Halfway through the Cup Series regular season at the forefront of everyone’s mind is the tragic loss of NASCAR champion Kyle Busch. However, on the race track in the season’s first 13 races there have been surprises, disappointments and a few expectations that were met. Let’s take a look at how the 2026 season has developed.
Surprises
Sean Gardner
Tyler Reddick
After a winless 2025 season, no one expected the 23XI Racing driver to make his mark in NASCAR history by becoming the first competitor to win the season’s first three races. Then he won five of the first nine races, the first driver to accomplish that feat since Dale Earnhardt in 1987. He’s also the only driver this season who has finished every race on the lead lap. It’s quite clear that everyone is chasing Reddick.
Spire Motorsports
Even though Spire Motorsports has an alliance with Hendrick Motorsports, no one could have predicted that Spire’s number of victories this year—two—would equate to the same number as Hendrick’s.
Toyota Domination
Through the first 13 races, the season has belonged to Toyota. The OEM won four of the season’s first five races and led more laps than Ford and Chevrolet combined. However, of the nine full-time Toyota drivers, only three have won races. Tyler Reddick has five in his pocket while Denny Hamlin owns one, including the All-Star race. Ty Gibbs owns the other victory.
Icon Sportswire
Joe Gibbs Racing Lawsuit
With the December settlement of 23XI Racing’s and Front Row Motorsports’ antitrust suit against NASCAR, no one expected another federal lawsuit in the motorsports community just two months later. Joe Gibbs Racing filed suit against its former competition director Chris Gabehart, accusing him of taking propriety information to Spire Motorsports and violating the no-compete clause in his JGR contract.
Carson Hocevar’s Victory Celebration
Just when victory celebration burnouts had become status quo, enter Carson Hocevar. When the Michigan native drove his car down Talladega Superspeedway’s frontstretch while sitting in his car’s window, the fans became ecstatic. It will be in highlight footage for years, and, no doubt, the fans will want more.
Sean Gardner
Alex Bowman
In the season’s third race of the season the Arizona native had to get out of his car during the Circuit of Americas event due to vertigo. He missed four races before returning in mid-April at Bristol. This was the third health issue Bowman has had in recent years. He also suffered a fractured vertebra in a dirt Sprint Car race in Iowa, and a concussion in a crash at Texas Motor Speedway prior to this year.
RFK Racing
Even though the team is still rebuilding, all three drivers are currently qualified for the post-season because they’re in the top 16 in the standings. Chris Buescher is seventh, Brad Keselowski 11th and Ryan Preece 16th.
David Jensen
Shane van Gisbergen
The New Zealander is Trackhouse Racing’s best performing driver. With one victory, two top-five and three top-10 finishes, Van Gisbergen is the only Trackhouse Racing driver currently qualified for the post-season. He’s 14th in the point standings. He’s also led 91 laps and secured one pole.
Disappointments
Krista Jasso
Team Penske
Of the organization’s three entries, Ryan Blaney has secured not only Penske’s but Ford’s sole victory this year. Pit road problems have plagued Blaney this year, but the third-generation driver has still managed to maintain third in the standings. Neither teammate, Austin Cindric and Joey Logano, are currently in playoff position. Cindric is 17th and Logano is 18th in the point standings.
Chevrolet
his OEM introduced a new body this year with great expectations. However, the body was developed before NASCAR released its new higher horsepower/lower downforce package for the tracks less than 1.5 miles in length. Drivers have had difficulty with the car’s balance. Overall, Chevrolet has four victories this season.
David Jensen
Hendrick Motorsports
Even though three of Hendrick’s four drivers are qualified for the post-season, only one of them has visited victory lane. Chase Elliott, who is fifth in the standings, has recorded two victories this year. Kyle Larson is sixth in the standings while William Byron is 12th, but Larson hasn’t won in more than a year. Byron’s last victory came in October at Martinsville.
Chase Briscoe
Last year, Briscoe won three races, seven poles and finished third in the standings, so it was surprising when the Joe Gibbs Racing driver got off to a sluggish start. In the season’s first four races, Briscoe finished 36th or worse in three of them. Even though Briscoe has pulled himself up to 15th in the standings, the team is still having consistency issues.
Meets ExpectationsCarson Hocevar, Ty Gibbs
Both drivers were expected to win this year and they delivered in the season’s first 13 races. Gibbs won at Bristol, holding off Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney. Hocevar edged Chris Buescher at Talladega.
Denny Hamlin
The 45-year-old Virginia native picked up where he left off last year, leading and winning races. Currently second in the standings, Hamlin won at Las Vegas, the All-Star race at Dover, claimed a pole, posted six top-five and eight top-10 finishes, and led 699 laps in the first 13 races.
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.