Trucks and SUVs had bigger profit margins and less regulatory pressure, so automakers poured their resources into them. Instead of investing in better small cars, they found it easier to build larger vehicles that brought in more money and still checked the regulatory boxes.
Political lobbying also played a giant role. Automakers pushed Congress and regulators to keep that loophole open, and it paid off.
Today, trucks and SUVs make up the majority of new vehicle sales in America. Sedans barely register in comparison. The companies that once defined the American car are now building machines that have more in common with delivery vans than with the cars that once inspired NASCAR heroes.
Foreign automakers filled that gap
While American companies pulled back from the car market, foreign automakers filled the gap. Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW, and Volkswagen continued building compact and midsize cars that Americans still needed.
As a result, plenty of Americans who used to buy domestic cars now own foreign ones simply because they are the only ones still offering real cars. The irony is that these foreign companies often build their cars in the United States, while the American brands have moved into building giant trucks that cost twice as much as a normal sedan.
Nowhere is this shift more visible than in NASCAR. Chevy recently switched to a neutral, non-Camaro-based body in the Cup Series, a clear sign that the Camaro has no guaranteed future in showrooms and therefore no guaranteed future on the track.
Ford is holding on with the Mustang for now, but even that is uncertain as the company pushes electric SUVs. Dodge left the sport more than a decade ago, and the Charger and Challenger have now ended their gas-powered runs.
NASCAR heading towards electric racing
NASCAR itself sees the writing on the wall. The sport has already been developing electric racing concepts. Chevy’s Blazer EV and Ford’s Mach E were part of the first public demo for a future EV class based on crossover-style bodies.
Those vehicles are a long way from the Monte Carlos, Thunderbirds, and Luminas that built NASCAR’s identity. When the race cars no longer resemble anything on the street, the sport loses the cultural glue that once held everything together.
Conclusion
The heart of the problem is not only policy or regulation. It is also about the mindset of American automakers. Many analysts believe the Big Three have become focused on short-term profits at the expense of long-term innovation.
Instead of leading the next generation of car design, they follow whatever yields the fastest quarterly earnings. Trucks and SUVs are profitable today, so that is all they build. When electric vehicles arrived, they rushed into giant electric trucks instead of affordable, efficient EV cars. The result is a shrinking and distorted market.
The American automobile is not dead, but it is definitely on life support. If the companies that built this country’s car culture want to save it, they will need to think beyond short-term gains.
They will need to build cars that ordinary people can afford. They will need to reconnect with the roots of why people fell in love with cars in the first place. And if they fail to do so, the impact will continue to hit NASCAR in ways that may change the sport forever.

Internal text messages among NASCAR’s top executives, unsealed Friday as part of the discovery process in an ongoing antitrust lawsuit, have provided a rare and unfiltered look at the sanctioning body’s aggressive posture toward perceived competition.
The revelations are expected to bolster the claims of plaintiffs 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports as their landmark trial against NASCAR is set to begin Dec. 1.
The unsealed messages, exchanged primarily between NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps and now-NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell in 2022 and 2023, reveal a concerted effort to undermine the rival Superstar Racing Experience, or SRX, series. The texts contradict NASCAR’s public stance of allowing Cup Series drivers to compete in the short-track series.
The most explosive messages came in an exchange concerning the 2023 participation of 23XI Racing co-owner and Cup Series star Denny Hamlin in an SRX event.
According to the documents, O’Donnell texted Phelps, “Enough. We need legal to take a shot at this.”
Phelps responded with a sharply worded attack on the series, writing: “These guys are just plain stupid. Need to put a knife in this trash series.”
In the same text chain, Phelps expressed further frustration, stating, “The SRX thing is just baffling to me. Why don’t they get it – oh, they do get it and it’s a huge FU to us.” O’Donnell followed up, suggesting an aggressive internal strategy: “So smiles all around but behind the scenes we scheme and we win.”
Another set of messages, while ruled inadmissible at trial due to their inflammatory nature, showed Phelps making highly critical and disparaging remarks about veteran NASCAR team owner Richard Childress after Childress publicly questioned the financial terms of NASCAR’s new media rights deal.
The two-car 23XI Racing team, co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Hamlin, along with Front Row Motorsports, filed the federal antitrust lawsuit in October 2024. The teams refused to sign the 2025-2031 charter extension, which governs their guaranteed entry into races and share of the sport’s revenue.
The core of the plaintiffs’ complaint is that NASCAR operates as an illegal monopoly, using its complete control over the premier stock-car racing market to suppress team revenue and restrict competition from outside entities. They argue the current charter system and NASCAR’s mandate that teams buy most car parts from single-source suppliers make their business model economically unviable.
Attorneys for 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are expected to present the released text messages as direct evidence of anti-competitive intent on the part of NASCAR leadership. The harsh language toward a competing series like SRX suggests a corporate strategy aimed at eliminating or suppressing any potential rival that could threaten NASCAR’s dominance, directly supporting the teams’ claims of monopolization.
A recent partial summary judgment in favor of the teams, which defined the relevant market as “premier stock-car racing” and affirmed NASCAR’s power over that market, has already narrowed the scope of the trial. The newly unsealed texts now provide a compelling narrative of corporate ruthlessness that the jury will weigh as they decide whether NASCAR illegally used its power.

It’s not the first time leaked texts have shaken up the NASCAR community, but the situation has escalated to a whole new level this time around. With the clock ticking toward NASCAR’s biggest courtroom showdown of the year, everyone expected the charter trial to dominate the headlines. Instead, something even more explosive has detonated in the sport’s backyard.
Leaked court filings in the past have revealed Denny Hamlin’s simmering resentment toward the France family, as well as blunt internal emails from NASCAR executives. And a shocking message from 23XI Racing president Steve Lauletta turned the entire lawsuit nuclear. However, this one takes the cake. And judging by the fans’ reaction, this could be the kind of mess nobody walks away from unscathed.
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Jeff Dickerson’s 2024 texts get leaked, aimed at Richard Childress
A trove of private messages from Spire Motorsports’ owner, Jeff Dickerson, in 2024 has suddenly gone public, dragging Richard Childress in the mud. Back at the 2024 Coca-Cola 600, Richard Childress made headlines for hosting then-candidate Donald Trump at the No. 3 pit box, right before the skies opened and washed the rain away.
At that time, teams were neck-deep in negotiations over the 2025 charter agreement, with yet another team owner agreement draft floating around the garage. It’s unclear which document Jeff Dickerson was talking about in his private messages, but both were major points of tension.
In one of those texts, the Spire Motorsports owner fired off, “I hope RC [Richard Childress] says a word about this document so I can tell him what a c—- he looked like with trump [sic].” Yet another moment where Childress ends up taking shrapnel in a lawsuit he isn’t even directly involved in.
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The redacted name, the person on the other end of Dickerson’s messages, wasn’t interested in piling on Richard Childress. Instead, the unnamed texter steers the exchange back to whatever they were supposed to be discussing: team negotiations.
But it does raise a bigger question. Why does Childress keep catching strays from NASCAR‘s inner circle?
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Even NASCAR president Steve Phelps took a swipe at him in a separate set of 2023 messages.
Ever since the lawsuit kicked off, Richard Childress has spoken up here and there, mostly backing what 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are trying to accomplish, though he’s made it clear he’s keeping an eye on how it might impact his own operation. But the real shock came from a batch of 2023 messages involving NASCAR president Steve Phelps, where Childress became a repeated target.
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In one exchange with Brian Herbst, Phelps didn’t hold back, writing, “I agree with you. Did you give them some sense of how bad things are out there? Childress needs to be taken out back and flogged. He’s a stupid redneck who owes his entire fortune to NASCAR [sic].”
And that wasn’t a one-off outburst. Phelps doubled down in later messages, calling team owners “ shortsighted and self-serving,” before adding, “Childress is an idiot. If they don’t like the state of the sport, sell your [sic] shorter and get out.”
Childress has long advocated for clearer communication and a fairer revenue model within the charter system. And while he never publicly fired back at Phelps’s harsh words, he has recently stood behind the teams taking NASCAR to court, applauding them for finally voicing the concern he’s been raising for years. And with this divide between team owners and NASCAR leadership, the fans aren’t taking things lightly this time around.
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Fans fear the worst outcome for NASCAR
The fan base didn’t hold back as the latest wave of leaked messages and legal drama washed over the off-season on Reddit. One viewer summed up the growing frustration bluntly, saying, “At least this offseason nobody is talking about how make the actual cars and races better.” Instead of debating packages, short-track fixes, or the racing product, fans watch the sport spiral deeper into boardroom warfare, something few ever asked for.
Others sensed an atmosphere turning out to be poisonous. As one fan put it, “By the time we reach Daytona everyone’s gonna hate everyone… If they aren’t already.” Another went even further, questioning whether the season would even survive the chaos at the current pace: “At this rate I’m starting to wonder if we’re gonna make it to Daytona at all.” The bitterness, the leaks, the public mudslinging, none of it felt like the NASCAR they once knew.
And as the lawsuits dragged every messy detail into the spotlight, some fans worried the long-term damage was just the beginning. One comment cut straight to the heart of the issue: “All this lawsuit is doing is showing the bad side of the sport. There will be no one wanting to work with ANYONE when this is over.”
Another echoed that sentiment, adding, “It’s showing the bad side to the public. I doubt those involved are all that shocked.” For many, it’s no longer just a legal battle; it’s a crisis of trust unfolding right in front of them. As uncertainty looms in the air, the December 1 trial is set to be the most intense debate ever.

Over the years, Comcast and NASCAR’s program has directed more than $1 million to over 30 non-profits connected to people in the NASCAR family. From Bubba Wallace’s Live to Be Different Foundation, working to empower underprivileged people by removing barriers related to race, to Erik Jones’ Foundation, which focuses on early cancer detection, they wore this badge with great honor.
That title carries weight, and it now gets passed on to this young racing driver as his efforts have finally paid off. The Monday following the NASCAR championship weekend, the 21-year-old was officially named 2025 Comcast Community Champion of the Year. But for the Kaulig racer, the award wasn’t the biggest achievement. Days after receiving the recognition, he has opened up on what led to his victory.
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Daniel Dye opens up about his Race to Stop Suicide mission
Speaking to NASCAR Live, Daniel Dye reflected on that moment, saying, “Yeah, I’ll be honest, the recognition part was not a big deal. Obviously, it’s cool. But the fact that once you get nominated and you get as a finalist and you make that video that everybody got to see when it was posted and stuff right there, we won. When we got to have that video put on all these platforms, with the Xfinity pages sharing them, our pages sharing them, and people seeing them and taking their time to watch them. I got so many texts just about that video. So really, right there we won. ”
His advocacy for the Race to Stop Suicide has been woven into every stage of his racing career. Dye and his father, Randy, launched Race to Stop Suicide in 2018. His devotion to this cause began at just 18 years old after suffering the devastating loss of his cousin, Luke Dye, who took his own life in 2022 at the age of 23. That tragedy shifted the driver’s purpose. He committed himself to using his voice, his platform, and his visibility in motorsports to spark life-saving dialogue.
The Comcast Community Champion of the Year designation comes with a $60,000 award, which Dye will direct entirely to Race to Stop Suicide. Each year, a panel selects one winner from three finalists, including the previous champion. Erik Jones, the 2024 recipient, played a role in choosing Dye for this year’s honor.
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What began as a personal mission has grown into a movement, one that challenged stigma, encourages open discussion, and shines a light on mental health and suicide prevention. Some efforts have reached communities across the country, offering support, awareness, and compassion to those who need it the most.
“Once we won one, it was talked about even more. And then obviously recognize the banquet, and that’s all we’re trying to do is get people to talk about it, get people to be comfortable talking about it. And, just kind of break the ice…reduce the stigma, break the stigma.” Dye added, sharing how one can help out. “I try not to get that complicated. It’s something that if you’re not going through it, we want you to try to be. Just kind of like ‘love your neighbor’ situation, right? Like, just be there for people.”
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As Dye’s career has accelerated, so has the breadth of his message. His No. 10 Chevrolet with Kaulig Racing has proudly carried the paint schemes during Mental Health Awareness Month in May and again during Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in September. The initiative has travelled with him from World Wide Technology Raceway to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, making his mission visible on an international stage and turning every lap into a reminder that no one struggles alone.
One of Dye’s most meaningful annual efforts is the March to Stop Suicide, held at Daytona International Speedway. Participants can walk for 98 minutes and eight seconds, as an assembly tribute to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
The 2025 edition raised an impressive $230,000 for Beyond the Brotherhood, an organization dedicated to helping Navy SEALs transition back into civilian life and access critical mental health support. But off the track, Dye’s efforts have been recognized, too, and now his 2026 season looks different.
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NASCAR’s Kaulig Racing sets a plan for Daniel Dye and the fourth seat
Daniel Dye’s future with Kaulig Racing will take a new shift next year. Earlier in the month, the team revealed that Dye will shift into a full-time role within its NASCAR Truck Series program for 2026. The change came shortly after the organization confirmed it would place its Xfinity Series operation on hold.
Dye has spent this year running the full schedule in the No. 10 entry, finishing 20th in points. At just 21 years old, he continues to show raw but promising talent, and RAM is optimistic that another season under their banner will help him convert that potential into steadier results.
Kaulig Racing is also shaking up the structure of next year. Operating with both RAM and another OEM under the same umbrella, the organization will debut a special No. 25 RAM 1500 truck design specifically to highlight free agent talent.
Each race weekend, a different driver from a variety of racing backgrounds will take the wheel. Their names will be announced every Monday, injecting a fresh element of anticipation throughout the season.
Matt Kaulig, the team owner, said last week, “The Free Agent seat gives us the flexibility to bring in talent while keeping fans on their toes. Each driver will bring something unique to the team. It’s a new idea, and exactly the kind of energy we want heading into 2026.”
Three of the team’s five series drivers for the 2026 campaign are now officially locked in: Brenden Queen, Daniel Dye, and Justin Haley. The fourth seat, the rotating free agent entry, will feature a new driver at every event, while the fifth and final spot is still unfilled. This bold approach expands the team’s reach, offering opportunities to rising prospects as well as seasoned racers looking for a new platform to prove themselves.

From winning the Coca-Cola 600 to enduring financial hardships, Mark Martin has survived through all the highs and lows that the world of stock car racing has to offer. Back in 1982, he was forced to sell off everything he owned just to stay afloat. And for a driver who had to rebuild his career from scratch to eventually become one of NASCAR’s most respected veterans, very little shakes him anymore. Except for the ongoing drama.
The 66-year-old now says that the NASCAR charter-era turmoil worries him more than the financial collapse ever did. After seeing the growing tensions between NASCAR and the two teams filing for an antitrust lawsuit, Martin is beyond disappointed.
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Mark Martin wants teams to race for prize money
In response to a fan’s comment, “Screw the charter system. Qualify and award provisionals. Max the field at 43 cars, again. Go fast or go home,” Martin couldn’t help but respond, saying, “I went broke in 1982 and had to liquidate for pennies on a dollar. I appreciate the concept of the charter system, but hate the repercussions of what has come with them. I’m with you, let them race for the prize money like they used to. There would be 45 teams every week eventually.”
In the early 1980s, NASCAR was a grind. Young drivers paid their dues for years and often ran on shoestring budgets, and Mark Martin’s career nearly unravelled in that era when sponsorship evaporated and he was forced to sell equipment and step back from the Cup scene to rebuild in ASA.
He has even mentioned that he was a “broken man” both “physically” and “emotionally” as well as “economically.” He was only 24 at that time. And the Arkansas native had endured three seasons with 51 starts in the Cup Series with five different owners. But after 5 starts in 1983, a $50,000 sponsorship deal fell through for Mark Martin when the company failed to pay.
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This not only derailed his NASCAR dreams but also pushed him to Wisconsin to revive his career in the American Association series.
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Fast forward to today, and NASCAR runs a formal charter franchise model introduced in 2016 that granted 36 teams guaranteed starting spots, predictable revenue, and the ability to buy/sell charters, a design meant to stabilize team finances and create business value. But one that also changes how owners enter, exit, and move on from the sport. That guaranteed entry feature is the core of what sets the charter era open apart from the open qualifying fields of the past.
The dispute at the heart of recent antitrust lawsuits isn’t about whether charters exist as much as how they are governed. Teams such as 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have alleged that the latest charter terms lock them into a restrictive single-source supplier, limit competition, and siphon value away from team owners. NASCAR counters that the system was created to protect teams and the series and that most owners accept the new terms.
Moreover, the charter sales have increased six times in the last four years. 23XI Racing purchased a charter that was worth $28 million in 2024, which is a massive jump from its 4.7 million maiden charter, which was bought in 2020. Last year, Front Row Motorsports bought a charter for $20-25 million, while the charter they sold in 2020 went for $7 million. The valuations of these charters have been increasingly heavy due to inflation.
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In short, teams want more revenue share, clearer governance rights, and fewer shackles. As NASCAR argues, the charter system is necessary to preserve the business model. And the fate of the charter now lies on the December 1 trial, which seems to be looming over the garage. However, as things heat up in the debate, some nasty text messages that have been made public have sent the veteran into a spiral.
Further disappointments for Martin
Mark Martin has officially seen the remarks about Richard Childress by Steve Phelps, and he’s not taking it lightly. The NASCAR Hall of Famer is clearly frustrated by what has come to light.
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The messages, released as part of the ongoing NASCAR antitrust lawsuit, show commissioner Steve Phelps venting about Childress in a 2023 text exchange with NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell and another unnamed individual.
In the thread, Phelps called Childress a “stupid redneck,” labeled him an “idiot,” and even said he should be “taken out back and flogged.” After seeing those messages online earlier today, Martin shared his reaction, a mix of sadness and discouragement.
“This has been going on in the sport I love. I’m just disappointed all the way around,” Martin wrote. “There were plenty of problems before Charters and the RTA, but I’m not sure how you ever fix all this now.”
Martin then added a second post responding to the text from the NASCAR executive criticizing the SRX series. He said, “Just so disappointing. We should be giving people who love motorsports more of what they love, and maybe the sport would grow and bring in more fans of all ages.”
Over the course of a career, Martin helped elevate NASCAR into the national spotlight alongside legends like Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, and Rusty Wallace, fuelling the France family’s rise to enormous wealth. His reaction isn’t light. It stems from the fact that a respected pioneer is now calling out NASCAR culture inside the leadership that seems to show little respect.

“I’m just blessed to be a part of this group. Every single man or woman at Hendrick Motorsports, this win is for all of us, and every one of you. This is unbelievable. I’m speechless.” Those words from Kyle Larson captured the raw joy after winning his first title in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix Raceway, where he dominated by leading 101 laps. It was a dream run for ‘Yung Money’ at Hendrick Motorsports, where he won the title in his very first season with Mr. H’s team, securing ten wins in the process.
Fast forward to 2025, and Larson’s path to a second crown was contrasting to his first title win, as he led no laps in the final race, yet a third-place finish sealed it amid tire troubles and a late caution. The No. 5 Chevy, which was not the fastest car on the field that day, made Larson lean on strategy more than speed, a far cry from 2021’s domination. This shift in how victory unfolded this second time hinted at deeper contrast of the moment. What made crossing that line feel worlds apart this time?
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A calm and silent victory lap
The real difference hit when Larson crossed the checkered flag third and sealed his second title, as Larson unpacked on NASCAR Live. “It was a bit different than the first championship we had,” he recalled. “I remember being just as excited crossing the start-fine line. Cliff came on the radio. Rick Hendrick came on the radio. NASCAR came on the radio. This time, like, my spotter yelled across the start-finish line, I did my yelling, and then it was just silence.”
In 2021, the radio buzzed with cheers from crew chief Cliff Daniels and team owner Rick Hendrick right away when Larson stamped his victory by crossing first at Phoenix Raceway, fueling Larson’s tearful gratitude. But four years later, the same title-winning moments felt a bit quiet. But what must be the reason behind that quiet stretch?
As Larson revealed the reason, stating, “You know, and nobody talked, because I think everybody was just surprised and screaming off of the radio, and yeah, so that was just an odd difference in feeling,” he explained, painting a picture in his mind of what might be happening in the pit box that he could only imagine from afar and could not be a part of the excitement at that moment.
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But after the dust settled a little bit after the post-race celebration, Larson said, “I mean, really, I’m just speechless. I can’t believe it. We had an average car at best. We had the right front (tire) go down, lost a lap. Got saved by the caution,” Larson said post-race, echoing the surprise of turning an average car at its best into gold.
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That 2021 beast helped Larson dominate the Phoenix Finale, leading out front for the final 25 laps to secure the title. But 2025? A tire issue dropped him early, and a late caution got him back in the mix, all while Denny Hamlin led 208 laps in vain.
Larson’s silence and calmness on those final two laps showed the chaotic nature of the moment, as he states, “I don’t know, I feel like typically in a normal race like then, I would be more nervous and anxious and excited, and I don’t know, I just felt pretty calm and ready for the restart. Like, I wasn’t nervous; I was just ready to try and execute what I needed to do to try and stay in front of Denny.”
Larson remembers his spotter’s frantic calls in those final two laps that kept him locked in about what was happening in the moment and didn’t let his mind be distracted by the pressure or nervousness about the race result. Those two laps “flew by so fast,” which was a different feeling for Larson because usually in pressure moments, time seems to pass by very slowly, but not this time.
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And all these moments during the final moments and after the checkered flag falls make this 2025 title even more memorable for Larson. “It will help me kind of remember it forever.” He is referring to the moments that made this trophy even more special.
Keeping the fire lit without track time
NASCAR’s shrinking practice sessions, with just 20 minutes or none, force drivers to adapt and find ways to keep their skills sharp for those Cup runs. And Kyle Larson beats the rust by diving into offseason dirt tracks, a habit that’s kept him sharp since joining Hendrick in 2021. His 2025 title, with only three wins all year, leaned very much on that prep. Larson often prioritizes real-wheel feel across midgets and sprint cars to keep his instincts sharp.
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“Yeah, it’s definitely interesting in NASCAR. Everybody probably has their own way of doing it. For me, that’s why I race in the offseason. I love to race, but I also use it as a kind of a tool to stay sharp, and you get less cobwebs when you get to the Clash,” Larson said. This approach paid off in Phoenix, where quick recoveries echoed his dirt-honed instincts. No skipped winters for him; it’s pure passion meeting strategy.
He maps it out tight: “Hopefully, if the weather breaks, we’ll get to race midgets this weekend at Placerville, and then I’ll be back in a couple of weeks for a Turkey night in Ventura. Then I go to Australia for a weekend over New Year’s and then the Tulsa shootout.” These back-to-back races build muscle memory, which will help Larson in the crunch or pressure moments in Cup runs.
One example of this is when Larson himself admitted he did not feel any pressure or anything like that in the final two laps of the title finale. That’s the time when these back-to-back races help a driver to stay calm and composed and rely on their skill. Perhaps the reigning champ is already laying the groundwork to defend his title in 2026.

Austin Cindric, the Team Penske NASCAR driver, made headlines a couple of months ago when he signed on for a wildcard entry in Australia’s Repco Supercars Championship. Fresh off his laps in a Gen3 Ford Mustang at Sandown Raceway, the 27-year-old sounded genuinely pumped about the car’s feel during prep for the Adelaide Grand Final on November 27-30. And this new adventure of Cindric got him comparing the Gen3 and NASCAR’s next-gen cars.
With his Adelaide debut just weeks away, Cindric runs with Gen3 specs, exposing NASCAR’s next-gen gamble in the name of parity. And from all those comparisons, one standout comparison is starting to turn heads in the paddock.
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Gen3 edges out next gen’s parity push
In a recent chat with V8 Sleuth, Austin Cindric didn’t hold back on his Gen3 Supercar debut. “It drives a lot better,” he said plainly after acknowledging the lighter, grippier Tickford Mustang at Sandown. As a supercar, being 100 kg lighter than the next-gen cars, it packs more overbody downforce, which results in exceptional tire grip.
That edge shines brightest on tracks like Sandown, where kerbs can make or break a lap. “The current generation Cup car is a lot more rigid,” Cindric explained. “Like, I’ve really had to talk myself into using the kerb as much as I can with this car. Yeah, it has a bigger effect on the driver, but the car still stays gripped up, whereas if I hit some of these kerbs in a Cup car, I’d be in the blue tent!”
Cindric also noticed a few similar characteristics between Gen3 and Next Gen cars, like both cars’ rear grip limits under braking. But the Gen3’s less rigid nature lets drivers push harder without the constant fear of a spin. This came during a low-key ride day post-Sandown 500, where he focused on building rhythm and knowing the Gen3 car’s technique before the race, as he doesn’t have any lap times left.
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Penske NASCAR regular says Gen3 Supercar “drives a lot better” than current-generation Cup car.#RepcoSChttps://t.co/4p4rTE8XWM
— V8 Sleuth (@V8Sleuth) November 17, 2025
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In 2022, NASCAR introduced the Next Gen as a big bet on parity by slashing costs and standardizing parts to level the field for smaller teams. But even after three seasons in, it’s drawing criticism for letting deep-pocketed outfits like Penske and Hendrick Motorsports move further ahead in the competition because the resource gaps in setup and sim work widen the win margins. Cindric’s words echo that frustration, spotlighting how the Gen3 keeps battles tight without punishing bold moves.
As the first full-time NASCAR Cup guy in the series since 2019’s Bathurst cameos, Cindric’s honest take could spark more drivers moving to supercars to taste the Gen3 cars’ riding thrill.
Cindric’s wildcard participation in this event stems directly from how one Kiwi’s supercar ride gave him a strong advantage on the road course in the NASCAR Cup Series.
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SVG’s road course rampage fuels supercars crossover
Shane van Gisbergen‘s dominant run on road courses in the Cup Series has everyone in the garage buzzing about Supercars talent. The Kiwi joined Trackhouse Racing full-time in 2024, and since then, he has won five of six road course starts as a rookie, which is a feat that even veterans cannot fathom.
Cindric credits SVG’s dominance for creating an interest in the NASCAR drivers to try out these Supercars events. Cindric said, “I think the fact that he’s kicking everybody’s ass on road courses makes them more aware of Supercars. That’s the bottom line.” It’s no minor achievement for SVG, as his wins at places like Sonoma and the Chicago street race showed how Supercars’ road-racing DNA made him dominate NASCAR’s road courses.
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Before SVG, these types of crossovers were rare, but his success and also cameos from Scott McLaughlin made NASCAR drivers eye wildcard entries in events like Tickford’s Adelaide to race in Supercars. But Cindric, who is a lifelong fan who’s followed the series since childhood, sees it as a win for the sport. “I mean, I’ve been aware of the championship my whole life and been a big fan,” he added, “but as far as within our industry, I think you take an awareness any time you’re getting beat.”
With added perks like family holidays and an opportunity to meet new sponsors, Cindric’s three-week tour there sets a template for drivers like Kyle Larson to participate in these events as well.

The 2026 Xfinity Series is just over the horizon, with a new name: “O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.” In the meantime, the 2025 off-season is abuzz with teams forming new alliances and parting ways with the old. And one single car team in particular, which is long known for punching above its weight, is chasing technical alliances that promise better engineering and resources. This type of new alliance-making and old one breaking is a clear indication that loyalties can shift fast when performance is on the line.
Ford, which is a longtime powerhouse in stock car racing, now faces a tougher road. As rivals like Chevrolet ramp up their support networks, Ford’s grip could slip if key allies walk away. One such alliance breakup stands out for its bold impact.
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RSS Racing bolts from Ford to Chevy in major shake-up
RSS Racing, the North Carolina-based team behind the No. 38 and No. 39 cars, is cutting ties with Ford after years of partnership. The move aligns them with Haas Factory Team’s switch to Chevrolet for 2026, ensuring seamless technical support from the Kannapolis shop. This isn’t just any other swap; it’s a well-planned strategic play by RSS to tap into Hendrick Motorsports’ vast resources through Haas. Through this alliance, the RSS racing team aims to climb from mid-pack finishes like their 2025 efforts, where they hovered around 20th in owner points.
The decision stems from the Haas team’s move to Chevy, leaving Ford without a vital Xfinity anchor. RSS, which was founded in 2016 by Rod Sieg and is now run by his son Ryan, has leaned on Ford since entering the series full time in 2020. But with Haas advocating for Hendrick‘s Chevy superior engine tech and alliance perks, RSS follows suit to avoid isolation.
With key allies leaving, it hits Ford hard, as this will shrink its Xfinity footprint to just a handful of teams and strain parts supply for independents.
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Jeremy Clements, owner of ally Jeremy Clements Racing, captured the excitement in a statement: “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!” His words echo RSS’s mindset; JCR’s similar tie-in with Haas means shared Chevy blueprints and data, potentially lifting both squads.
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Clements’ team, fresh off a tough 21st in 2025 drivers’ standings, sees this as a lifeline, much like RSS, who’ve dealt with limited Ford aid amid budget woes. As these Chevy bonds tighten, Ford scrambles to rebuild. But the real story? How one team’s pivot could echo across the series.
While alliances evolve in Xfinity, Cup Series eyes turn to Daytona.
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JR Motorsports revs up Allgaier for 2026 Daytona charge
JR Motorsports is doubling down on its Cup Series run by putting Justin Allgaier into the No. 40 Traveler Whiskey Chevrolet for the 2026 Daytona 500. JRM, which is owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller, leans on Xfinity dominance (105 wins, four titles) to make the Cup Series run successful.
This Daytona run is backed by Chris Stapleton’s award-winning “Traveller Whiskey.” Allgaier, who is still fresh off his 2024 Xfinity crown and a 2025 third-place run with three victories, brings duel-winning savvy to dodge Dayton’s chaos.
Kelley Earnhardt Miller beamed about the repeat: “Getting the opportunity to enter a second DAYTONA 500 is something that is extremely special to everyone at JR Motorsports. Last year was an amazing moment, and I’m very proud to be able to see this group come back together with the support of Chris Stapleton and Traveller Whiskey to go after it again in February.”
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Her excitement ties to the 2025 Daytona 500 thrill, where Allgaier clinically navigated through the tight pack to clinch a dramatic ninth-place finish. In 2025, JRM registered its inaugural run of the DAYTONA 500, proving JRM’s prep rivals full-timers. Stapleton’s blend, a 90-proof gem dubbed 2024’s top super-premium whiskey, mirrors the team’s craftsmanship, blending Earnhardt’s legacy with Allgaier’s 28 Xfinity triumphs.
Allgaier echoed the fire: “I’m honored to be able to have the chance to drive this Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet again for Dale, Kelley and all of JR Motorsports. Last year was such an incredible opportunity and experience, and I am really thankful that Chris Stapleton and Traveller wanted to come back and be a part of this again.”

For years, NASCAR drivers have eyed a crossover to the Australian Supercars Championship, with a few like Marcos Ambrose and Shane van Gisbergen showing that the jump is not just possible, it can be wildly successful. Supercars demand precision, heavy braking, and pack style touring car racecraft, a very different skill set from stock car ovals, but drivers with road racing or endurance backgrounds often thrive.
Now, after Austin Cindric recently landed a wildcard entry with Tickford Racing for the Adelaide Grand Final, the beast has got a taste of blood, and he wants more.
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Cindric craves Supercars
While talking with Apex Hunter United on their podcast, Austin Cindric, who has never been shy about wanting to test himself outside NASCAR, and his recent comments made it clear that a run in the Australian Supercars Championship is something he would take seriously if the schedule ever allowed it.
He said the “ideal scenario” would be simply having the time to try it, adding, “Still, at least put myself in a position to if I want to try it, I at least have a real-world experience of if I liked it… if I can do it… if I feel confident enough to do it.”
That mindset fits perfectly with his background, as Austin Cindric grew up racing everything from open-wheel cars to rallycross to IMSA sports cars. He has always believed that seat time across multiple disciplines makes a more complete driver, something echoed by many of his interviews over the years.
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One of the most telling moments came when Cindric joked about his past misfortune in unfamiliar series, saying he had “plain successful luck of breaking.”
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His comment reflects a real part of his early racing journey, the learning curve in sports cars included mechanical failures and hard lessons. He followed that by pointing to a modern example that proves why cross-disciplinary competition matters: “You have this clear example of a guy who you cannot ignore… the performance.” While he did not say the name, he was clearly referencing Shane van Gisbergen, whose immediate success in NASCAR in 2023 forced the entire industry to acknowledge the value of racing in multiple high-level categories.
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As he continued, Cindric said something that made his intentions even clearer: “Sometimes you just have to put things to bed… just do it for the sake of doing it.” That sense of unfinished business has followed Cindric for years. Long before he became a Daytona 500 winner, he was a driver who bounced between series searching for the next challenge. His comments show that the itch has not gone away.
And when he added, “As a series, a lot of us are already at that point,” he hinted at something broader, the sense among Cup drivers that NASCAR’s incredibly demanding 38-race schedule leaves almost zero room to compete elsewhere, even when they want to.
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Cindric made it clear that this was not just about enhancing his Cup performance. In fact, he said, “Forget about the Cup stuff… it is just… it is a skill set to continue to work on and want to have.” To him, running Supercars would be an exercise in broadening his racing identity, not chasing trophies. That mirrors how past NASCAR drivers like Jimmie Johnson approached ventures into IndyCar or sports cars. Supercars, with their street circuits, heavy cars, and elbows-out racing, would be a natural fit for someone with Cindric’s background.
Ultimately, Cindric wrapped his thoughts with the line that defined the entire discussion: “We just need more off weeks ’cause I would do it in a heartbeat. Maybe one day.” It was sincere, unfiltered, and reflective of a long-standing reality in NASCAR. The desire for global racing experiences exists, but the schedule keeps the door nearly shut.
His comment fits perfectly within the broader trend of Cup drivers wanting to step outside the series occasionally, if only the calendar would allow for it. It is the kind of honest itch that echoes through the garage, where even a Penske star like Ryan Blaney can look back on his own path and laugh at how the simplest steps, like getting behind the wheel legally, were not always a slam dunk.
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Ryan Blaney’s license story
The Blaney family is one of the most reputable racing dynasties in the United States. The family tree’s connection to speed began with George Blaney, who started a race team alongside his lumber business around the 1950s. It then passed on to Lou Blaney, then Dave Blaney, and now lives through Ryan Blaney.
But even this rich heritage has its limitations in the real world. Ryan, who now drives in the NASCAR Cup Series for Team Penske, spoke in an interview earlier this year about his struggles to obtain his driver’s license as a teenager. The instructor who guided him had been a race fan and knew the kind of family that he came from. So, things had been pretty exciting for him from that standpoint. However, the real struggle was elsewhere.
He said, “I think the toughest part of that one was the written test, you know, when you got to go in and… because that can be hard. Like, what does this sign mean? And you have never seen that sign in your life, and you are like, I do not know. But yeah, it was pretty easy, fortunately.” He did end up getting his license at the end of the day and preserving his family’s legacy in the town. Imagine a Blaney failing his driver’s license test.
Ryan talked about his family’s impact on him, “It came from my grandfather to my dad and my uncle. As a kid, I was lucky to see it at a young age. I was fortunate enough to have a shot at racing. As a kid, I wanted to do what dad did.”

RSS Racing, one of the longest-running family-owned and operated teams in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series garage, has confirmed its plans for the upcoming season, and it includes a couple of pretty significant changes.
The organization will continue to field a pair of full-time entries in NASCAR’s second-tier division in 2026, with older brother Ryan Sieg behind the wheel of the No. 39, and 24-year-old younger brother Kyle Sieg behind the wheel of the No. 28.
There will technically be no changes in the overall affiliation for the organization, which is owned by the Sieg family, as they remain aligned with Haas Factory Team (previously Stewart-Haas Racing). But a September announcement confirming a move to Chevrolet and Hendrick Engines for HFT means that both the No. 28 and No. 39 will be carrying Chevrolet badges in 2026.
SciAps will continue to serve as the full-season primary sponsor of Ryan Sieg’s No. 39 Chevrolet for the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series campaign. According to a graphic posted to social media by RSS Racing, Night Owl Companies, and Sustainachem are expected to partner on Kyle Sieg’s No. 28 Chevrolet for next season.
There is one major thing that, despite all of the changes happening within RSS Racing over the off-season, will remain the exact same for Ryan Sieg in 2026, that being his crew chief, Matt Noyce, who will continue to serve as the shot-caller of the No. 39. In two full seasons working with the Sieg family, Noyce has managed to amass seven top-fives and 19 top-10 finishes, while collecting a pair of top-15 points finishes.
Kyle Sieg and the No. 28 Chevrolet team will have a brand-new crew chief for the 2026 campaign, though, in the form of former JR Motorsports engineer Aedan McHugh. McHugh spent last season serving as the crew chief for the No. 70 Cope Family Racing team in the NASCAR Xfinity (O’Reilly Auto Parts) Series, working with up-and-coming young drivers Leland Honeyman and Thomas Annunziata (as well as a one-off with Will Rodgers).
In 400 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts, Ryan Sieg has recorded 23 total top-five and 75 top-10s, but still, after 13 years competing in the second-tier series, has yet to find Victory Lane despite several close calls.
Kyle Sieg came into the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series much later than his older brother Ryan, debuting in 2021 and making 114 total starts with four top-10 finishes. In the season-finale at Phoenix Raceway, while driving the No. 39 in place of his brother Ryan (who was filling in for a suspended Sam Mayer), Kyle had a breakout run inside the top-10, and finished in 12th.
With an official announcement made on Tuesday afternoon, Haas Factory Team will be fielding two NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series entries of its own, for Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer, while also providing support to Jeremy Clements Racing (Jeremy Clements) and RSS Racing (Ryan Sieg and Kyle Sieg).
The 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series campaign will begin on Saturday, February 14, 2026, at 5:00 PM ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
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As NASCAR gears up for the 2026 season, with the Daytona 500 kicking things off on February 15, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is taking center stage in many ways. But here, let’s talk about his marketing-savvy mind, which is suggesting to NASCAR ways to make the upcoming Daytona 500 as big an event as possible.
And Dale Jr. isn’t pointing far to look for ways; he spotted a gem of a word in Kevin Harvick’s recent podcast talks, and that word cuts straight to why teams and fans keep showing up despite the costs. It’s a nod to the raw drive that defines stock car racing, setting the stage for Daytona hype that feels real.
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Dale Jr. revives Harvick’s rally cry for NASCAR’s big show
Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t hold back on his Dirty Mo Media podcast, echoing Kevin Harvick’s simple yet powerful line from a recent episode: “Speaking of we race, so Kevin Harvick was, I don’t know if he’s talking on his podcast or something, but a couple of weeks ago, but he said that. He goes: ‘We race.’”
Harvick dropped those words in response to Mamba Smith’s comment about a driver’s tough season finale, where Smith noted, “They raced all year to put themselves in that position and have dominated their series and could not be the champion.” Harvick fired back with, “We race. We’re racing.”
A nod that NASCAR is not just any sport; it’s a sport where passions run deep, where drivers don’t race to earn money or deals, they race just to experience the thrill of high speed and even put their own life and money into doing so.
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Harvick’s two words were seen as a perfect slogan for the upcoming Daytona 500, and that’s why Dale Jr. latched onto it as the perfect tagline, especially after the “Hell Yeah” campaign fell flat amid conservative outcry from groups like One Million Moms, who slammed it as profane for family viewers.
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This isn’t just random praise from Dale Jr.; he sees “We race” as NASCAR’s antidote to fading sponsor money and team struggles. He recalled his dad’s passion projects, where Dale Earnhardt Sr. poured $80,000 of his own money into bush cars for $20,000 prize purses, just to hit the track. Today, with corporations pulling back their money, which results in a deficit for a driver, Dale Jr. stressed that the Daytona 500 lets teams make some profit if they get in the top ten.
“And Kelly says that, you know, why do we do what we do? We race; we’re racers. We wanna race,” he said, tying it to Kelly’s racer mindset. It’s a build on Harvick’s infamous edge, like his past shots at NASCAR’s priorities, urging NASCAR to return to its roots that excite without offending any conservatives.
Slogans stick because they fuel the fire. Think back to the “Winston Cup” era when its logo was present almost everywhere, from apparel (like hats and jackets) to merchandise and sometimes automotive parts (like license plates) that bear the NASCAR Winston Cup Series logo. And Dale Jr. wants “We race” to hype the 2026 opener in the same way, drawing crowds who crave that unfiltered rush over polished ads.
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By echoing Harvick before Daytona, he’s making NASCAR embrace and realize what keeps wheels turning, even when teams or drivers couldn’t make any money from the sport, and the reason is “We’re Racers.”
With eyes on the track, Dale Jr.’s words shift to his own team’s grind, where hope mixes with hard lessons from last year.
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Dale Jr. anxious for JRM’s 2026 Daytona push
JR Motorsports hit the inauguration Cup Series run in the 2025 Daytona 500, their first Cup shot without a charter, forcing driver Justin Allgaier into a nail-biting three-wide duel for the 9th spot in the No. 40 Chevy. And the next season, Dale Jr. is eyeing another run in the season opener, which is backed by sponsors like Traveller Whiskey.
They decided to race next season in the Cup Series despite their Chevrolet falling short of the title shot in the Xfinity finale this season. And Chevy rolling out new bodies for the Cup Series adds an extra layer of headaches for Dale Jr. because the new Chevy body is still not battle-tested in Cup Series races. Dale Jr., co-owner, felt the pinch, knowing one slip could sideline them from the iconic race.

The 2025 NASCAR Cup season was a standout year for many drivers and a forgettable campaign for many others.
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The guy with the most wins, Denny Hamlin (six wins), appeared headed for his first-ever Cup championship, only to fall two places short on the last lap of the season finale at Phoenix. And then the defending Cup champ Joey Logano – who earned two of the three previous crowns and three of the last eight titles – had a disappointing season that was very un-Logano-like.
Let’s take a look at five of this past season’s biggest surprises, followed by the five biggest disappointments:
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5 BIGGEST SURPRISES
Kyle Larson Comes From Virtually Nowhere to Win the Championship: Even though Kyle Larson qualified for the Championship Four final round in the season finale at Phoenix, Denny Hamlin, for many fans and observers, appeared to be the odds-on favorite to win the championship after an outstanding season, including a milestone 60 win of his Cup career.But Larson got a great jump on Hamlin in the final restart of the race (in overtime) and held on in the final lap to claim his second career Cup championship. But Larson did have one major disappointment, though: he crashed and failed to win the Indianapolis 500 for the second consecutive year. It potentially may be the last time Larson tries “The Double” for a long time, if ever again.
Bubba Wallace Wins The Brickyard 400: There’s an adage in NASCAR that any driver can win any race on any given day. But, realistically, how many fans, media, or opposing drivers could have anticipated that Bubba Wallace’s third career NASCAR Cup victory would come in one of the sport’s crown jewel events – and on the most iconic racetrack in the world, Indianapolis Motor Speedway?Not only was it the biggest win of Wallace’s eight full-time Cup seasons, but it also qualified him for the playoffs, where he’d finish 11 . It was also the only win of the season for any of 23XI Racing’s three drivers: Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Riley Herbst. Wallace proved that if he can win at Indy, he can win anywhere. Could the Daytona 500 be next for him, perhaps as early as the 2026 season opener?
Shane Van Gisbergen Dominates On Road Courses: In one of the best feel-good stories of the season, New Zealand native Shane Van Gisbergen won five of the six road course races on the Cup schedule: Mexico City, Chicago, Sonoma, Watkins Glen, and the Charlotte Roval. In fact, he didn’t just win those races; he dominated most of them.The only road course race he fell short at was Austin (finished sixth). SVG also made the playoffs. While he didn’t advance past the first round, he still finished a very respectable 12 in the final standings. He also earned his first top 10 finish on an oval (fall playoff race at Kansas).
New Address Brings Chase Briscoe a Career Season: If there were an award for being in the right place at the right time, Chase Briscoe would have won it hands down. Briscoe found himself without a ride for 2025 when Stewart-Haas Racing shut down operations after the 2024 season.But conveniently, Martin Truex Jr. decided to retire from Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of ’24 as well. That created an opening Briscoe filled with great aplomb, with single-season career highs for wins (three), top five (15) and top 10 (19) finishes, laps led (884), and reached the Championship Four for the first time in his career, ending 2025 with his best season finish ever (third place). To say Briscoe delivered a great return on investment to JGR is an understatement. We can’t wait to see what he does for an encore next season.
Ryan Blaney Turned First Half Misfortune Into Second Half Success: Ryan Blaney had a terrible first half of the season, recording five DNFs in the first 13 races. But from that point on, Blaney would turn lemons into sweet lemonade. He’d go on to earn all four of his season wins – including the season-ending race in Phoenix – even while accumulating three additional DNFs, made the playoffs, and ultimately finished sixth in the final standings.It’s rare that a driver can fail to finish nearly one-quarter of the 36 races on the Cup schedule and yet still end up so strongly. The key for Blaney was a simple one-word answer: consistency. In addition to his four wins, he also had 15 top-five and 19 top-ten showings.
And now, for the other half of the story …
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5 BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS
Denny Hamlin’s Failure to Win Championship: There was no bigger story of outstanding performance turned bitter misfortune this season than Denny Hamlin, who led all drivers with six wins, yet ultimately failed to win the Cup championship. Yet it was by no fault of his. Hamlin was cruising along and in command, three laps away from winning his first Cup championship. William Byron’s tire blew, and he wrecked, bringing out the caution.And then on the restart, Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kyle Larson, got the jump on Hamlin, and the rest is history: Larson won his second career Cup crown, while Hamlin is still seeking his first. What makes things even more heartbreaking is given that Hamlin turned 45 on November 18, what if this past season was his best – and last – chance at that elusive title?
Who is This Imposter – And What Have They Done With the Real Kyle Busch? It’s rare to see one of the most successful and prolific drivers and winners in the NASCAR Cup Series go from hero to zero so quickly. But alas, that’s what’s happened to Kyle Busch, yes, the same KB who is the winningest active driver in Cup (63 wins), plus two championships. It’s not like the 40-year-old Busch has forgotten how to win, but the stats would make it appear that way: he has not won a Cup race since 2023, a winless streak that has reached a career-worst 93 races.This year, he missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season, and recorded a career-worst of just three top five and ten top 10 finishes, ultimately finishing with another career-worst single season finish of 21 There’s really only been one other driver in recent memory that has suffered such a dramatic high-to-low decline: Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson, who after winning seven championship and 83 races, failed to win even once in his final 130 full-time starts (plus another 14 starts in part-time appearances the last three seasons).
If You Find Kyle Busch, Can You Also Find Brad Keselowski? Kyle Busch isn’t the only driver who has gone from being one of the most successful drivers to near-anonymity in recent years. Brad Keselowski finds himself in the same conversation. After winning the first 35 races of his Cup career, the 2012 Cup champion has won just once since becoming a co-owner and driver for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing (RFK Racing) in 2022. He’s also missed the playoffs in two of those last four seasons, including this year, when he finished a disappointing 20 , the third-worst season finish of his career.The 41-year-old Keselowski has been the target of critics who believe he’s spreading himself far too thin, basically handling most of the organization’s day-to-day responsibilities behind a desk, and then trying to remain competitive on race weekends behind the wheel. It would not be surprising if 2026 is Keselowski’s final full-time season in the Cup Series, as 83-year-old team founder Jack Roush likely continues to scale back from many of his former duties.
He Had All the Ingredients, but Joey Logano Just Couldn’t Cook in 2025: All good things must come to an end, and for three-time NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano, the end came in 2025. The Team Penske stalwart won the 2022 and 2024 Cup championships (along with his first title in 2018). But Team Penske’s domination of the last three Cup championships (teammate Ryan Blaney won in 2023) ended in 2025 with neither Logano nor Blaney making it to the Championship Four final round. It’s hard to believe that the 35-year-old Connecticut native just wrapped up his 17 full-time season in the Cup ranks.As disappointed as he was for not being a factor for the championship again (he won just one race and had only seven top-five showings), Logano may have history on his side heading into 2026: three times when he’s had a fair to mediocre season, he’s bounced back the following season to win the championship.Logano was 17 in 2017, only to win his first Cup crown in 2018. In 2021, he finished eighth, only to win his second title in 2022. And after finishing 12 in 2023, he won his third Cup championship in 2024. Will history repeat itself to allow Logano to bounce back for a fourth championship next season?
It’s Adios to Trackhouse Racing and Hola to Spire Motorsports for Daniel Suarez: It has been a rough few years for NASCAR’s first Mexican driver, Monterrey native Daniel Suarez, who just endured one of his worst seasons in his nine seasons in the Cup ranks. In 2025, he failed to win a race, managed just two top-five and seven top 10 finishes, failed to reach the Cup playoffs, and finished his final season with Trackhouse Racing with a disappointing 29th-place finish in the final season standings.The two-time Cup winner now heads with a great deal of optimism to Spire Motorsports for a fresh start, but there’s a significant concern about Suarez and his new team: This will be his fifth team in his 10-year Cup career. It’s also just a one-year contract with Spire, essentially a “prove it” deal to see what Suarez can do with the team. The pressure will be on him. How Suarez handles that pressure could well determine his future – if there is one to be going forward – in NASCAR.
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Sunday afternoon used to belong to NASCAR. Back in the good ol’ days, the stock car racing series dominated TV viewership, with fans glued to their screens to watch the likes of Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jeff Gordon dominate the racetracks. But something has shifted in recent years. If the 2025 Cup Series campaign is anything to go by, the numbers paint a pretty bleak picture, with viewership taking a significant decline. The culprit might surprise you, as it all comes down to the new media rights deal, which has shaken up the sport big time.
And even the most high-stakes playoff races couldn’t draw the crowd. The Round of 12 opener at New Hampshire drew just 1.29 million viewers, down a shocking 31% from the same race last year. But the story goes deeper than just a bad time slot. And one question prevails: what’s going on? Is it just the backlash of shifting networks and streaming platforms? One NASCAR insider may know the answer to this.
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Jordan Bianchi reveals the reason behind the TV decline
Speaking on the Kenny Wallace podcast, Jordan Bianchi broke it down. He said, “Yeah. I mean, there it’s so multi-layered, right? This is like the biggest onion ever with all these. You have to have a streaming component to your..if you’re going to be a sports league now. Like, you have to have a streaming component. That is the future. You have to be on board with that. Pick a sports league, pick a major sports league, and they’re going to have a streaming element to them. NASCAR was slow to adapt to that.”
The core of the argument is that NASCAR was slow to fully embrace streaming, even though the future of major sports leagues is increasingly online. As Bianchi points out, any big league today needs to have a streaming component. While NASCAR did make deals, for instance, Amazon Prime Video now streams five races a year.
But simply having a presence on a streaming service hasn’t been enough to compensate for its declining linear TV audience. In 2025, NASCAR’s Cup Series saw a 14% drop in average viewership compared to 2024. That suggests that just migrating a streaming platform isn’t a silver bullet, especially when access becomes fragmented across too many platforms.
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Moreover, the way NASCAR has fragmented its broadcast rights is creating friction rather than driving growth. This year, its races were spread across six different outlets, from Amazon Prime to FS1 to FOX, USA Network, NBC, and TNT via Max. That patchwork model confuses viewers, particularly casual or newer fans who don’t know where to tune in.
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This may be pushing fans away, even while younger viewers are gradually adopting the Prime Video broadcasts. In short, NASCAR is technically on board with streaming, but it hasn’t nailed the strategy just yet, and its slow pivot may be hurting its reach more than helping. However, NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell expected this to happen.
But at the end of the day, NASCAR’s ultimate rival is the NFL. In further revealing how the NASCAR TV viewership is affected, Bianchi said, “The other part of that is too; let’s not ignore the elephant in the room. It’s the NFL. The NFL is extremely popular. The NFL and it’s never been more popular than ever before. The numbers for games continue to rise almost on a yearly basis. And so, it’s hard to go against that. And NASCAR largely does hold its own on Sundays. Like, they do deliver a very good number where outside of the NFL, they’re often the number two most-watched sport. So, that’s something to hang your hat on. But there is a ways to go to get that number even higher.”
NFL remains undefeated. The recent NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway pulled in 1.41 million viewers, making it the second most-watched sporting event of the weekend, just behind NFL coverage. Even in tighter viewership periods, NASCAR remains a cable powerhouse. The Bristol Night Race averaged 1.536 million viewers, registering as the number two sport on cable behind football. However, NASCAR isn’t here to be number two and still has a long way to go to bring up its numbers. And Bianchi may know the solution behind the decline.
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Bianchi identifies the root cause of the problem
With the playoff format still being debated and gatekept, the Insider blames the current system for the decline in viewership. Bianchi directly points to NASCAR’s long schedule and its disastrous overlap with the NFL as a major reason the sport is losing viewership. Speaking on the Teardown podcast, alongside fellow journalist Jeff Gluck, Jordan Bianchi didn’t hold back.
Bianchi bluntly says, “38 races, 36 points races, plus 2 exhibitions, is a lot. I am going to reduce the schedule by (removing) second dates at Las Vegas, Kansas, Phoenix, Darlington, Bristol, Atlanta and Martinsville. That puts us down to 29 races. I then would have a floating 30th date somewhere that will be something different, whether that’s Montréal or Mexico City or whatever else.”
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Fewer races would reduce fan fatigue and also help NASCAR avoid competing against football every fall weekend. The point is clear: NASCAR cannot expect to maintain its status as the second most-watched sport if it keeps placing its biggest playoff events directly against the NFL’s Sunday domination.
Moreover, Binachi wants a trimmed, streamlined calendar. He added, “ We’re also going to move the (season opening) Clash back to Daytona… We talk a lot about how we want to give races a big feel… having the Clash at Daytona, I think we’ll do that.”
Another contributing factor, the elimination-style playoff system, and now, as NASCAR scrambles to piece together a new one for next year, the fans are eagerly waiting for an update on it.

All the pieces of the puzzle are finally coming together now. Over the last week, NASCAR has been enjoying its time in Japan. With the exhibition race held at Fuji Speedway, Toyota’s CEO has welcomed the American motorsport with wide arms. Whether it’s taking a spin in John Hunter Nemechek’s No. 42 NASCAR car or getting a fresh click and practically fanboying over the Garage 56 Chevrolet 24 Hours of Le Mans car, Toyoda has surely been on top of things.
Toyota announced a massive $912 million boost to its US manufacturing operations on Tuesday, just days after CEO Akio Toyoda made headlines for hosting a red, white, and blue NASCAR celebration in Japan. All while wearing a Trump-Vance and a red MAGA hat, and there’s a good reason behind it.
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Akio Toyoda clears the air amid his support for Trump
Before the endurance race took place, the CEO of Toyota said, “I’m not here to argue whether tariffs are good or bad. Every national leader wants to protect their own industry. We are exploring ways to make tariffs a winner for everyone. The people we want most to be winners are our customers.” Under the new trade terms reached in September, Japan now faces a roughly 15% baseline tariff on auto imports, down from 27.5%.
For years, media conglomerates and tech giants have tiptoed around Donald Trump, quietly settling lawsuits and doing just enough to avoid becoming his next target. Most corporations keep this dance hidden, terrified of sparking political backlash. But Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda broke the unspoken rule spectacularly, stepping straight into the Trump controversy with a bold, very public display of MAGA alliance.
The star-spangled Sunday event at Fuji Speedway delivered American motorsports flair, featuring top NASCAR drivers, fans waving US flags, and even an appearance from US Ambassador to Japan George Glass. Toyoda used the high-profile moment and his unmistakably bold pro-Trump wardrobe to touch on the simmering trade concerns between the US and Japan.
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Ambassador Glass posted photos from the event, captioned, “Start your engines!” alongside images of himself with the grandson of Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda. Glass added that he looks forward to celebrating American motorsports again next year as part of the US 250th anniversary festivities planned in Japan.
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On Tuesday, Toyota, the No. 2 seller of new vehicles in the US behind GM, revealed its nearly $1 billion investment aimed at expanding hybrid vehicle production across the southern United States.
Toyota’s showcase ties into its broader commitment to expand operations in the United States, a plan that President Trump disclosed last month could see the company invest as much as $10 billion by 2030. Much of that spending is slated to wrap up by 2027.
The automaker already dominates the hybrid landscape, holding more than half of the US market through the third quarter, per Motor Intelligence. Now, Toyota aims to push production even further by ramping up hybrid engine and vehicle output at select American plants.
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Kevin Voelkel, the company’s senior vice president of manufacturing operations, said, “Customers are embracing Toyota’s hybrid vehicles, and our US manufacturing teams are gearing up to meet that growing demand. Toyota’s philosophy is to build where we sell, and by adding more American jobs and investing across our US footprint, we continue to stay true to that philosophy.”
The single largest commitment in this investment package is $453 million for Toyota’s Buffalo, West Virginia, plant, which will scale the production of hybrid-compatible four-cylinder engines. Another $204.4 million will go to the Georgetown, Kentucky, facility for similar engine expansion.
Toyota is allocating $125 million to increase Corolla production and add hybrid capacity at its Blue Springs, Mississippi, plant. Additional funds include $71.4 million for the Jackson, Tennessee, facility and $57.1 million for the Troy, Missouri, plant. Altogether, the organization expects the new investments to generate 252 additional US jobs. But as Toyoda won the hearts of the American Motorsports fans, Jimmie Johnson and JHN couldn’t help but piece up a return gift for “Morizo”.
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LMC drivers leave a heartwarming gift for Akio Toyoda
The Super Taikyu Series finale at Fuji Speedway last weekend became more than just the closing chapter of Japan’s top-end endurance championship. The weekend transformed itself into an unexpected cultural exchange when six NASCAR stock cars took the wheel at the historic circuit as part of the USA motorsport culture introduction demo run. Yet even amid the spectacle, it was seven-time Cup Series champion and Legacy Motor Club owner Jimmie Johnson’s thoughtful gesture towards Toyota chairman that drew equal attention.
Toyoda emerged as one of the day’s standout participants. Wearing his TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Rookie fire suit, he climbed into a Chevrolet before venturing out in several machines, encouraged in part by gifts from Johnson. The 50-year-old driver handed him a signed helmet and a bottle of Frank August Kentucky bourbon, while JHN added a second autographed helmet to the haul. This symbolizes gratitude and an extended way of saying thank you.
Since debuting in 1991, the series has functioned as Japan’s prime proving ground for production-based cars and cutting-edge concepts like Toyota’s hydrogen-powered GR Corolla H2. Then the NASCAR demonstration only expanded that mission, highlighting Toyoda’s push for sustainable innovation and deepening global collaboration in racing.

The debate that has dragged on for years seems to be reaching its breaking point. For what feels like forever, NASCAR’s biggest names and longtime veterans have been pushing the sport to restore meaningful practice time. Last month, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed he’s been hearing rumblings that the sport may bring back additional on-track practice for the 2026 season. And with a new update popping up, could stock car racing fans finally be getting what they wanted?
Ever since the sanctioning body slashed sessions down to a mere 20 minutes in 2022, teams have been left scrambling, trying to devise setups, gather data, and fine-tune performance with almost no runway before Sunday’s green flag. Now, with the rumor mill spinning faster than ever, a potential shift is gaining momentum, and fans are already rallying behind the possibility of a long-awaited change.
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NASCAR rumor claims that practice time has doubled
Recently, a bold NASCAR fan took to Instagram, writing a simple, “I’ve heard from a few people now that the Cup Series could be looking at more 50-minute practice sessions in 2026, instead of two 25-minute sessions.” That was enough to send the NASCAR community into a frenzy. But this isn’t the first time such a rumor has made its rounds.
Last month, on the episode of the Dale Jr. Download, while nothing is confirmed, Dale Jr. said he had heard credible whispers about expanding practice windows. Junior shared, “Also, hearing a little rumor, there could be a little more practice back on the schedule next year. . . I’m hearing this more so in Xfinity, that there’s just conversations around, ‘Should we have more weekends [that] there are more practice?’”
For now, any plans for extending sessions remain unofficial. As the 51-year-old emphasized, it’s still “a conversation” rather than a done deal. But based on what he’s been told, NASCAR is at least exploring the idea of adding more track time at select events, potentially limited to the 2026 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and perhaps the Craftsman Truck Series. This could be a major win for drivers entering NASCAR from other disciplines, as the extended practice time will give them more time to acclimatize to the stock car racing format, especially the ovals.
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Junior strongly backed the idea, noting that Xfinity and Truck Series drivers, many of whom are new to these cars and often racing at unfamiliar tracks, desperately need more laps, even if it comes with extra costs. He added, “Our Truck drivers, our Xfinity drivers, they need the laps. . . we’ve got a lot of guys that are going into these cars that haven’t driven them before, that are going to racetracks they’ve never raced before, and they’re getting 10, 20 minutes of practice.”
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Over the years, NASCAR has dramatically reshaped its pre-race routine. Gone are the days of long practice sessions, qualifying rounds, and a full happy hour. In their places are condensed, cost-efficient systems. Currently, the NASCAR Cup Series runs a two-group format with 25 minutes per group. The Xfinity and Truck Series get an additional 25 minutes when visiting road courses, completing a 50-minute full-field session. Across all three series, there is no practice at superspeedways, except for the Daytona 500.
While fans crave more on-track action, many within the sport point to the necessity of extra practice for less experienced drivers, particularly those transitioning from other racing disciplines. Shane Van Gisbergen, for example, has mastered road courses but has faced a steep learning curve on ovals, improving only as he’s gained more track time. And now, with the rumor making rounds, NASCAR fans are praying that it comes true.
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NASCAR fans immediately welcome practice rumors
As rumors of expanded practice time for 2026 spread through the NASCAR community, fans wasted no time sounding off, and for me, the reaction was immediate relief. One fan summed up the long-standing frustration, saying, “Good. Cutting practice time hasn’t saved the teams any money, but certainly made the full weekend experience at the track worse.” Another echoed that sentiment even more bluntly with a simple, “About time.” After years of condensed sessions and rushed data gathering, supporters feel the sport is finally listening.
Beyond the emotional side, fans also pointed out the practical shortcomings of NASCAR’s current format. One viewer laid it out clearly, “I think my main issue was 25 minutes give or take a few red flags wasn’t really enough to learn anything. I get we want to cut costs, but it just felt kinda pointless if it wasn’t 30-50 minutes.” Others agreed that any increase in track time, whether for veterans or newcomers, would immediately make races more meaningful. As another put it, “Good. A step in the right direction.”
And while some comments were straightforward, others carried the excitement of a long-awaited change finally gaining traction. One fan celebrated the rumor outright, writing, “More practice is a very good thing. I hope this happens.” Another kept it short and spirited: “Happy 50 Minutes.” Together, the reactions paint a clear picture. Fans overwhelmingly support the return of fuller practice sessions and believe the sport has been overdue for this course correction.

During his 2025 Xfinity campaign, Jeb Burton seemed to be pushing uphill with worn-out boots. One week, he flashed real promise, like that gritty runner-up at Talladega. However, he was buried in the pack the next, battling a car that simply wouldn’t give him what he needed. At the most inconvenient times, mechanical issues appeared. Lady Luck simply wasn’t on his side.
Burton’s season gradually transitioned from “rebound year” to “survival mode” as mid-pack speed became a recurrent motif. His 14th-place result demonstrated that he was a driver who was tough but not always equipped. As Burton failed to qualify for the postseason, rumors were circulating about his time in NASCAR coming to an end. However, there is good news as we begin the new season: Burton will be back for another opportunity to prove himself.
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Jeb Burton stays put with Jordan Anderson Racing
Jordan Anderson Racing (JAR) Bommarito Autosport issued a clear statement about its plans for 2026: Jeb Burton will return to the No. 27 Chevrolet for a fourth consecutive season. A statement by team owner Jordan Anderson said, “We are thrilled to have Jeb back in the No. 27 for 2026,” emphasizing that the driver brings experience, work ethic, and leadership inside the shop with his presence.
Burton echoed that enthusiasm, calling the opportunity meaningful. “It means a lot to be returning to Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport for a fourth season. My focus is to contend for wins and compete for a championship in 2026,” he said.
Stability is important for a team that is still developing its long-term identity in the sport, and Burton has emerged as their go-to anchor. His relationship with the team has strengthened since joining in 2023, even though results haven’t always matched effort. The 2025 season is a perfect example of that. Despite showing pace, Burton managed just one top five, had 2 DNFs, and zero poles in the 33 races. Plus, he missed out on qualifying for the postseason due to an apparent tire failure that caused him to hit the wall, ending his race and eliminating him from contention.
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Regardless of setbacks, the team has improved upon the previous season. His time with JAR includes a defining moment: the 2023 win at Talladega, a landmark triumph that delivered the organization its first (and still only) victory in the Xfinity (now O’Reilly Auto Parts) Series.
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The supporters are still moved by that victory, which serves as a reminder of what Burton and the squad can accomplish when everything works together. The No. 27 continues to be the team’s reliable foundation going into the upcoming season, even though the rest of the 2026 driver lineup has not yet been revealed.
At the end of it all, Jeb Burton’s return announcement triggered a surprising shift online. Conversations began bubbling up across social platforms, and a theme emerged: fans are excited to see what Jeb Burton and JAR can achieve in the upcoming season.
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Fans rally behind Burton
Despite all the highs and lows Jeb Burton experienced in 2025, the response to his comeback was largely favorable. Given how Burton and Jordan Anderson Racing have subtly improved their strengths over the previous several seasons, many fans viewed the renewal as a wise decision for both teams. It was all aptly summed up in one comment by a fan.
“Seems like Jeb and JAR have been steadily improving over the past few years. He almost made the playoffs last year ahead of some big teams.” And that wasn’t hyperbole. Late in the year, Jeb Burton was locked in a tense battle with his cousin, Harrison Burton, for a postseason berth. He was just 31 points shy of Harrison. Both drivers failed to score any points at WWT Raceway, which led to Jeb (and Harrison) ultimately missing out.
Others praised Burton for being one of the drivers who occasionally demonstrates exceptional skill and doesn’t hesitate to take advantage of opportunities. Of course, that aggressiveness has sparked hate for the driver, especially after the October Talladega ‘Big One’ crash caused by him. Burton dove low under Brandon Jones with inches to spare, made contact, and chaos erupted, eliminating a handful of drivers. “He’s legit one of the best underdogs right now, and people only hate him because he’s not afraid to he aggressive at times,” one fan said.
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On the other hand, some argue that it’s exactly what makes Burton genuinely entertaining. As one fan noted, “He’s a midcarder, but he’s fun to watch and has real speed sometimes.” His eight top-tens and a runner-up finish at Talladega in the spring race in the 2025 season prove the point.
But beyond the praise for Burton, another conversation kept reappearing: the future of the No. 31 car. One fan commented, “Good to see Jeb come back! Now to see who lands in the #31 next year…..” while another asked, “Do we think Perkins won’t be back?” Most expect him back. However, with no official announcement yet, speculation continues to swirl. Are you excited about Jeb Burton’s return? Do let us know in the comments.

Last Friday, Chevrolet unveiled a refreshed Camaro ZL1. It will make its competition debut in 2026 in the NASCAR Cup Series. Some of the changes would include a larger hood dome, revisions to the front grille, and redefined rocker panels. The ZL1 debuted in NASCAR in 2018 and changed in 2020, when it was updated to the ZL1 1LE version, and also in 2022 with the Next-Gen car introduction.
However, the Next-Gen car has not experienced the same growth as the Chevy body. Fans and drivers alike have mounted protests and diatribes against the countless faults of the car, with NASCAR mostly turning a deaf ear. But now, the time is ripe for the sanctioning body to change its approach.
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Demands ring out in the NASCAR garage
NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell appeared on a Dale Jr Download episode in October. His words about the Next-Gen car sounded like music to many fans and drivers’ ears. “We’re always open to changes,” O’Donnell said. “The one piece I really look at, and I think our group does, we have this car and some things contained from a cost standpoint, but what does everyone really like? The ability to tweak the car and find an advantage to do something cool. What’s the next iteration of that? Now that we have the parts and pieces long term, maybe we look at race teams are making some parts again.”
When the Next-Gen car debuted, it stripped teams’ competitive ability to tweak their cars. Single-spec parts became the norm to raise the parity in the field. The wider tires and larger brakes make the cars more grippy in tight corners. This prevents the car from sliding around turns as much as its predecessors did. Hence, drivers can pass less. It also appears to enhance the dirty air on short tracks like Martinsville and Bristol, although Goodyear’s tires have made a significant improvement this year.
Due to all these challenges, the NASCAR garage is getting impatient with the executive body. Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, highlighted the topic of parity. “The more we’re the same, the harder it is to be different. Everyone at this level is really good at driving these cars…When the track gets rubbered, it becomes really difficult to do something different than the guy ahead of you since he’s in the optimal line.”
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Adam Stevens, crew chief for Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Toyota, had the same opinion as Elliott. “Throughout the history of the sport, at least in my time, somebody has a hot hand and someone doesn’t. You can be on the leading edge of the development curve, and everyone catches up and you have to get back to work. It creates comers and goers, and fast cars and slow cars, people on the way up and down, with more areas in which to compete.” Other drivers and crew chiefs also chipped in with similar opinions, highlighting how change is paramount.
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Earlier, NASCAR made changes to the cars year after year, except for short intervals. However, in the 4 years of the Gen 7, no significant aero/performance changes actually happened. That was until NASCAR announced the horsepower boost for 2026. The car will jump from the 670 HP used since 2022 to 750 HP for ovals shorter than 1.5 miles and road courses.
This short step has intensified the demand for more subsequent steps. And tests are underway.
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Charting a game plan
On November 12th, RFK Racing participated in a test at Bristol Motor Speedway. Interestingly, fans thought that the rear diffuser was missing in this test. This is a Next-Gen part that Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and others have advocated for removal. However, NASCAR mechanic Bozi Tatarevic noted that the diffuser used had already been in place for road courses and short tracks. That marks a change in the right direction nonetheless. And driver Ryan Preece, who was part of the test, dropped some optimistic comments about this endeavor.
RFK Racing posted on X: “Good morning from Bristol, baby 🫡 @RyanPreece_is rolling out the RFK TeK Alliance test car for day one of tire testing.” The No. 60 Ford driver then shared his thoughts about the 500-lap test. “We just got done testing here at Bristol Motor Speedway. I feel like I did 500 laps,” he said. “It was pretty cold. But yeah, all done for Day 1 testing here at Bristol. I feel like finding the right direction. So, excited about it.”
Next, NASCAR will head to North Wilkesboro for further testing. At the iconic 0.635-mile track, it will consider making technical adjustments to the car to enhance racing and increase passing opportunities. Steve O’Donnell said that discussions are open with drivers, OEMs, Crew chiefs, and others to test at North Wilkesboro, and they will “see what happens.”
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Hopefully, the turnout will be something positive for the sport. Let’s wait and see what changes await the Next-Gen car in 2026.

“NASCAR wants to (but cannot) have it differently on each side of the same coin — heads we win, tails you lose.” This was Judge Kenneth D. Bell’s cutting statement in a NASCAR lawsuit hearing earlier this month. It marked a loss for NASCAR, as the sanctioning body countered its own stance in defining its marketplace. While the final trial is still two weeks away, the earlier hearing may have set the stage for it.
Since October 2024, Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Bob Jenkins’ Front Row Motorsports have been engaged in a courtroom battle with NASCAR. And the objectives of their lawsuit involve making a deep impact on Jim France’s sport – something that may come to pass, according to an insider.
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The NASCAR lawsuit is ready to derail the system
In a recent video on Kenny Wallace’s YouTube channel, John Roberts asked Jordan Bianchi a pressing question. If NASCAR loses the lawsuit, what will happen? The Athletic reporter replied, “They could theoretically be ordered to sell the tracks that they own. The judge could theoretically rip up the charter agreement. Now, he may institute some other level of a charter system, but he also could just say, “This charter system’s gone. You’re going to have to start from scratch.” The teams that have paid many millions of dollars for charters would theoretically be out of that money. And that could potentially impact TV contracts.”
Since last year, Michael Jordan‘s faction has been trying to prove that NASCAR holds the power in “premier stock car racing”. One of the ways in which Jim France and Co. exercise this power is through the charter system. Charters, valued anywhere from $30 million to $50 million apiece, come with guarantees in revenue and starting spots in races. And the hearing in early November was a significant blow for the sanctioning body in this regard. The jury trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 1 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
And then Jordan Bianchi painted a picture of the alternative outcome. The NASCAR lawsuit may end up in Michael Jordan and Co.’s defeat, and the consequences are no prettier. “It’s fair to say that those teams are likely not going to be around anymore. They’re out of their six charters, which they have paid millions of dollars for, and they will be reimbursed for that. I believe they would be reimbursed for that, but they would be effectively out of the business…Both teams have said that if we don’t have Charters, we’re not going to race. And so NASCAR then is going to lose two teams.”
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Therefore, the clock is ticking for the NASCAR lawsuit. Judge Bell has repeatedly urged the parties to settle before Dec. 1, saying the potential ramifications of a trial could be detrimental for all involved, including the case winner. And NASCAR is already preparing for the aftermath.
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No visible end to the tussle
The NASCAR lawsuit has divulged several bitter moments between both sides. Ranging from revealing controversial text messages to personal attacks on individual entities, the animosity has been great. So Jordan Bianchi is not so keen on the possibility of a settlement. “All being said, you would hope that cooler heads will prevail and that they will come to a settlement. But I’ve been saying that for the last year since this lawsuit was filed, and here we are, about three weeks away from the trial date, and we still have no settlement. So, I have no idea.”
What’s more, NASCAR is already preparing for the worst outcome, signaling further bitter exchanges. Should it lose the trial, Jim France would appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Its statement read, “NASCAR looks forward to proving that it became the leading motorsport in the United States through hard work, risk-taking, and many significant investments over the past 77 years. The antitrust laws encourage this, and NASCAR has done nothing anticompetitive in building the sport from the ground up since 1948. … NASCAR believes in the charter system and will continue to defend it from 23XI and Front Row’s efforts to claim that the charter system itself is anticompetitive.”
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Clearly, the journey ahead is going to be a long and rocky one for the NASCAR lawsuit. Let’s wait and see how it all unfolds.

In the NASCAR world, fans doubt there will be any other race in NASCAR history that carries the charisma of the November 1992 Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. That race is remembered as the defining moment in NASCAR history because it had everything a fan could dream of, from a multiple-driver championship battle to the passing of legacies.
The drama, the fuel-mileage tension, lead-lap strategy, and emotional farewells, all these things made the race a once-in-a-lifetime storyline that turned it into NASCAR’s most iconic finale. Let’s dive into why the race continues to hold its iconic status after 33 years.
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Championship fireworks and farewell flames
Even decades later, fans break down why the 1992 Hooters 500 stands unmatched. Is it because six drivers like Alan Kulwicki, Bill Elliott, Davey Allison, Mark Martin, Harry Gant, and Kyle Petty had a shot at the title that season? Maybe yes, for some. But the main reason that the Hooters 500 became so memorable in the fans’ eyes was that it was Richard Petty‘s final NASCAR Cup Series start, and it was the first Cup Series start for Jeff Gordon. That race saw one era end with the beginning of the next era.
That season, the title was won by underdog Alan Kulwicki, which is another reason why the race is still fresh in fans’ memories. Davey Allison entered the race with a 30-point lead, and he just needed a decent finish to grab the title, but he wrecked on 285 laps and could not finish the race. Bill Elliott took the checkered flag but finished 10 points shy of Kulwicki in the closest points battle.
Jeff Gordon captured the electric vibe in a 2022 reflection: “I certainly recognized the significance for me to be part of it because of what I was seeing. Everything was about Richard’s final race, watching him walk through the garage area. Everywhere he went he was just mobbed by cameras, media and fans.”
As a wide-eyed rookie with a strange mustache in his early 20s, Gordon felt the crushing pressure during pre-race meetings, which were packed with celebrities like Burt Reynolds. Gordon’s own nerves were high because of the importance of this race. Maybe it was that pressure that made him crash out on Lap 164 after a pit blunder, and he finished 31st.
Petty’s final day added heart-pounding glamor to the event, literally. Starting 39th in his No. 43 Pontiac, he tangled in a Lap 95 pileup with Ken Schrader and others; his car burst into flames as he slid into the grass. Petty came back on the track to finish all the laps slowly just for the fans who came to watch him race, and that earned him fans’ lap-by-lap ovations. And maybe that’s why he is called the King.
He later took a witty take on his car catching fire: “I wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. Well, I went out in a blaze, but I forgot the glory part.” That fiery moment in his last race may have been his NASCAR 1184 start in a nutshell: “hot like a fire.” And who can forget Kulwicki’s crew chief, Paul Andrews, who calculated the fuel so precisely that the No. 7 barely made it to the finish without running dry?”
The race’s raw drama and even Apache helicopters working as safety vehicles sealed the race spot as the most iconic race.
Now, thirty-three years later, that race still has a grip because it was the last classic Atlanta oval run, giving rise to questions like what-ifs after Kulwicki and Allison’s tragic 1993 crashes. Documentaries like NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed replay Bob Jenkins calling, “Alan Kulwicki is the 1992 Winston Cup Champion!” as proof of a race that redefined unforgettable.
As Petty waved goodbye in Hooter 500, one young driver’s spark lit the path forward.
Gordon ignites NASCAR’s next chapter
Gordon arrived at the Hooter 500 as an immature kid from Indiana, with experience in open-wheel from USAC midgets. His early aggressive laps passed known veterans, which showed his fire in the first race itself, which defined his rise.
Just two years later, in the 1994 Coca-Cola 600, crew chief Ray Evernham gambled on a two-tire stop to steal victory from Rusty Wallace, saying, “It wasn’t really a gamble… We really didn’t have any choice; sometimes you’ve just gotta go for it. If you can’t beat ‘em one way, you have to beat ‘em another. I just can’t believe this.” That call balanced Gordon’s Chevy just right under caution, which let him hold off the field for his first Cup win and proved his blend of speed and smarts.
From there, Gordon exploded into NASCAR as a “Wonder Boy,” racking up 93 victories and four titles over 25 years, third all-time in wins. He echoed Evernham’s decision post-race, stating, “Two was the absolute best decision… We didn’t need a full fuel load, and the two rights actually balanced the car and kept me fast. We weren’t about to beat Rusty otherwise. Nobody was; he was that good all night. But sometimes the fastest car doesn’t win.” Gordon accepted the savvy decision of his crew chief and made it clinch a victory over Rusty Wallace.
In later years, Gordon’s polished image and his sharp business mind drew new crowds, which helped in growing the sport from regional roots to a global audience.
And it all started from a scratchy yet aggressive start at that 1992 Atlanta race, where he marked the beginning of a new era with Hendrick Motorsports.

The Jeremy Clements Racing and Haas Factory Team partnership is set to reshape the mid-tier field of NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2026. For the first time in 15 years, the family-owned No. 51 team will not be working alone.
Jeremy Clements Racing (JCR) confirmed Monday that it has formed a technical alliance with the Haas Factory Team (HFT), marking its biggest upgrade since entering the series. The announcement came through JCR’s official X account with a post reading, “O, O, O here we Go! Big News!”
For a team known for working on tight budgets and doing everything in-house, this move connects them to full factory support, advanced equipment, and a brand-new home base in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
Details of the Agreement
Under the deal, Jeremy Clements Racing will move into HFT’s facility and operate with full Chevrolet backing. Haas Factory Team is switching from Ford to Chevrolet engines in 2026, meaning both teams will share data, engines, and development tools.
“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 noted.”
Jeremy Clements Racing has spent years piecing together equipment, engines, and personnel, often relying on family knowledge and small-shop work. With this partnership, they will now have access to resources used by top-tier organizations.
Why the Jeremy Clements Racing Haas Partnership Matters
Beyond performance gains, the partnership gives Jeremy Clements Racing long-term security in a sport where costs keep rising. The collaboration will strengthen their development pipeline and align with their goals as they continue to build a presence in the Xfinity-level series.
For Jeremy Clements Racing, the alliance arrives at a perfect time. The No. 51 team, which finished 23rd in 2025, but with improved chassis and aero support from Haas, now has a better chance at consistently running inside the top 20 and making a playoff push.
The Sponsors Behind the Move
Clements made it clear that the team’s longtime partners kept the organization alive long enough to reach this moment.
“Our sponsors have always had our backs, and honestly, we wouldn’t be here without them,” he said. “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. We couldn’t have done it without all of them. They’re the reason this partnership came together.”
More teams across the series are leaning into partnerships like this to stay competitive. On the same day Jeremy Clements Racing made its announcement, Viking Motorsports revealed a deeper alliance with Richard Childress Racing.
With manufacturer changes, electric testing, and international expansion on NASCAR’s radar, alliances like this are becoming necessary. The 2026 season opener at Daytona is still months away, but all eyes will be on how far the No. 51 can climb with factory-grade support powering their next chapter.

Tim Kuniskis made a promise to the NASCAR industry and fans that Ram’s return to the sport would not be done quietly, but with bold, exciting intentions.
On Monday, the manufacturer announced another way to deliver on that promise with the unveiling of the Free Agent Program for its Craftsman Truck Series efforts. The No. 25 entry, one of five for Ram anchor team Kaulig Racing, will put a different driver behind the wheel each weekend, and one that will not be revealed until the week of the race.
“There are 20 million fans of NASCAR, but a large percentage of that is in the Cup Series; it doesn’t necessarily transfer back down to the Truck Series,” Tim Kuniskis, the CEO of Ram, told RACER. “Some of it is the time of the weekend that it’s on and things like that, but it never made sense to me because there are synergies between the two series, and the fact that 50 percent of the fans drive a truck. I never really understood why there wasn’t more engagement in the Truck Series.
“I said, ‘You know what, that’s our challenge.’ Our challenge is that we’re going to be in the series, at least for the first year, exclusively, and we need to create more fan engagement in the Truck Series. That’s where the free agent (idea) came from.”
The conversation started early in Ram planning out its return to NASCAR, including understanding how much the sport has changed in the last 12 years. The advice started flowing in, some of which made Ram nervous but didn’t scare it away. One of the things that came up right away was opinions on how many trucks Ram should field.
To be competitive, the thoughts ranged from the number absolutely needing to be two trucks, to how Ram would be crazy if they tried to do it with anything less than six.
The sweet spot landed at three full-time teams for Kaulig Racing with Brenden Queen, Daniel Dye, and Justin Haley, and then two additional entries. One of those will be the free agent truck, while plans for the fifth truck are still to be announced.
“It’s not 36 drivers on the grid,” Kuniskis said. “There are probably 400 that NASCAR and someone the caliber of Kaulig Racing would say, ‘This is a driver who is qualified to compete,’ and for whatever reason, maybe they’re retired from NASCAR, maybe they’re in a different form of motorsports, or in something else, and they are not on the grid or in the Truck Series. We said, ‘What if we could bring them in and every single week have a different driver?’
“Maybe it’s 25 drivers, maybe it’s 18 drivers, and some of them do it more than once, and things like that. Could we expand the reach and the engagement of the Truck Series? We all agreed it would be really cool and really fun. Holy (expletive), can we actually do this, though? So, we said, ‘You know what, we’re going to try it.’”
Kuniskis hopes one way the program drives engagement is through fan response. Not only in how it plays out, but also in its reach among fans who want to see their favorite driver participate.
The driver announcement for race weekend will take place on Monday of race week. Kuniskis admitted that some drivers have already come calling about the opportunity since word around the NASCAR garage travels fast.
The entry will not be chasing points or a championship. Ram will have its own point system for drivers of the No. 25 entry, based on individual track performance, and a prize will be awarded at the end of the year. Those details will be announced before the start of the 2026 season at Daytona International Speedway.
And for driver eligibility? The program is open to anyone in the motorsports world. It is not limited to those with NASCAR experience.
“There are only two rules,” Kuniskis said. “No. 1: NASCAR. No. 2: Kaulig Racing. If they both agree (insert driver here) will be safe on the track and not put anyone else at risk, great. Then, if we think it fits the brand, what we’re doing, it’ll be a competitive driver and fun and engaging, they’re eligible.
“That’s it.”
Friday, February 13, at Daytona is the first race of the 2026 season for the Craftsman Truck Series. There are 25 races on the schedule.

Kaulig Racing’s fourth Dodge Ram entry in the Nascar Craftsman Truck Series will have a unique program in 2026.
The new No. 25 Dodge will have a different driver in the truck each week as part of what Kaulig is calling the “free agent driver program.”
“The free agent seat gives us the flexibility to bring in talent while keeping fans on their toes,” team owner Matt Kaulig said. “Each driver will bring something unique to the team. It’s a new idea, and exactly the kind of energy we want heading into 2026.”
The program will be quite different from what Nascar teams normally do. The Dodge truck’s driver will only be announced on the Monday prior to each race.
Kaulig did not provide any hints as to who will be behind the wheel of the No. 25 truck. Dodge will also have a prize for the driver in the No. 25 truck who has the best result(s) in 2026.
Thus far, Kaulig has announced four of its five trucks for 2026, marking the return of Dodge to Nascar.

Ram’s return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has already generated plenty of intrigue and excitement. An announcement on Monday added to that intrigue, as Ram unveiled its

“We do not have a contract with either one of those guys,” Kaulig Racing president Chris Rice said a few days ago. He was referring to Tony Stewart, a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, and Kasey Kahne, an 18-time Cup race winner, potentially wheeling Kaulig’s trucks. Although Rice wanted to deflate rumors, they have picked up pace again with the introduction of a new driver program.
Ram Trucks are returning to NASCAR competition for the 2026 Craftsman Truck Series season, and Kaulig Racing is their base. The OEM has five entries, of which three are fixed – with Brendan Queen, Daniel Dye, and Justin Haley confirmed. However, fans are more excited about one of the last two entries.
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Ram Trucks are inviting the heavyweights
To hype up its arrival, Ram just introduced the ‘Free Agent Program’ for the No. 25 Kaulig Racing entry. It will have a different driver behind the wheel each weekend. And their focus is on the cream of the sport, as CEO Tim Kuniskis said. “There are probably 400 that NASCAR…would say, ‘This is a driver who is qualified to compete.’ And for whatever reason, maybe they’re retired from NASCAR, maybe they’re in a different form of motorsports, or in something else…We said, ‘What if we could bring them in and every single week have a different driver?’”
The main reason for this new formula is fan engagement. Tim Kuniskis continued that his challenge was to rope in more Cup Series fans to the Truck Series. “There are 20 million fans of NASCAR, but a large percentage of that is in the Cup Series; it doesn’t necessarily transfer back down to the Truck Series…It never made sense to me because there are synergies between the two series, and the fact that 50 percent of the fans drive a truck. I never really understood why there wasn’t more engagement in the Truck Series.”
The conversation around the Free Agent Program started early when Ram was first planning its return. In understanding how the sport has changed rapidly over the past 12 years, the OEM took steps accordingly. A vast swathe of veteran drivers have left the sport in this period – like Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and so many more. Whoever takes up the wheel will not be chasing points or a championship. Ram will have its own point system for drivers of the No. 25 entry, based on individual track performance. It will reward a prize at the end of the year.
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Ram announced its return to NASCAR competition on June 8 in Michigan. And the Kaulig Racing partnership with the manufacturer was formalized on August 23. Team owner Matt Kaulig applauded the free agent program’s launch. He said in a news release that “it’s a new idea, and exactly the kind of energy we want heading into 2026.”
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What’s more, the fans are also going gaga over this snazzy new program.
NASCAR fans shower positive comments
First and foremost, this announcement adds more depth to the Tony Stewart theory. The versatile legend left full-time NASCAR competition in 2016 and also shuttered his Cup Series team, Stewart-Haas Racing, in 2024. Currently wheeling 11,000 hp dragsters in the NHRA, Stewart is heavily engaged. Yet hints are appearing about his NASCAR comeback, and fans are excited. Somebody wrote, “Makes the rumor of Stewart and Kahne potentially racing less false! Because big if true!”
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Another fan compared Ram’s enthusiastic return to Michael Jordan’s NBA comeback in 1995. His return reenergized the Chicago Bulls for a thumping season – something also expected from Ram’s drive. The fan wrote, “RAM is going go absolutely drag the other manufacturers in terms of marketing and fan engagement. If they can back it up with performance, this is Jordan ’96 level comeback.” Somebody else hyped up the Free Agent Program announcement. Amidst all the criticism for NASCAR’s programs, this sounds welcoming: “That sounds awesome 🤩👏💪👊🏁”
People started to name-drop some heavyweights from other sports as well. Somebody suggested none other than four-time Formula One World Champion, Max Verstappen, as an option. “MAX VERSTAPPEN IN TRUCKS!!” Another fan chipped in with the CEO and president of UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), Dana White. “When is @danawhite making his first nascar start.”
Clearly, the excitement is no less for Ram’s Free Agent Program. We can only wait and see how it unfolds in real time in 2026.

“I’ve been a fan of the Supercars Championship since I was a kid. I’ve always rated the drivers and teams in the category highly,” Austin Cindric said as he makes his debut in a new motorsports series down under. The NASCAR star is set to participate in the BP Adelaide Grand Final at the end of the month as a wildcard entry.
And he’s leaving no stone unturned. Just days ago, a video surfaced of Cindric turning his first laps in a Gen3 Supercar, trying to master the ‘heel and toe’ technique used by fellow Supercar drivers. This shows that for Cindric, this isn’t a vacation drive or a PR stunt. This is a driver fully immersing himself in a different racing culture. And what he sees in this exchange says a lot about the future of NASCAR, Supercars, and cross-series competition as a whole.
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Austin Cindric explains why crossovers matter more than ever
Austin Cindric isn’t going to pretend he’s going to outpace Will Brown or take over the field on this journey to Adelaide. It’s about something more significant: crossover culture, which the entire motorsports industry has been subtly embracing. As Cindric himself emphasized on the Apex Hunters United podcast, “I’m here to get the experience, get some awareness for the series. Anytime you can have crossover in motorsports, it’s so much fun.”
He makes a valid point! Cross-discipline participation infuses racing communities with energy and new stories. Cindric gave well-known examples. For instance, Fernando Alonso’s participation in Le Mans brought Formula 1 fans into endurance racing. Similarly, Kyle Larson’s Indy 500 performances enthralled NASCAR and IndyCar fans alike. The 2025 Indy 500, which saw Larson participate, pulled in the best TV ratings since 2008 – an astounding 7 million+ viewers!
Now, with Austin Cindric’s participation, NASCAR fans who’ve never watched Supercars suddenly have a reason to care. The same thing happens in reverse. Just look at what Shane van Gisbergen brought with him the second he stepped into NASCAR. His success is a major talking point in the Australian Supercars community, with some fans tuning in to NASCAR specifically to follow his progress. News of his wins, such as the Mexico City victory, garnered widespread media coverage in Australia, helping attract new fans.
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That’s the ripple effect Cindric’s talking about: drivers don’t just bring skill, they bring awareness and audiences. Cindric concluded, “I’m as competitive as they come. But I’m here for the experience for sure.” It’s not about showcasing his superiority. The goal is to demonstrate that racing can transcend regulatory agencies and silos. The true advantage is that each crossover widens the track, making motorsports more international, cohesive, and interconnected than ever before.
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Cindric compares Supercars to the NASCAR Next-Gen car
Austin Cindric is learning a completely different beast rather than just a new track as he logs laps in Australia. Although NASCAR’s Next Gen vehicle and the Gen3 Supercars Mustang have comparable DNA, the similarities end there once you’re seated. And Cindric is getting a firsthand education of that.
The 2022 Daytona 500 winner, driving for Tickford Racing for the event, is currently getting used to a new weight balance, a right-hand drive cockpit, a different braking feel, and a new steering reaction. It’s a lot to take in. Particularly if you’ve been turning left from the other side of the automobile your entire career.
“I think in a lot of ways, quite a bit of what I expected. It’s good to feel it out and kind of put everything that I’ve done prep work-wise, have a feel for it, and really put some relevancy behind some of the questions that I may or may not have, work on some of the techniques. I think I’m at that point where you’re trying to work out best practices,” Cindric explained.
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But here’s the headline: Cindric says the Supercars Mustang straight-up drives better. The car provides him more confidence because of its reduced weight, more downforce, and grippier tires, particularly when braking and entering corners. The Next Gen is simply constructed differently; it’s not inherently flawed.
“It [Supercars] drives a lot better. The current generation Cup car is a lot more rigid. Like, I’ve really had to talk myself into using the curb as much as I can with this car,” Cindric compared the two. And that makes sense. The Next Gen is a race car’s Swiss Army knife, designed to tackle everything from Chicago’s street circuit to superspeedways. The Gen3 is a scalpel designed specifically for street and road racing.
At the end of it all, Cindric’s learning curve is steep. But he’s loving every second of it!

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Kaulig Racing and Ram said they would bring some outside-the-box ideas to the Craftsman Truck Series – and they’re delivering with the next phase of the truck manufacturer’s return to NASCAR.
It was announced Monday that a unique Free Agent Program for the #25 Ram 1500 at Kaulig Racing will debut in the 2026 Craftsman Truck Series. The program will bring an

Testing for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season has officially started, and for once, there is true optimism in the air instead of just hope. A few teams unloaded at Bristol Motor Speedway for a unique Goodyear tire test just one week ago. Their mission was to check for two things fans have been begging for. More horsepower and less falloff. All because many were disappointed by Bristol’s most recent race.
However, the voices emanating from the garage sounded different this time. There’s actual advancement. genuine potential. The 750HP package being tested could bring back something NASCAR has been missing for years: throttle control, tire wear that matters, and battles where driving skill actually decides the outcome. And no one summed up the stakes better than Ryan Preece.
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Ryan Preece explains why NASCAR needs more horsepower
On the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Ryan Preece didn’t dance around his point. He was as straightforward as he could be. “Over time and as we continue to go down this path, I’d like to see an increase in horsepower,” he stated. And for 2026, that’s finally happening. The current offseason test at Bristol is setting the stage for a bump to 750 horsepower at all tracks under 1.5 miles.
This includes Bristol, Darlington, Dover, Nashville, and World Wide Technology Raceway. By increasing horsepower, NASCAR hopes to force drivers to better manage throttle application and tire wear, making the racing more dynamic and challenging for both competitors and crews.
This change is a response to feedback from drivers like Preece, crew chiefs, manufacturers, and fans who have called for more power to improve short-track and road-course racing. Preece also talked about modifications to the car’s aerodynamics, like using fewer rear diffuser strakes or, in certain testing, eliminating the diffuser.
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The diffuser, a plate underneath the car’s back, aids in directing air to improve stability and downforce. Reducing strakes increases tire slip and driver skill by reducing downforce. However, it can also cause cars to “fight the same problem” of following closely and fewer overtakes, particularly in dominant lanes.
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“There will be a point where we can’t probably go any softer because we’ll, you know, to your point, we’re going to damage the tires. We’re going to blow them apart, and that’s going to be on us.” Preece said of the limitations of softer Goodyear compounds in relation to tire wear. This risk was demonstrated in the 2025 Bristol event when Josh Berry, Austin Cindric, and Chad Finchum’s Fords experienced fire and smoke issues due to aggressive tire choices. More horsepower means the balance between excitement and durability remains delicate.
By the conclusion of the Bristol tire test, Preece was optimistic. “Feel like [we’re] finding the right direction,” he said earlier. As NASCAR heads into the 2026 season, the innovations in power, aerodynamics, and tire selection promise fresh action. Perhaps, we will see a return to the gritty, unpredictable racing that fans love most.
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NASCAR’s new OEM testing rules for 2026
Longtime NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass has revealed how NASCAR is strengthening its regulations on manufacturer testing for 2026. The new regulations, which apply to all three national series, are intended to provide a more equitable playing field while controlling expenses.
If you follow NASCAR closely, you already know how vital OEM testing is. Here, manufacturers adjust engine performance, aerodynamics, and overall setup while adhering to NASCAR’s stringent regulations. It’s also closely monitored to ensure no team gains an unfair technological edge.
Under these updated regulations, any new OEM entering the sport, like Dodge (defined as one that hasn’t competed in the last five seasons), will face specific limits. They’ll be allowed a maximum of three testing sessions, and each session can run for no more than two consecutive days.
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NASCAR also added some flexibility to account for weather interruptions, ensuring sessions aren’t unfairly cut short. All testing must be wrapped up by March 1 of the season year, setting a firm preseason window. But the rulebook gets even stricter. Testing can’t take place at any track that’s been newly added to the schedule or recently repaved. e.g., San Diego street course at Naval Base Coronado.
And to keep the schedule fair for all, no OEM testing is allowed at any track within 60 days of a race weekend at that venue. That prevents teams from sneaking in valuable data just ahead of competition. There’s also a cap on scale. Each test session can involve up to three affiliated organizations, and they’re permitted no more than two cars apiece. This prevents powerhouse teams from stacking the field with data-gathering resources while ensuring testing remains efficient rather than exhaustive.
These regulations essentially achieve a balance by promoting innovation without sacrificing budget or parity. NASCAR desires cost-effective, competitive racing. And these new guidelines are designed to keep every OEM honest, prepared, and playing by the same rules.

“I don’t want the next Christopher Bell, who is ten years old right now, thinking about NASCAR, wanting to go to NASCAR, wanting to be a champion, and say, ‘huh, this is a little bit more of a chance on a one race, right?’” O’Donnell said recently, hinting at what many believe is now inevitable. It’s been a long time coming, and everyone in NASCAR knows it. Drivers have spoken up. Fans have sounded off. Even executives can’t ignore it anymore. The playoff format, once hailed as bold and exciting, is now the center of growing frustration. And if you ask NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell, the sport can’t afford to keep letting championships hinge on a single, do-or-die race.
Behind closed doors, the playoff committee has been meeting for months. The discussions are done. A decision is near. And according to one insider, what comes next could rewrite the modern era of NASCAR forever.
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Jordan Bianchi explains the roads NASCAR can take
On the latest episode of the Lights Out podcast, Jordan Bianchi didn’t mince words when talking about the change coming to the NASCAR playoffs next year. “There is 100% a change coming to the playoff format. There will be a big change to the playoff format. Now, what that change is going to be exactly is up in the air,” he said.
As per Bianchi, three ideas are currently on the table, each radically different in philosophy, purpose, and impact. The first is “a season-long full 36 race championship.” This is the most traditional and the most familiar to longtime fans. Simply put: whoever scores the most points over every race of the season wins the title. No eliminations, no resets, no winner-take-all chaos. Formula 1 and IndyCar still use this system, and NASCAR itself lived by it for decades. It rewards consistency, durability, and domination over the long haul.
Then, as Bianchi revealed, “There’s also a heavy discussion centered around the 10 race chase.” This format sits somewhere between the past and present. Drivers race the full season, but only the top 10 or 12 are eligible for the championship over the final 10 races. The twist is that there are no eliminations. Points accumulate straight through to the end. It preserves the pressure of the NASCAR playoff, without the “must-win” chaos that can derail a multi-win driver’s season over one bad race. Denny Hamlin and Connor Zilisch will definitely love this!
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The third is the 3-3-4 format. This is the most modern of the three. This proposal keeps rounds of the current NASCAR playoff system: 3 races, 3 races, then 4, with eliminations along the way. But unlike today, the champion wouldn’t be decided in a single event. Instead, the final four-race stretch decides it. The driver with the most points across that mini-season takes the crown.
Finally, Bianchi summed it up, “I can promise you that it’s going to change. It’s just a matter of how it’s going to change.”
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Meanwhile, Hamlin says the NASCAR playoff is here to stay
Denny Hamlin has spoken candidly about the NASCAR playoff format amid ongoing criticism, firmly stating that the playoffs are here to stay despite calls for change. After a heartbreaking 2025 season in which he came close to his first championship but lost at Phoenix due to a late caution and race restart, Hamlin shared his frustrations with how the current system can penalize dominant performances for the sake of entertainment.
He highlighted that while drivers like himself, William Byron, Kyle Larson, and others advocate for a larger sample size to decide the champion, NASCAR’s clear direction is to maintain the playoff format. Hamlin explained that a full-season points-based championship, like those popularized in NASCAR’s earlier decades, is unlikely to return.
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Everyone get over it, you’re going to get playoffs,” he said bluntly on his Actions Detrimental podcast. Hamlin emphasized the unfairness drivers face when a season’s dominance can be undone in a single race due to late-race cautions or strategic calls, but acknowledged that the playoffs inject unique “drama” and “intensity” into the sport.
Despite his disappointment, Hamlin gave credit to Kyle Larson, calling him a deserving champion who “played the game as it was meant to be played” by adapting to the final race situation. The debate over the playoff format continues to divide fans and drivers, with some nostalgic for the older formats and others accepting the thrill the playoffs bring.
Hamlin’s comments reveal a sport at a crossroads, balancing tradition with entertainment demands while keeping drivers motivated and fans engaged. As NASCAR prepares for potential tweaks in 2026’s playoff structure, Hamlin remains realistic but hopeful, focused on racing hard despite the system’s flaws. His perspective is a powerful reminder of the complexities in crowning a champion in modern NASCAR.​

If you’ve been following Austin Cindric’s career, you might have noticed that he has never been the kind of driver to stay in one lane (literally or figuratively). He cut his teeth first in Legends cars and Bandoleros, moved to Global RallyCross, and then took on the rough-and-ready ARCA Racing Series.
From there, it was a typical steady climb. Trucks, Xfinity, and eventually the NASCAR Cup Series, where he stunned the sport by winning the Daytona 500 as a rookie in 2022. But even for a driver with that kind of résumé, Australia’s V8 Supercars presented an entirely different beast. New car. New style. New expectations. And yet, as Cindric strapped in for his debut, no one expected what came next. His ‘new’ braking technique wowed everyone.
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A new chapter in a new hemisphere for Austin Cindric
Austin Cindric is no stranger to unfamiliar machinery, but this time, he’s taking that adaptability halfway across the world. The NASCAR Cup Series winner has officially unveiled the livery for his wildcard entry in the BP Adelaide Grand Final, marking his long-anticipated Supercars debut.
Wrapped in a striking Repco, Armor All, and Ford-backed scheme, Cindric’s Tickford Racing-prepared Mustang is set to stand out on the Adelaide Parklands Circuit. At 27, the Ohio native is stepping into one of the most respected touring car arenas on the planet, becoming the first American to compete in the Repco Supercars Championship since Alexander Rossi co-drove at Bathurst in 2019.
His Supercars journey begins with a Sandown ride day, followed by testing at The Bend Motorsport Park before officially joining the 25-car grid from November 27–30. The timing couldn’t be better. It’s the same weekend the 2025 Supercars champion will be crowned.
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Cindric himself couldn’t hide his excitement. “I’ve been a fan of the Supercars Championship since I was a kid. I’ve always rated the drivers and teams in the category highly. So, needless to say, my interest has been high for an opportunity to test myself against the best, all while still getting to soak in the atmosphere of what I think should be a great weekend of racing at the Adelaide Grand Final.”
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The world is watching, especially the NASCAR community. And soon enough, fans would get a look at something that made them do a double-take. An onboard video of Cindric’s very first laps in a Supercar made the rounds on social media, and fans couldn’t help but notice a surprising technique that no one saw coming.
Fans lose it over Cindric’s technique
Austin Cindric’s very first laps in a V8 Supercar hit social media, and suddenly everyone had something to say. But instead of skepticism or jokes about “the American trying Aussie racing,” the reaction was almost universal admiration. One fan summed it up perfectly. “I expect a lot from professional race drivers, but that lap is still pretty impressive. About a 1:12 lap for his first ever laps, and it looks like a bit of a greasy track too.”
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What really stole the spotlight, though, was something even seasoned NASCAR viewers don’t often see: a unique downshifting technique. As another fan pointed out: “Someone has taught him to heel and toe.” For the uninitiated, heel-and-toe is an advanced braking technique that allows drivers to brake while blipping the throttle. This helps keep the engine and gearbox in harmony while downshifting at high speed. It’s common in road racing. Rare in NASCAR.
Which is why the next comment raised eyebrows. “Woahhhhhh, looks like Austin is going to beat SVG on road courses next year, heel and toe.” And that comparison wasn’t random. Shane van Gisbergen, the Kiwi Supercars legend turned NASCAR rookie, relied on the same technique to win in his debut at Chicago back in 2023 and now has five road course races in his first full-time Cup season in 2025. It’s part of what made him so lethal outside ovals. Now, with NASCAR looking to add more road courses in the future, the technique might get a win or two for even Cindric.
Others simply couldn’t look away. “Could watch that all day long 👌” Meanwhile, one fan joked, “Good job mate, might drive his NASCAR like this from now on haha🤌” But there’s truth buried in the humor. Cup cars don’t require heel-and-toe. Most drivers use their left foot to brake because of sequential gearboxes and braking zones that differ from traditional touring cars.
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Still, one fan nailed the moment. “Good lad, some nice heel & toe action and a good lap. Not bad for jumping from iRacing SIM into the real deal. Hope he enjoys The Bend on Wednesday.” Austin Cindric hasn’t even raced yet. And he’s already earning respect. Now, all eyes shift to Adelaide. If this is what he looks like on Day 1, the main event could be something special.