Trackhouse Owner Says Team is “Pretty Close” to Project91 Return
What’s Happening? Trackhouse Racing Owner Justin Marks claims in a new report that the team is “pretty close” to finalizing plans…
Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks recently teased that their famed Project 91 All-Star Car was set for a 2026 return. As a result, NASCAR fans are pitching who they think should drive the car in 2026.
Project91 debuted in 2022 as a new idea in NASCAR’s top division, a part-time entry that fielded multiple drivers. This is, of course, common, with 23XI Racing’s No. 50/No. 67, RFK Racing’s No. 60, and RCR’s No. 33.
Furthermore, although other teams had done something similar in lower divisions, Project91 would specifically target “all-star” drivers from outside NASCAR, launching the program with Kimi Raikkonen behind the wheel at Watkins Glen that fall.
The former Formula One World Champion would finish 37th that day but improved in March 2023 at Circuit of the Americas, finishing 29th.
Of course, the car would have its breakthrough when Supercars star, now Trackhouse full-time driver, Shane van Gisbergen stole the show at the inaugural Chicago Street Race, bringing home the first non-charter win of the Next Gen Era. SVG would follow this up with a 10th-place run on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road course.
In 2024, the car would take a hiatus before Hélio Castroneves piloted the car in a lackluster Daytona 500 debut. But, since then, the No. 91 has not been seen.
This was due in part to Trackhouse’s expansion to three full-time cars and Connor Zilisch, who entered four races in the No. 87 in 2026. However, with Zilisch promoted for 2026, team owner Justin Marks, in an interview with Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal, claimed that things were lining up for the car to return in 2026.
This was not the first time Marks sent NASCAR social media into a frenzy about Project91, having done so last season prior to announcing Castroneves for the car. But, with that wish granted, who do fans want to see in 2026?
What’s Happening? Trackhouse Racing Owner Justin Marks claims in a new report that the team is “pretty close” to finalizing plans…
For many American racing fans, IndyCar drivers are the most obvious choice for a crossover.
Of course, these drivers are prevalent in the U.S. racing landscape, but they also make the most sense from a logistical stance, as they are already in the U.S. and can travel across the country to race on an open weekend.
Furthermore, in 2026, IndyCar and NASCAR will have a doubleheader weekend at Phoenix Raceway during the weekend of March 8, suggesting that one brave driver could attempt a double should the No. 91 be available.
What’s Happening? IndyCar and NASCAR will share yet another double header in 2026, as the NTT IndyCar Series will join the…
When it comes to the NASCAR debut bucket list, two names that quickly come to mind are veterans Will Power and Castroneves.
While Power has left Team Penske for Andretti Global and Honda, Castroneves, who also races for Honda, albeit part-time for Meyer Shank Racing, was able to drive the Chevrolet in 2025.
Fans already want Castroneves to run it back at Daytona, but, for some time now, Power in a stock car has been a wishlist driver.
Alongside Power, fans have also begged for open-wheel legend Scott Dixon to take on a NASCAR start. Getting either of the Honda drivers, Power or Dixon, would be a major win for NASCAR and Trackhouse, though the Daytona 500 might be a more fitting stage for these legends.
But whenever you talk NASCAR and IndyCar crossovers, Team Penske always comes to mind—specifically, Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin.
While Newgarden is a clear-cut favorite to make a NASCAR start at some point, McLaughlin, on an oval like Phoenix, would be a disappointment. This is because a rematch of SVG and McLaughlin’s Supercars days on a road course or at the new San Diego Street Circuit would be must-watch TV.
Now, one might ask, why wouldn’t these two race for Team Penske?
That’s where the business side of the sport comes into play. Penske runs Fords in NASCAR and Chevrolets in IndyCar, which may be an issue for one or both OEMs. But with Trackhouse, these two would be behind the wheel of a Chevrolet.
What’s Happening? Freshly off the end of the 2025 season, NASCAR has released the official 2026 broadcast schedule for all three…
Although IndyCar drivers are a significant portion of NASCAR fans’ Project91 wishlist, that metaphorical list also includes a substantial number of international stars.
Of course, for any international driver, racing in NASCAR is a challenging addition to their schedule. However, NASCAR somewhat addressed this issue with its 2025 Open Exemption Provisional.
The OEP allows automatic entry for a “world-class driver” into a NASCAR Cup Series race without a charter, even expanding the field to 41 cars if necessary. This means that these drivers no longer need to worry about wasting their valuable time by not qualifying for the race as an open car.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about drivers.
First, let’s address the elephant in the room, the seven-time world champion elephant that is. One name that frequently comes up is Lewis Hamilton. Unfortunately, we may need to wait for him to retire from Formula One before this happens.
However, from a more realistic perspective, two other international names that consistently come to mind when discussing Project91 are Supercars standout Broc Feeney and Formula One veteran Daniel Ricciardo.
While this is due in part to SVG’s success, regarding Feeney, and Ricciardo’s love for NASCAR, they do have ties to Trackhouse through their sponsor, Red Bull.
Red Bull returned to NASCAR with Trackhouse last season, and Justin Marks is hinting that the team could do more with them in 2026.
While it seems like this connection could bridge the gap, these two still seem like long shots, as Feeney’s team, Triple Eight Race Engineering, is leaving the Chevrolet camp for Ford in 2026, and Riccardo retired from professional racing in September and is now an ambassador for Ford Racing.
What’s Happening? NASCAR is making major changes to its rule book ahead of the 2025 NASCAR season. These changes include Damaged…
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Three races into the season, the new Chase format has already intensified the competition for a foothold in the NASCAR standings. As a system that rewards both race winners and those who maintain consistent results, it keeps the postseason race open for a wide range of contenders, while cycling out those drivers who can’t get their wheels under them during the season.
In the NASCAR Cup Series, Tyler Reddick has established himself as the early points leader with a dominant lead. After securing three consecutive victories, he enters Phoenix Raceway as the clear favorite to make the Chase, while the rest of the field looks to break his momentum.
However, the start of the season has been difficult for several drivers. Despite their previous accomplishments, these competitors are currently struggling to maintain their standing in the early stages of the race to the Chase.
Christopher Bell
Last season, Christopher Bell kicked off his campaign with a dominant stretch of three wins stretching from Atlanta to Phoenix, propelling him into a clear spot for the postseason.
The early stages of his 2026 campaign, however, have made it difficult for him to secure even top-five or top-ten finishes. Bell currently sits 24th in the standings with 59 points. The speed has been there, yet in-race incidents have dug him into a points hole.
At Daytona International Speedway, Bell ran inside the top ten with fewer than ten laps remaining before the race turned on its head. Contact from behind sent his car into trouble, leaving him to limp away with a 35th-place finish, far from where he had been running.
The following race at EchoPark Speedway brought more of the same. During an overtime restart, Bell lined up on the front row when contact from Carson Hocevar pushed the No. 20 Toyota into the outside wall, turning what looked like a chance at a trip to victory lane into another lost afternoon, ending his day 21st.
Bell finally managed to stop the downward slide at COTA. When a late caution flew, he took a gamble on fresh tires and charged from 16th to third, climbing through the field with solid pace. The run placed Bell on the proverbial podium and brought home 34 points, pushing him up by seven positions in the points standings table.
Connor Zilisch
Connor Zilisch showed speed and talent this past weekend at COTA. Starting 25th, he climbed through the pack and crossed the line in 14th despite a day marred by incidents with other drivers. At one point, he even climbed from the back 30s to fourth before trouble struck again.
While numbers do not tell the whole story, for now, results from the opening racing of the season have left Zilisch with ground to make up. Zilisch collected five points at Daytona, nine at Atlanta, and 23 at COTA. The tally has left him with 37 points, placing him in 32nd in the standings, among the bottom group in the standings.
Zilisch closed last season at Phoenix (albeit in the O’Reilly Series) with a third-place finish, hinting that the one-mile oval in the deserts of Arizona, this weekend, could offer him a chance to improve his ranking.
Chase Briscoe
Chase Briscoe entered 2026 after his best Cup season so far in his young career. His first season with Joe Gibbs Racing ended with a third-place finish in the standings. However, the early stretch of the 2026 season has delivered mixed returns.
Briscoe finished runner-up at Atlanta, but the other two races have slipped through his fingers after looking strong. Briscoe came home in 36th in the Daytona 500, and after starting from third at COTA, he had high expectations.
But his weekend came undone on Lap 63 of the 95-lap race when the No. 19 Toyota lost its transaxle. Briscoe said the car shifted into neutral before smoke began to rise, leaving him with a 37th-place result.
The run was his second DNF in the first three races of the 2026 season. As a result, Briscoe slid from 15th to 27th in the standings with 46 points, trailing Reddick by 140 as the series heads further west.
Beyond the Cup Series, who is facing early points trouble in NASCAR’s lower National Series?
Harrison Burton
Harrison Burton moved to Sam Hunt Racing’s No. 24 and Toyota for the 2026 season. Through the first three races, Burton has recorded two DNFs. He currently sits 34th in the standings with 18 points, a significant decline from the two top-10 finishes he held at this point last year while driving for AM Racing.
Nick Sanchez
Nick Sanchez joined AM Racing this season after closing last year with an 11th-place finish in the standings after scoring his first win in the series at Atlanta. He hoped to ride that momentum into the new season. The start, though, has come with swings in fortune.
Sanchez bagged a third-place finish at Atlanta. But a DNF at Daytona and a 25th-place run at COTA have slowed his climb. After three races, Sanchez finds himself 19th in the standings with 53 points.
What’s Happening? Nick Sanchez will drive AM Racing’s No. 25 car in 2026, filling one of the final open seats in…
Jeremy Clements
Jeremy Clements has long cut out a role as a driver who can surprise race fans and steal a ticket into the NASCAR postseason, though, without the win-and-in format, the driver/owner will have to work much harder to do so in 2026.
Last season, Clements closed the year in 21st place in the standings and began this campaign by scoring a top-10 finish at Daytona. Since then, however, a 32nd-place finish at Daytona, a DNF at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and another P32 result at Circuit of the Americas have left him in P30 with 25 points, placing him well below the cut line.
Grant Enfinger
Grant Enfinger entered the 2026 season after a run in 2024 that carried him to the Championship Four. And last year, despite not reaching victory lane, he sat seventh in the standings by the end of the season.
At this point last year, Enfinger had already placed inside the top five at Daytona International Speedway and at Las Vegas. This year, three races into 2026, Enfinger has finished outside the top 20 in each race and currently stands 23rd in the standings with 41 points.
Daniel Hemric
Daniel Hemric is 19th in the standings with 46 points. After starting the season with a 26th-place finish at Daytona and a 34th-place finish at Atlanta, Hemric secured his first top-10 finish of the year at St. Petersburg. He continues to seek his second career series win following his victory at Martinsville last year.
Mini Tyrrell
Mini Tyrrell arrived in the Truck Series as a rookie after closing last season in the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour with a fifth-place finish and three wins.
Driving the No. 14 Ram for Kaulig Racing, Tyrrell opened the 2026 season with results of 19th at Daytona and Atlanta. His run at St. Petersburg, however, ended with a 28th finish, which dropped him to 20th in the standings with just 45 points.
What’s Happening? One major storyline to follow during the 2025 and 2026 NASCAR seasons is the ongoing saga of Dodge and…
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Alex Bowman will not compete in Sunday’s Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway after being diagnosed with vertigo earlier this week. The Hendrick Motorsports driver stepped out of the car during the race at Circuit of the Americas due to illness, and after further medical evaluation, the team decided he should sit out this weekend. In his place, reserve driver Anthony Alfredo will drive the No. 48.
The situation also opens the door for a substitute appearance by Alfredo while the No. 48 team focuses on owner points and waits for Bowman to be medically cleared. Beyond the immediate lineup change, the update has sparked broader discussion about Bowman’s early-season struggles and how quickly he might return to the car.
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Alex Bowman will miss this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway. Hendrick Motorsports confirmed the news after Bowman was diagnosed with vertigo following medical evaluations earlier in the week. With Bowman sidelined, Anthony Alfredo will step in to drive the No. 48 car as the team prepares for Sunday’s event.
The video breaks down the latest update from Hendrick Motorsports, what it means for the No. 48 team this weekend, and how the situation could shape the early part of the season.
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