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NASCAR cup series

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The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 14 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Series, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Euro Series, NASCAR Mexico Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in five cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 11 countries and more than 30 U.S. states.

NASCAR Cup youth movement makes its mark at the Brickyard

July 27, 2026

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar are on a collision course—figuratively speaking, that is.

Both drivers made impressive statements this past weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Hocevar, 23, won the pole for the Brickyard 400 and held the lead in the race until the first round of green-flag pit stops.

Heim, who turned 24 on July 5, grabbed the top spot after a restart on Lap 27 and kept veterans Christopher Bell and Joey Logano at bay for the final 34 laps.

Heim is the youngest winner of the Crown Jewel race since Jeff Gordon took the checkered flag in the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway two days after turning 23 in 1994.

Indeed, Heim and Hocevar are emblematic of a younger generation in NASCAR racing, a group of 20-something drivers already making a mark in the sport and ready to do battle against each other.

All three first-time winners this season—Heim, Hocevar and Ty Gibbs—got their maiden victories when they were 23 years old, the first time in Cup history that three or more drivers that young accomplished the feat.

Gibbs, too, was a presence at Indianapolis, leading 46 laps and winning the first stage before finishing 12th.

But the focus was on Heim and Hocevar, who have a history dating to the Championship 4 Race in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series in 2023, when both drivers were fighting for the title and wrecked each other in the process.

Nor could the drivers avoid a certain degree of controversy in the Brickyard 400. In the second stage, Hocevar steered his car to pit road on Lap 82. He returned to the track right behind the Toyota of Heim, who was leading at the time and running long.

For 10 frustrating laps, Heim kept Hocevar in his wake. When Heim finally ducked onto pit road on Lap 92, Hocevar steered toward him and expressed his displeasure with a one-finger salute.

“I’m just a fan—I wanted to wave at him,” Hocevar quipped after the race. “He’s number one. He won. It’s fun… if we don’t like each other, but we race really hard. His stuff’s super-fast, obviously, with the car he’s in. He does a really, really good job with it.

“I’m looking forward to, when we get our stuff a little better, being in front of him and maybe holding him up.”

Hocevar is an imposing 6-foot-4, and he possesses a megawatt smile that can light up a room. He revels in the unusual and outlandish—witness his outside-the-car victory celebration at Talladega—and has developed a huge social media following eager to jump to his defense during online spats with other drivers.

Hocevar is undeniably aggressive on the race track. His 27 incidents involving 30 different Cup drivers this season are tops in the series.

Heim, on the other hand, is more laid back, but at every level of motorsports he is used to winning. His single-season series-record 12 victories propelled him to the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series title last year as he waited for a full-time Cup ride with 23XI Racing—a career goal that won’t be met until next season.

Nevertheless, Heim wasn’t about to let the byplay with Hocevar on Sunday go unaddressed.

“I was blocking him, not really too bad I thought,” Heim said. “I was trying to just hold my position. I never threw like a bad block. I was just trying to protect my entry. He didn't like it. He lost and I won, so I don't really care.”

Indeed. Heim defied the odds in winning for a second time in a part-time role with 23XI. He also seems to have a penchant for major events, with his first victory coming in the inaugural street course race at Naval Base Coronado, where Hocevar also qualified on the front row before finishing 19th.

In a sport that craves rivalries, Heim and Hocevar were front and center on Sunday, and you don’t need a crystal ball to see the future of NASCAR racing.

It was right before your eyes at the Brickyard.

--30--

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NASCAR Cup Series schedule 2026

(All times Eastern)

Date	Race	Track	Time
Feb. 1	Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray	Bowman Gray Stadium	8 p.m.
Feb. 12	Duel 1 at Daytona	Daytona International Speedway	7 p.m.
Feb. 12	Duel 2 at Daytona	Daytona International Speedway	8:45 p.m.
Feb. 15	Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway	2:30 p.m.
Feb. 22	Autotrader 400	EchoPark Speedway	3 p.m.
March 1	DuraMax Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas	3:30 p.m.
March 8	Straight Talk Wireless 500	Phoenix Raceway	3:30 p.m.
March 15	Pennzoil 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	4 p.m.
March 22	Goodyear 400	Darlington Raceway	3 p.m.
March 29	Cook Out 400	Martinsville Speedway	3:30 p.m.
April 12	Food City 500	Bristol Motor Speedway	3 p.m.
April 19	AdventHealth 400	Kansas Speedway	2 p.m.
April 26	Jack Link's 500	Talladega Superspeedway	3 p.m.
May 3	Wurth 400	Texas Motor Speedway	3:30 p.m.
May 10	Go Bowling at the Glen	Watkins Glen International	3 p.m.
May 17	All-Star Race	Dover Motor Speedway	3 p.m.
May 24	Coca-Cola 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway	6 p.m.
May 31	Cracker Barrel 400	Nashville Superspeedway	7 p.m.
June 7	FireKeepers Casino 400	Michigan International Speedway	3 p.m.
June 14	Cup Series race at Pocono	Pocono Raceway	3 p.m.
June 21	Anduril 250	Naval Base Coronado	4 p.m.
June 28	Toyota/Save Mart 350	Sonoma Raceway	3:30 p.m.
July 5	Cup Series race at Chicagoland	Chicagoland Speedway	6 p.m.
July 12	Quaker State 400	EchoPark Speedway	7 p.m.
July 19	Window World 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway	7 p.m.
July 26	Brickyard 400	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	2 p.m.
Aug. 9	Iowa Corn 350	Iowa Speedway	3:30 p.m.
Aug. 15	Cook Out 400	Richmond Raceway	7 p.m.
Aug. 23	Cup Series race at New Hampshire	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	3 p.m.
Aug. 29	Coke Zero Sugar 400	Daytona International Speedway	7:30 p.m.

NASCAR Cup Series playoff race schedule 2026

(All times Eastern)

Date	Race	Track	Time
Sept. 6	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway	5 p.m.
Sept. 13	Enjoy Illinois 300	World Wide Technology Raceway	3 p.m.
Sept. 19	Bass Pro Shops Night Race	Bristol Motor Speedway	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 27	Hollywood Casino 400	Kansas Speedway	3 p.m.
Oct. 4	South Point 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	5:30 p.m.
Oct. 11	Bank of America ROVAL 400	Charlotte Road Course	3 p.m.
Oct. 18	Freeway Insurance 500	Phoenix Raceway	3 p.m.
Oct. 25	Yellawood 500	Talladega Superspeedway	2 p.m.
Nov. 1	Xfinity 500	Martinsville Speedway	2 p.m.
Nov. 8	Cup Series Championship Race	Homestead-Miami Speedway	3 p.m.

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