Every Guaranteed Future NASCAR Hall of Famer Racing in 2026

What’s Happening?

NASCAR Hall of Fame eligibility is one of the hottest topics in all of NASCAR right now, but who amongst the active crop of drivers is guaranteed a spot at NASCAR immortality? Here’s our list of every guaranteed NASCAR Hall of Famer (and a few Honorable Mentions) actively racing in a NASCAR National Series.

Honorable Mentions 

• Chase Elliott
  • We are going to catch some heat for this one. Listen, one Championship and a handful of wins are impressive, but a few more to stack up against his most popular driver trophies would help him get that guaranteed spot in the Hall. Either way, Elliott is the closest, yet still non-guaranteed Hall of Famer on the Cup Series roster.

• Ryan Blaney
  • Ryan Blaney is in the same boat as Elliott, but does not have the legacy of a Hall of Fame father nor a stack of most popular driver awards to his name. But, much like his friend at Hendrick Motorsports, if Blaney continues his success and keeps his current pace, he will have a really good chance to make it in.

• William Byron
  • If William Byron makes it into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the story of his move from iRacing to real racing will live on for eternity. For now, Byron needs to make a bigger career impact. The wins don’t hurt, but two Daytona 500 wins aren’t enough to meet the mark, ask Michael Waltrip. Maybe a championship could help him join Blaney and Elliott on the borderline mark.

• Ben Rhodes
  • Looking at the lower levels of the NASCAR ecosystem, as controversial as it is, at least one or two active drivers in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck or O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will make the Hall of Fame. Matt Crafton is most likely the next truck driver to do it, and another potential Truck Series “lifer” in the Hall of Fame is his former teammate Ben Rhodes, but the two-time champion has a lot of work to do to join that rare air.

• Shane van Gisbergen
  • This might be controversial to put the New Zealander on this list, but the pace at which he is accumulating wins is incredible. While Marcos Ambrose is the original Supercars Champion to show success in NASCAR, if SVG continues his path of success and continues to improve on ovals, he could make the Hall for his wins and opening the door for more Supercars drivers.

Certain Hall of Famers

Brad Keselowski 

Much like any sport, the Hall of Fame is a popularity contest, and, like wine, Brad Keselowski has grown from a scrappy underdog to a champion and co-owner of Jack Roush’s legendary NASCAR team.

One Championship is a tough argument for the Hall of Fame, but Hall of Famers surround his 25th-place spot on the all-time wins list. In fact, the only drivers with 25 or more wins that are not currently Hall of Fame members include active drivers, drivers not yet eligible for the Hall, and Jim Paschal.

Kyle Larson

At the end of the 2020 season, Kyle Larson sat 72nd in all-time Cup Series wins. But, in year one of his tenure at Hendrick Motorsports, Larson was a champion, with ten more wins to his name, taking him to 17 wins all-time.

Since then, the now 33-year-old has not stopped adding to that total, now in 30th on the all-time list, averaging four wins a season over the past four years, and adding another title last fall. With a pace like that, and given his success in lower divisions, Larson is very likely headed to the Hall of Fame.

Justin Allgaier

We said the Hall of Fame is partially a popularity contest. Well, if you want a lower series driver with the wins, the Championship, the legacy, and the popularity to make the Hall of Fame, Justin Allgaier is the man.

Allgaier is seventh in all-time NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series wins, just one behind Hall of Famer (and fellow OAP Series lifer) Jack Ingram. He also sits behind a list of names that are either current or future Hall of Famers on that list. Allgaier also has six NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Most Popular Driver awards, sixth all-time in combined National Series winners, behind names like Elliott, Earnhardt, Petty, and Allison.

Joey Logano

If the mark for making the Hall of Fame is around 25 career Cup Series wins, love him or hate him, Joey Logano is more than headed to Charlotte once he retires. So, we’re going to let the stats do the talking:

• Cup Series Championships: 2018, 2022, 2024
• Cup Series Wins: 37
• O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Wins: 30
• Notables: 2015 Daytona 500 Champion, 2023 NASCAR 75 Greatest Drivers Member, Cup Series Rookie of the Year

Denny Hamlin

As sad as it is, most fans point out every season that Denny Hamlin looks more and more like the Mark Martin of the current era of NASCAR. But is that bad company? The two have a combined 101 wins, including 61 on Denny’s part, and both will definitely be in the Hall of Fame.

Things seem to be better since the end of Denny’s lawsuit with NASCAR last season, and hopefully that will not be a holdup, something fans feared as the lawsuit hit its more bitter moments. If there was that chaotic scenario, that would make Denny the only driver in the top ten in all-time wins, and the only driver with three or more Daytona 500’s not to make the Hall of Fame.

Kyle Busch

We’ve already made these points, so here’s a line of questioning if you feel like Busch isn’t going to be in the Hall of Fame.

• Is Kyle Busch the winningest driver in NASCAR National Series history? Yes.
• Is Kyle Busch the winningest driver in NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series history? Yes. (He has 102 by the way)
• Is Kyle Busch the winningest driver in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history? Yes.
• Is Kyle Busch in the top ten in all-time Cup Series wins? Yes.
• Does Kyle Busch have a Cup Series Championship? Yes.

Case closed, just don’t put his plaque next to Hornaday Jr’s.

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