The Complete 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Roster (So Far)
What’s Happening? The 2026 NASCAR Season is fast approaching, and teams are setting their lineups for the coming season. This article…
With the start of the 2026 NASCAR off-season, some fans have noticed that one NASCAR Cup Series ride, the Kaulig Racing No. 10, appears to be unspoken for. What has the Kaulig team leadership said in the past about this, and what options could they have for 2026?
What’s Happening? The 2026 NASCAR Season is fast approaching, and teams are setting their lineups for the coming season. This article…
Throughout the latter half of the 2025 season, Kaulig Racing was reportedly working on a deal to bring Ty Dillon back to their No. 10 in 2026. However, with the season coming to a close, fans are still questioning what the team’s plan is for the No. 10 next season.
Dillon found his way to Kaulig’s No. 10, renumbered from the No. 31, at the start of this season.
Since the closure of Germain Racing, Dillon has floated across teams and series, scoring full-time Cup Series rides in 2022, 2023, and this past season.
In early June, Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports reported that the two sides were working on a renewal that would result in the 33-year-old remaining with a team for consecutive seasons for the first time since 2020. Nonetheless, as the summer rolled on, no such deal went public.
What’s Happening? According to a new report, Ty Dillon has yet to sign a deal with Kaulig Racing to drive the…
This saga became all the more interesting when, on August 12, Kaulig Racing CEO Chris Rice told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that Kaulig was working out a deal for Dillon to return to the No. 10 in 2026.
“We’re still in negotiations. I think by Friday [August 14], we will 100% know,” Rice said. “We’re real close to having Ty’s deal done again for ’26.”
However, 97 days later, there is still an announcement confirming Dillon’s return.
What’s Happening? Kaulig Racing President Chris Rice said in a recent interview that the team is still negotiating with Ty Dillon…
When Dillon signed with Kaulig, some fans took it as a sweetheart deal for the grandson of their technical partner, Richard Childress Racing. In fact, most assumed that Dillon could even hold down the spot until recently signed NASCAR Xfinity Series talent Christian Eckes was ready for a Cup Series ride.
However, despite this speculation, and even though things may not have changed with Dillon, changes are occurring regarding Kaulig and RCR’s relationship.
In August, Kaulig announced that they would open a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series operation, fielding Ram Trucks as part of the OEM’s return to NASCAR.
This was a conflict of interest from the start, as Kaulig was not only a part of the Chevrolet Camp and RCR at the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series levels, but is also located on the RCR campus in Welcome, North Carolina.
Although Stellantis, which owns Ram, does not currently have an OEM in the Cup Series, it seems clear that should a Stellantis brand like Dodge make its way to Cup in the coming seasons, Kaulig would likely be its anchor team. Furthermore, in the weeks and months following this announcement, Chris Rice has claimed that the technical alliance between RCR and Kaulig is over.
Could this have an effect on Dillon returning to the No. 10? Perhaps not, as Rice made his comments about re-signing Dillon one week before announcing the Ram deal, which may have suggested that a change or future change in OEMs was not a deal breaker.
Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean something else could have fallen through for Dillon between August and the end of the 2025 season.
What’s Happening? One major storyline to follow during the 2025 and 2026 NASCAR seasons is the ongoing saga of Dodge and…
Of course, if something did fall through, then replacing Dillon this late in the silly season would not be an idle option for Kaulig, after all, they seemed pretty determined to get him back for the coming year.
That’s not to say that there aren’t options out there.
First and foremost is Christian Eckes, who, following the closure of Kaulig’s Xfinity Series program, is looking for a ride.
Another option that would have seemed like a good fit is Justin Haley, who is racing with the team at the Truck level in 2026. In a world where Dillon makes a swift exit from the team, wouldn’t a driver like Haley be an obvious choice for the time being?
If the team needed to make a drastic shift, they could revert the No. 10 to an “All-Star Car,” a move the team made with the No. 16 team in 2022 and 2024. In this case, the team could enter a flurry of drivers, including Dillon, Eckes, Haley, or even some of its truck talent like 2025 ARCA Menards Series Champion Brenden ‘Butterbean’ Queen.
Nonetheless, aside from a few clues, Kaulig has yet to make an announcement regarding the No. 10 team for 2026. However, as each day of the offseason passes, fans will only continue to raise questions about the team’s plans for the coming season.
What’s Happening? The fallout from Kaulig Racing closing its NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series team has resulted in a somewhat surprising…
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Corey Day’s run-in with Connor Zilisch at Circuit of the Americas became one of the most discussed incidents from Saturday’s race, even drawing a response from Denny Hamlin as well, who this week talked about his support for Zilisch.
During the race, Zilisch dealt with brake trouble on his No. 1 Chevrolet but worked his way forward from the rear of the field, advancing from P29 to P4 in the closing laps. With five laps remaining, he engaged in a battle with Hendrick Motorsports driver Corey Day as they exited Turn 2, holding the outside line. But as they contested the position, Day moved up behind him, contact occurred, and Zilisch spun off course to finish the race in P21.
After the contact, frustrated, Connor Zilisch initially referred to Day as an “absolute hack” on his radio, describing the clash as part of the latter’s racing pattern. But the JR Motorsports driver later tempered his comments, simply saying he expects an apology from the young Hendrick Motorsports driver.
Given that Zilisch declined to escalate the situation, on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin credited him for calmly managing his response after the race, saying,
“Zillich was smart about this. He in his interview, he’s like, “I looked over at him thinking, come on over here. Come apologize.” And he said he just looked at him with a stare like, I don’t know what it is with these guys. Why, Why can’t they… youth?”
However, he questioned Day’s failure to issue an immediate apology. In fact, he said he was “floored” by Corey Day’s reaction, which involved staring at a frustrated Zilisch rather than apologizing.
The No. 11 JGR driver also raised questions about how Hendrick Motorsports evaluates developing drivers. Organizations invest with the expectation of returns measured in wins and titles, but when a driver continues to make visible mistakes, fans and especially other drivers will start to scrutinize. Hamlin pointed to the balance between development and production, asking how long it would hold.
The COTA incident was not the first time Day’s racing antics were questioned. Last week, during the Atlanta race, Day was involved in a multi-car crash on lap five after attempting a three-wide move that resulted in contact with Ryan Sieg. The move triggered a chain reaction that collected several cars.
Sieg responded over team radio, questioning both the decision and Day’s presence in the series.
Hamlin argued that drivers are allowed to make mistakes as part of growth. At teams with front-running equipment and title ambitions, time frames are shorter. But he questioned whether Day faces a deadline by season’s end or whether the assessment extends into the following year.
In Day’s case, results have not offset the incidents that have drawn attention. Hamlin referenced Kyle Larson as an example, noting that aggressive driving can lead to contact as well as wins.
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Bubba Wallace shared a message on X following the death of a close friend, writing about the weight of the news over the weekend.
“Makes you think about life and how precious it is… That tune… Nutshell- Alice In Chains Love yall,” he continued.
While Wallace did not name the friend in his post, one day before, reports confirmed that Chase Pistone, 42, had died. Pistone competed on short tracks and in NASCAR’s national ranks and later owned a Legends car. His family asked media outlets to share the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline number, 988. His brothers, Nick and Tom Pistone, confirmed the news to LegendsNation.com.
Pistone, who was the grandson of NASCAR driver “Tiger” Tom Pistone, built his racing career in Legends cars and Late Models before stepping into NASCAR competition.
Apparently, Wallace and Pistone raced each other in Legends cars around 2005. Pistone won four Summer Shootout Championships at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with two titles in the Semi-Pro and two in the Pro divisions. Wallace competed in both Bandolero and Legends categories during that period, winning 35 of 48 Bandolero races in one season.
Both drivers were regulars at the Charlotte Summer Shootout. From there, their paths moved toward the national touring series.
Pistone made starts in ARCA and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2005 and 2006, including an appearance with Green Light Racing at Martinsville Speedway. Meanwhile, Wallace moved into the K&N Pro Series East by 2010.
In 2006, Pistone made a start in the Nationwide Series at Martinsville, finishing 37th. After failing to qualify for the ARCA Menards Series race at Daytona in 2007, he stepped away from NASCAR competition until 2014.
He returned that year for eight combined starts in the Truck and Nationwide Series. In his final season at the national level, Pistone recorded a P9-place finish in the Truck Series race at Gateway, the best of his NASACR Truck career.
Beyond driving, Pistone owned CP Inc., building Legends and Late Model stock cars and offering leasing programs that included equipment, crew, and transport.
Magic Johnson, who faced Michael Jordan 18 times on the NBA court, including 13 regular-season games and 5 games in the 1991 NBA Finals, recently offered public praise for 23XI Racing’s rise in the 2026 NASCAR season.
The two former NBA players built their rivalry on NBA courts before competing together on the 1992 U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball Team, known as the “Dream Team,” where the pair were known as both friends and fierce competitors. In fact, Magic Johnson played a central role in recruiting Michael Jordan and Larry Bird to join the 1992 U.S. Olympic squad.
The defining clash between Johnson and Jordan came in the 1991 NBA Finals, a season that was the shift from the Los Angeles Lakers’ “Showtime” run to the rise of the Chicago Bulls. And now, years later, Johnson turned to social media to compliment MJ’s stock car venture.
The presence of Michael Jordan in the garage has not only drawn fresh eyes to NASCAR, but also widened the sport’s reach beyond its base and placed it on platforms fans haven’t seen in years, like ESPN. The network has not held NASCAR broadcast rights since 2014, and since then, its focus has centered on properties under its umbrella, including the NBA, NFL, and WNBA. But now, even without rights, NASCAR headlines tied to MJ and 23XI Racing’s run have found space throughout their coverage.
MJ’s 23XI Racing team has opened the season with three straight wins with their No. 45 driver, Tyler Reddick. The run began with a win in the Daytona 500, the organization’s first success in that event since its launch in 2021.
Reddick followed with a win at Atlanta and then completed the sweep at the Circuit of the Americas, becoming the first driver in Cup Series history to win the opening three races of a season.
The accomplishment also placed the 23XI Racing team alongside one of the most successful organizations in NASCAR, Petty Enterprises, which last won the first three Cup races of a season in 1963.
When Reddick’s Toyota crossed the start/finish line at COTA, MJ was seen celebrating on pit road with the crew. In post-race remarks, Jordan acknowledged the pressure Reddick carried entering COTA with a chance to sweep the opening stretch. He praised the No. 45 crew and crew chief Billy Scott, and credited co-owner Denny Hamlin as the “mastermind” behind the roster build, citing Hamlin’s role in identifying Reddick’s talent and bringing him into the team.
