{"id":678473,"date":"2026-05-18T23:32:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/678473\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T23:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:32:14","slug":"midseason-nascar-awards-2026-top-driver-biggest-disappointment-best-and-worst-pit-crew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/678473\/","title":{"rendered":"Midseason NASCAR Awards 2026: Top Driver, Biggest Disappointment, Best and Worst Pit Crew"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway marks the midway point of the regular season for the NASCAR Cup Series. With 12 points races of NASCAR stats to analyze, now is the perfect time to hand out some awards at this stage of the season.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dive into our midseason NASCAR awards ahead of the Coca-Cola 600.<\/p>\n

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Best Driver: Tyler Reddick\"Midseason<\/p>\n

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Who else but Tyler Reddick would get this honor? Has the No. 45 team had a bit of good fortune this season? Certainly. What can\u2019t be denied are the results and how Reddick consistently just finds a way to finish near the front of the field. He starts (6.6 average starting position<\/a>, 1st in Cup Series) just as strong as he finishes (5.7 average finishing position), and he\u2019s snagged a top-five finish in 66.7 percent of his races with a top-10 in 75 percent of races. With a 129-point lead in late May, Reddick feels destined to win the regular-season title.<\/p>\n

Best Team: Joe Gibbs Racing\"Midseason<\/p>\n

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

23XI Racing merits a bit of consideration here, but Joe Gibbs Racing has obviously been the best team in NASCAR thus far. Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs have both delivered wins this season, and JGR is the only team with two drivers among the top-six points leaders. Furthermore, Hamlin (624) and teammate Christopher Bell (325) rank first and third in laps led, with Ty in 11th place (78). While it\u2019s been a relatively quiet season for Chase Briscoe in his first year with JGR, the driver of the No. 19 car does rank eighth in average finishing position (13.0) over the last six races<\/a> with three top-10 finishes.<\/p>\n

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Biggest Surprise: Ty Gibbs\"Midseason<\/p>\n

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Ty Gibbs remains one of the least popular drivers in NASCAR, and there were plenty questioning entering the year if he\u2019d prove he truly belonged behind the wheel of the No. 54 car. Let the results this season speak volumes about the improvements made by the 23-year-old. In 2025, Gibbs had five top-fives, 10 top-10s and posted an average finishing position of 17.86. Through 12 races this season, he\u2019s already at six top-fives and on pace to shatter his career-high (eight) in the Cup Series. Likewise, he\u2019s delivered eight top-10 finishes and will blow past his previous season-best mark (12 in 2024). On top of that, Gibbs recorded his first Cup Series win, with a seven-week stretch of top-10 finishes that has dramatically improved his average finishing position to the sixth-best mark (13.8) in Cup.<\/p>\n

Biggest Disappointment: Joey Logano\"Midseason<\/p>\n

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

A year ago we would\u2019ve put Kyle Busch on this list, but he avoids it this season because of how low the bar of expectations has now reached for Richard Childress Racing and the No. 8 team. So, that leaves Joey Logano as the biggest disappointment in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. Logano has as many top-10 finishes this season (three) as DNFs, with an average finishing position (22.417) that ranks 26th in the Cup Series, behind the likes of A.J. Allmendinger (19.5), Zane Smith (19.9) and Erik Jones (20.0). Since Darlington, Logano has an average finishing position of 26.5, and that\u2019s with a third-place finish at Martinsville and seventh at Bristol. Logano has zero shot at challenging for a championship this year, and a best-case scenario might be finishing outside the top-10 in The Chase.<\/p>\n

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Best Pit Crew: No. 20 Team\"Midseason<\/p>\n

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Quite a few things have gone wrong for Christopher Bell this season, some of it out of his control. What JGR and Bell have to feel great about right now is how phenomenal the No. 20 pit crew has been. NASCAR.com<\/a> rated them as the No. 1 pit crew entering the All-Star Race, and the numbers back it up. Bell\u2019s pit crew has the second-fastest average pit stop (10.52 seconds) this season, with the fastest pit stop (8.92 seconds) of the season. Furthermore, per PitCrewRank.com<\/a>, only nine of the 47 pit stops have taken 11.6 seconds or more, with the No. 20 crew ranked first in PCR (1,072).<\/p>\n

Worst Pit Crew: No. 8 Team\"Midseason<\/p>\n

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Kyle Busch\u2019s winless streak in the Cup Series has reached triple digits. The future Hall of Famer deserves plenty of blame for what\u2019s happened, with his struggles adjusting to the Next Gen car and his temper costing him better finishes playing a part in the struggles. What can\u2019t be ignored is how bad the No. 8 pit crew has been this season. Busch\u2019s pit crew ranks 35th in PCR with an abysmal 12.22 average pit time. Whereas Bell has only had a pit stop go 11.6-plus seconds 19.2 percent of the time, the No. 8 team has needed 12-plus seconds<\/a> on 17 of 49 qualifying pit stops, or 34.7 percent of the time. We won\u2019t be predicting Busch to win a Cup race anytime soon.<\/p>\n

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Related: Insider Reveals Which Team Kyle Busch Could Race for in 2027<\/a><\/p>\n

Most Improved Driver: Carson Hocevar\"Midseason<\/p>\n

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Carson Hocevar is the next superstar that NASCAR has been waiting for. The 23-year-old\u2019s first career Cup Series win at Talladega and the celebration that came after was probably the best moment in the Cup Series this season. What really stands out with the driver of the No. 77 car is how he\u2019s channeling his aggressiveness and racing smarter, resulting in more consistency at the finish. Hocevar (14.6) currently ranks ahead of the likes of William Byron (16.0), Kyle Larson (17.3), Chase Briscoe (17.5) and Christopher Bell (17.8) in average finishing position. He\u2019s also already set his career-high for top-fives (three), and he\u2019ll break personal bests for top-10s (nine) and laps led (131) in a few weeks. Mind you, Hocevar is having all of this success while overcoming a bottom-10 pit crew.<\/p>\n

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