After a chaotic weekend at EchoPark Speedway, some fans in the online NASCAR community are focused on a fairly new NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series team’s potential future expansion following a rumor dropped during the race broadcast.
The 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series offseason saw plenty of reshuffling ahead of February’s opener at Daytona.
As part of this, several new full-time entries were announced, such as Viking Motorsports’ No. 96, Young’s Motorsports’ No. 02, and Jordan Anderson Racing’s No. 32.
Alongside these well-established teams were a few new full-time organizations like Barrett-Cope Racing, Hettinger Motorsports, and Peterson Racing.
While each of these teams had high hopes for the new year, only one still competes full-time.
The first domino to fall was Barrett-Cope Racing, who failed to show up at Rockingham after the March 28 race at Martinsville, then Hettinger, who did not and has yet to field a car since the April 26 race at Talladega.
Peterson has pushed forward, though it has also seen change, subbing in free agent Nick Sanchez to drive the No. 87 in select races after a tough start to 2026 from second-generation racer, and original full-time driver, Austin Green.
Sanchez, for his part, has done the job and scored some solid finishes with the team. In fact, they looked like a possible winner late Saturday night at EchoPark Speedway, with the No. 87 sitting on the front row for a late race overtime restart.
While Sanchez’s day did not end up in victory lane, most NASCAR fans were focused on the team’s long-term future, as in a surprising twist, CW Sports broadcast Adam Alexander shared during the broadcast that there are rumors the team will expand in 2027.
“Talk in the garage is they’ll have two full-time cars in 2027.” — Adam Alexander
While the team has yet to confirm this move for next season, it does pose an interesting question for NASCAR Silly Season.
Many fans online were quick to point out that even though they may not have the results on track of some teams, given their new relationship with a driver like Nick Sanchez, the expansion could be worth their while.
Sanchez’s free agency this past offseason was a shock to many, as he was just one of three drivers in a stacked 2025 rookie class to go to victory lane.
Though one driver may not be the key to helping a team step up its game entirely, Peterson could take clues from another team in the RCR alliance, Viking Motorsports.
The team went full-time last season after some time as a part-time entry, this year, with their alliance to RCR and two new drivers, Parker Retzlaff and Anthony Alfredo. Viking looks like an entirely new organization, with both drivers flirting with a Chase appearance.
Even if Peterson opts to go with a different option besides Sanchez as that second driver, or even resets its lineup for the new year entirely, if they were to expand, Viking is proof that it may not be too early to make the jump.
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