Ty Dillon has been reported as the favorite to land the second Cup Series seat at Kaulig Racing. Count Dale Earnhardt Jr. in as another media member to say that. Except this time, he said on his podcast, the “Dale Jr. Download”, that Dillon is confirmed going to run that second Kaulig Racing Cup Series car in 2024, but he is not optimistic about where the team is heading.
Daniel Hemric is coming back into the Cup Series with Kaulig. Ty Dillon’s going over there to run the second car, and so, those cars struggled so badly at Phoenix. It was not good. I think this is going to be a very difficult year on the Cup side for Kaulig…I don’t know that is a big surprise to anybody.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not a reporter, but he is a member of the media. He also has more relationships in the garage than potentially anyone in the media. If anyone knows something, it is him, and he is far from the first one to report that Dillon is the favorite.
Bob Pockrass reported that Dillon was the favorite to land the ride at Kaulig Racing in October. This is not a new thing, and, if it is really happening, Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be the one to know about it. Still, there is no official announcement yet, so, this is not an official confirmation.
Objectively, it is hard to get excited about Ty Dillon joining Kaulig Racing given his performance in the Cup Series. He finished 32nd in points in 2023, which was the worst out of all full-time Cup Series drivers. He has only 7 career top-10 finishes in 238 career starts and no wins or poles.
Daniel Hemric is an Xfinity Series Champion, but that Championship Race at Phoenix is the only race Hemric has won in his career at any NASCAR National Touring Series level. He also failed to win a race with Kaulig in the Xfinity Series in 2023, but he did make the Playoffs. On top of that, his lone Cup Series season with RCR was less than stellar.
These drivers replace Justin Haley, who nearly won the Chicago Street Race this year, and A.J. Allmendinger, who is a threat to win any road course race on the schedule. With this move, Allmendinger will likely move down to Xfinity, and that takes away Kaulig’s potentially best shot at a win and qualifying for the Cup Series Playoffs.
Given their equipment, it likely will be a struggle for them in 2024. However, sometimes hitting on a crew chief/driver combo or finding something in the offseason could turn a team around. Anything could happen, but, Kaulig will have to overcome some obstacles in 2024.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series regular Austin Hill is officially slated to run part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series throughout 2026 with Richard Childress Racing.
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This year marks the second season of NASCAR’s groundbreaking 2025 media rights deal, and fans are curious to see just how year two will stack up with year one. This article will walk you through the 2026 season race by race, comparing viewership week by week to NASCAR’s 2025 season.
All Races (4 Total in 2026): Will include all points races, exhibition races, and qualifying races as they occur.
Points Races (3 Total in 2026): Will only include the season’s 36 points-paying races week-to-week as they occur.
Cable Races to Date (1 Total in 2025): Races on FS1, TNT, and USA | Including all points races, exhibition races, and qualifying races as they occur.
Network Races to Date (3 Total in 2026): Races on FOX and NBC | Including all points races, exhibition races, and qualifying races as they occur.
Exhibition/Qualifying Races (2 Total in 2026): This is only applicable to the Clash, Daytona Duels, and the All-Star Race as they happen.
*The 2025 Daytona 500 was pushed back several hours due to rain.
**The 2026 Daytona 500 was pushed up one hour to avoid inclement weather.
**2026 Clash was pushed from Sunday to Wednesday due to snow, and moved to FS2 due to overrunning time on FOX.
This tracker will be updated throughout the season. Make sure to check back in for the latest!
Joe Gibbs Racing has added to its lawsuit filed against former Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart, filing to add Spire as a co-defendant, and to prevent Gabehart from continuing his work at Spire.
JGR initiated this lawsuit on February 19, alleging Gabehart, a long-time Crew Chief, most recently for Denny Hamlin, and the team’s now former Competition Director, “embarked on a brazen scheme to steal JGR’s most sensitive information and use it for the benefit of a direct competitor in NASCAR.”
That direct competitor, Spire Motorsports, which currently employs Gabehart as their Chief Motorsports Officer, is now a co-defendant in this lawsuit, via an amended complaint filed Tuesday.
Per the latest filing from JGR, which employed Gabehart as Competition Director last season, is asking the court for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction with seven key requests.
Key to these requests is that Gabehardt cease providing Spire with “services for Spire similar to those he provided to JGR” for 18 months following his February 9 formal termination from JGR.
JGR also requested that Spire stop accepting Gabehart’s work as per the noncompete obligation of his termination.
The filing also has several requests regarding the team information Gabehart allegedly retained from JGR.
These include Gabehart returning this information alongside the devices that store this information and “cease and desist from retaining, transferring, using or copying any Confidential Information and Trade Secrets.”
From JGR’s filing:
c. Gabehart immediately cease and desist from retaining, transferring, using or copying any Confidential Information and Trade Secrets
d. Gabehart return any Confidential Information and Trade Secrets in his possession to JGR;
e. Gabehart transfer to the custody of JGR’s counsel any device used to store the Confidential Information and Trade Secrets and, through an agreed upon Court ordered process, allow the forensic preservation and review of these devices for identification of Confidential Information and Trade Secrets, the return of any identified Confidential Information and Trade Secrets to JGR, and the removal of any identified Confidential Information and Trade Secrets from the devices;
f. Gabehart cease and desist from using or disclosing JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets to third parties;
As of press time, Gabehart has commented on the lawsuit in a post to X on February 20, where he claimed a third-party investigator “examined my laptop, cell phone and personal Google Drive and found no evidence to support the baseless allegations in JGR’s lawsuit.”
What’s Happening? Joe Gibbs Racing has filed a lawsuit against former competition director Chris Gabehart, alleging he took confidential team information…
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