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NASCAR cup series

  

www.nascar.com

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.

 

Carson Hocevar’s first win highlights surge of young talent in NASCAR

 

April 27, 2026

 

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

 

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Carson Hocevar’s career first win in Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway was impactful not just personally for the 23-year-old but also for his Spire Motorsports team.

 

And frankly, also for the NASCAR Cup Series as a whole.

 

He is the second first-time winner in the last three races, earned the second victory for the high-expectation three-car Spire Motorsports team and provided an unmistakable shining moment in the sport, which has celebrated a pair of 23-year old NASCAR Cup Series race winners who not only bring massive talent but also big personality to the sport.

 

A new generation of next-level talent has arrived and Hocevar, with his unique “victory lap” and unapologetic bold demeanor Sunday afternoon really brought the point home. It was a win so popular in the garage that other drivers – including former champions Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch – made a point to congratulate the young driver on pit road.

 

A win important enough to the sport that newly-named NASCAR Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Steve O’Donnell was all smiles watching Hocevar and his team in all the post-race pageantry and interviews. Asked if he was okay with Hocevar sitting on the window ledge of his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet and driving it in front of an absolutely ecstatic Talladega front grandstands, O’Donnell grinned and nodded in approval.

 

The afternoon and the celebration really transcended a single driver and represented a new generation of talent bringing an equally high wattage dose of star power.

 

“That personality connects," said Spire Motorsports executive Jeff Dickerson.

 

Indeed it did Sunday and likely will in the future. Many people from inside the industry conceded they hadn’t heard a crowd reaction to a race outcome like the one Hocevar received for many years. The fans were loud and stayed as long as possible to watch the young driver get his trophy.

 

Even one the weekend’s other big stars – YouTube mega-personality Cleetus McFarland (who finished runner-up competing in Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series race at Talladega) - called into Hocevar’s press conference hours after the checkered flag to offer his congratulations.

 

The happiness for Hocevar was surpassed only by the genuine gratitude the young driver showed. As fellow 23-year-old, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs did after claiming his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Bristol, Tenn. three weeks ago, Hocevar got emotional in the moment.

 

He reiterated throughout his time with the media that he was careful to take in everything – the sound of the crowd, the confetti blowing through the air, the heartfelt congrats from other competitors, the embraces he received from so many teammates during his trophy hoist.

 

In fact, Hocevar didn’t even throw a big soiree at a fancy hotel to celebrate that milestone, life-changing work Sunday. He instead shared that he was headed to a Chili’s restaurant near his home in North Carolina once he got back home – a perfect opportunity to highlight his sponsor and also a telling reflection of his humble heart.

 

“I think it’s huge," Hocevar’s crew chief Luke Lambert said of the recent wave of young winners.

 

“It’s a great thing to see a new class of superstars come in and usher themselves into the sport. … it’s impressive to see these young guys go up against people that are in that class [of more experienced competitors]. It takes their talents, the right team and atmosphere around them, then the right amount of experience to be able to go toe to toe with those guys, truly Hall of Famers that have years of experience and still have all the talent and all the makings of a phenomenal race car driver.

 

“To see the young guys start to be able to break into that, I think it means great things for the sport."

 

Does this change Hocevar’s competitive reputation? Once considered a “raw” talent with tendencies to make mistakes in overly-aggressive moves on track, this victory in one of the most competitive venues on the circuit stands to go a long way toward establishing Hocevar’s evolving credibility.

 

And the feel-good quotient he produced is undeniable.

 

“I was happy for Ty [Gibbs]," Dickerson said. “You see these kids get their first one (win) and it takes you back to your first one. There’s no feeling like it."

 

“They’re going to see the happiest kid in the world," Dickerson said of the inevitable post-victory attention.

 

All the joy of sport’s big moments.

 

 

nascar reviews & NOTEBOOKS

www.nascar.com

Celebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2023, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series™, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour™), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series™) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series™, NASCAR Mexico Series™, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series™). 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 eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).

  

NASCAR Weekend Preview: Texas Motor Speedway

After breakout win, Carson Hocevar brings confidence to Lone Star State

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

After breakout win, Carson Hocevar brings confidence to Lone Star State

 

For Carson Hocevar, success arrived a week early.

 

Before last Sunday, it would have been reasonable to pick Texas Motor Speedway as a possible venue for Hocevar’s first NASCAR Cup Series win, given his performance at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway.

 

After he stole the show last Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, however, the driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet is seeking his second straight victory in Sunday’s Wurth 400 Presented by LIQUI MOLY (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

 

Far-fetched? Perhaps. But Hocevar has a history at the Fort Worth Track that might suggest otherwise.

 

In 2023, he claimed the first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory of his career at Texas on the way to a four-win season.

 

Last year in Cowtown, he won the only pole position of his Cup Series career with a lap at 191.659 mph.

 

“I feel good about it,” Hocevar said of Sunday’s race. “Obviously, we were on the pole last year and had speed, and I won my first-ever Truck race there.

 

“We have a lot of momentum and excitement behind us right now, while we go into a track that it is realistic to be up front and contend all day. We have been looking forward to and circling Texas for a couple weeks, so what happened last weekend is really an added bonus.”

 

Hocevar’s victory at Talladega was the second of the season for Chevrolet. Ford drivers have only one win so far this season—Ryan Blaney’s triumph at Phoenix Raceway.

 

The defending winner of Sunday’s race at Texas is Joey Logano, whose victory in Fort Worth last season is the last time a Ford driver not named Ryan Blaney won a Cup Series event.

 

Logano’s victory had a special emotional component that made it unforgettable to the three-time series champion.

 

“I remember, probably as much as anything, the day after, just because a little friend of mine—Liam—passed away the next day,” Logano said. “I remember his mom saying one of his last moments of enjoyment was sitting in the hospital watching us win.

 

“I thought that was probably one of the most incredible moments of my life, hearing that and just realizing what that win really meant and how it happened. I remember us not being the fastest car, and I remember just kind of finding ourselves in position to win late in the race, and we were able to take advantage of that.

 

“It made me feel like things were bigger than just the race. That race will always be one of the most remembered wins I’ve ever had because of that.”

 

To defend his victory at the track, Logano will have to overcome several obstacles in terms of statistics and performance. In the last nine Cup races at TMS, there hasn’t been a repeat winner.

 

Logano’s average finish at Texas (13.3) narrowly misses the top 10 all-time. At the last Cup event on a 1.5-mile track (April 19 at Kansas Speedway), Logano had a miserable time with the handling of his No. 22 Team Penske Ford and finished 30th.

 

Series leader Tyler Reddick, a five-time winner this season, has the best average finish at Texas among active drivers (11.0) and third-best all-time. Reddick also was the winner at Kansas two weekends ago.

 

Reddick scored his first Cup Series victory on an oval track at Texas in 2022.

 

Texas Motor Speedway features two fundamentally different sets of corners, the product of repaving and reconfiguration in 2017. Turns 1 and 2 are relatively flat, with Turns 3 and 4 higher-banked and faster.

 

Perhaps the new layout has contributed to unpredictable results at the track. Daniel Suarez boasts the longest active streak of top-10 finishes at Texas with three. Austin Dillon, a 2020 winner in Fort Worth, is second with two.

 

The tire combination Goodyear is providing this weekend has never been used at Texas before, but it’s a known quantity to Cup drivers and crew chiefs, having been run at Las Vegas, Darlington and Kansas this year.

 

Justin Allgaier hopes to turn close calls into a victory at Texas

 

Justin Allgaier’s statistics at Texas Motor Speedway render it nothing short of remarkable that the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet has never won at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway in Fort Worth.

 

Allgaier has qualified in the top 10 in 12 of the last 13 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series events at the track, with a pole in 2023. He has finished in the top-five in five of the last seven races, with a best of second in 2021.

 

In the last three races combined, Allgaier has led 349 laps. He has won five of the last six stages at the track and a record seven overall.

 

Yet Allgaier is seeking his first victory at TMS in Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 (3:30 p.m. ET on CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

 

The irony is that Allgaier, the career leader in Dash 4 Cash wins with eight, isn’t eligible for the $100,000 bonus in the final race in this year’s Dash 4 Cash program. A victory, however, would suffice on its own merits.

 

“Texas has been a really good track for us over the last few years,” Allgaier acknowledged. “I know that (crew chief) Andrew (Overstreet) and all the guys on this Roto-Rooter Chevrolet are working really hard to give us another car capable of running up front again this weekend.

 

“We’ve come close here before, and hopefully we can be in a position at the end of the day to get that one spot better and come away with a Cowboy hat.”

 

Standing in Allgaier’s way is defending race winner Kyle Larson, who is making his fourth start of the season in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Larson has a victory, a second and a fourth in his first three 2026 starts in the car.

 

Sheldon Creed is seeking his third straight Dash 4 Cash bonus, having won at Kansas Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway with respective finishes of second and third. To collect the $100,000 prize, Creed must finish higher than three other eligible drivers—Corey Day, Sammy Smith and Brent Crews.

 

Fresh from his first career O’Reilly Series victory at Talladega, Day is eligible for the Dash 4 Cash bonus for the first time. Interestingly, in last Saturday's race, Day became only the sixth driver in series history to notch his first career victory while leading only the final lap.

 

Kyle Busch hopes to add to impressive win total at Texas

 

Kyle Busch returns to action in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, and that may spell bad news for series regulars hoping to win Friday night’s SpeedyCash.com 250 (8 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

 

The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series hasn’t raced on a 1.5-mile intermediate track since last May at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a gap of more than 11 months. In Texas, the series returns to a venue that presents unique challenges, where the backstretch flows from relatively flat Turns 1 and 2 into high-banked, high-speed Turns 3 and 4.

 

The 52nd CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Texas (most of any track) is unlikely to present a problem for Busch, who has won six of the previous 51 races there. In fact, Busch is nearly as prolific at Texas as he is at Bristol Motor Speedway.

 

Across all three of NASCAR’s national series, Busch has won 20 times in Fort Worth (four Cup, 10 O’Reilly and six Truck) versus 22 total victories at Thunder Valley.

 

“Texas is a track where I’ve had a lot of success in the Truck Series, including a win with Spire a couple of years ago,” said Busch, who will drive Spire’s No. 7 Chevrolet on Friday night.

 

“We had a lot of speed in our HendrickCars.com Silverado at Atlanta, and I know (Carson) Hocevar was really fast at Texas last year, so hopefully we can capitalize on the speed that Spire is bringing to the mile-and-a-half tracks and add another trophy to the trophy case.”

 

Hocevar will compete in the No. 77 Spire Chevrolet Silverado. He, Busch and Ross Chastain (No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevy) are the only three full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers entered in Friday night’s race.

 

However, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series regulars Brandon Jones and William Sawalich will be driving Toyotas for TRICON Garage.

 

Last year’s winner, Corey Heim, is not entered. Busch is the most recent Texas winner in the field (2024).

 

--30--

 

 

   nascar cup series

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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