With the first of two off weekends in the books for the NASCAR Cup Series, the sport’s best head to the 0.533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Food City 500 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
While some were either desperately in need of the Easter break or return to the track looking to right the ship, others have exceeded expectations to begin the 2026 season. Here are four drivers who have overachieved through the first seven races.
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 54 Toyota
Entering the season, Gibbs had struggled to produce consistent results and only qualified for the playoffs once in his first three full-time campaigns. While he still remains winless at the sport’s top level, Gibbs has five straight finishes of sixth or better and currently sits sixth in the standings.
Furthermore, Gibbs could be primed for his first career win at Bristol considering he has four top 10s in six starts and led 201 of the 500 laps in the 2025 fall race. This will be the first Bristol race to utilize the new 750-horsepower package, but Gibbs was fourth at Martinsville in its short track debut.
Many wondered if van Gisbergen would show any improvement on ovals this season in Year 2 at the Cup Series level. He has finished inside the top 15 in five of the seven races this season, including at three of the four traditional ovals the series has visited.
Although many doubted if the road course ace would be consistent enough on ovals to make the 16-driver Chase field later this season, he has proved that notion wrong up to this point as he currently holds the 14th spot in the standings.
There is still a long way to go and a variety of tracks over the upcoming months. However, van Gisbergen is the best of the Trackhouse Racing trio in points right now and has showed he is more than capable of contending for a Chase berth.
Daniel Suarez, Spire Motorsports, No. 7 Chevrolet
For the first time since the 2020 season, Suarez is not driving for the Trackhouse organization after making the transition over to the three-car stable at Spire Motorsports. He only has two top 10s so far, but he has frequently put himself in or around the top 10 each week.
While Suarez was a playoff driver twice in his tenure at Trackhouse, he was just 29th in points last season and posted an average finish of 20.9. Of all the drivers below him in the standings after seven races, only Austin Cindric (47) has more stage points than Suarez (26), which suggests a driver who has had a solid start to the season.
Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports, No. 38 Ford
Smith is the lowest in points (22nd) of each of the four drivers on this list, but that does not fully tell the entire story. He never has finished higher than 28th in points during his first two seasons and has failed to record more than five top-10 finishes in a season.
Through seven races, he is already sits spots better in the standings and has a pair of top 10s. Additionally, he was competitive at Circuit of The Americas and Las Vegas before settling for 33rd and 14th, respectively. The results do not entirely reflect it, but Smith has quietly put together an encouraging start.