Corey Heim Ty Majeski Tyler Ankrum Kaden Honeycutt
And with that, the stage is set for a NASCAR Truck Series championship race that wouldn’t feel right being won by anyone other then Heim, crew chief Scott Zipadelli and the Tricon Garage No. 11 team after winning for a record setting 11th time this season.
And yet, there are three other contenders, including the one that won last year that would have no qualms in breaking the system and taking home the big trophy in less than a week.
But make no mistake, while Heim and Company have had all summer to build this truck, there is already a part of this team lamenting the very concept that they couldn’t leave with the hardware after their body of work.
11 wins 18 top-5s 20 top-10s 5.2 average finish … in 24 starts
“I think (Majeski) will be the one we have to beat for sure, but I mean, you can kind of suck all year and bring your best truck to Phoenix and you can win the whole championship,” Heim said. “It doesn’t matter how good you’ve been all year.
“Like, look at (Majeski, Joe Shear and the Thorsport No. 98), they have not been the best. I don’t think they have a win to their name this year but they are probably the truck to beat alongside us next weekend.
“It’s interesting the way it works but I am going to be looking out for him, plus the other two, because you never know what someone can bring to a one race take all.”
Heim said it in a way like he is almost resigned to it, not due to a lack of confidence in his team, but just in all the ways a small sample size can create something not reflective of their season.
His crew chief already said ‘this format literally sucks,’ and that’s kind of a prevailing narrative.
Read Also:
“I try not to look at it with negativity, and if you look at last year, (Christian Eckes) would have won if not for the format,” Heim said. “We had an opportunity to go to Phoenix and he finished third out of everybody and he had no business finishing third in the full season points with one of the best season averages ever.”
He is now that driver.
“At the end of the day it’s what I signed up for. This what I have to deal with as a NASCAR driver but it just promotes and rewards mediocrity in a sense that no one wants to take risks unless you have playoff points and the guys that are just good at either not getting wrecked or can just finish well in these rounds and sneak into the playoffs.”
When asked if next Friday was a chance to validate his team, Heim just would not let go of what could go wrong.
“Like we’ve won 11 races this year,” Heim said. “We’ve proven everything to this point and now all someone has to go do is go into Turn 1 and absolutely wipe you out … and that proves that they’re the best driver?
“That’s kind of my main gripe at the end of the day, and you saw it in (2023) we probably didn’t deserve to win the championship in the sense of wins but we had a really good consistent average finish and then we got wiped out.”
That was the year Carson Hocevar crashed him while leading.
“So, what does this prove? That’s my main gripe.”
Buzzer Beater
With the benefit of hindsight, Layne Riggs was actually eliminated from the Playoffs halfway through the first stage because he couldn’t get going through the gears from the front row on the restart and ultimately finished sixth in the first stage.
If he finished fifth, that’s one more point that would have seen him through to the finals. Fourth? In easily.
Instead, Riggs finished third behind Honeycutt, with them ending this round in a tie. Riggs drew even with a point for the fastest lap but Honeycutt’s best finish this round, second, was better than Riggs’ third.
And that was that.
“Battling back there at the end, we thought that we were the tiebreaker winner, and I got told that we were in, and I was still just kind of upset,” Riggs said. “I don’t like how those races finish like that. You have to do what you have to do. That’s just not my kind of mentality, I don’t like doing that …
“But I’m hearing, ‘Gotta get a spot, gotta get one,’ I’m going to do what my team tells me to do to get into this championship. Roughing guys up, I don’t really want to rough up; they have done nothing to me in the past. I don’t like how it comes down to the end like this, and how people race, especially here at Martinsville.”
It just left the second-generation racer overall dismayed with the format, especially given him three wins and two winless drivers advancing over him.
“We thought we were the tiebreaker winner. I got told that we were in and I was still upset. I just don’t like how those races finish like that. You have to do what you have to do. That’s not my kind of mentality and I don’t like doing that. Either way, we’ve had a great year all the way around.”
Riggs thought he was in even upon climbing out of the truck. Conversely, Honeycutt thought he was out until Todd Bodine congratulated him after getting out.
“All (spotter Chris) Lambert told me was to not lose a spot and fight like hell,” Honeycutt said. “I didn’t do the best job of executing the restart and Corey did an excellent job of executing. Just had to hold on and hoped that everything worked out. Thankfully it did, and now we get the chance to go have fun next week and try to mix it up.”
He was considerably emotional climbing out.
“I was just a dirt track kid from Texas and I didn’t really have any business being in NASCAR,” Honeycutt said. “Thanks to all the nights of my dad out there in the shop at 2 and 3 o’clock in the morning working on dirt cars every night and to all the people that I’ve been able to race for my career and get to this point to have the opportunity to go to Phoenix now.”
His championship run is one of the more unique in the Truck Series history because he started the season with Niece Motorsports. When he brokered a deal to join Tricon Garage next season, a Toyota team, it meant that he lost all data from Chevrolet and could not finish at Niece.
At the same time, Stewart Friesen had gotten injured in a Dirt Modified, and his Toyota team needed a driver to finish out the year. Friesen had won to advance his truck into the playoffs and found a driver who could finish the year and win a title for both.
“It’s unbelievable, man,” Honeycutt said. “I should have very easily been on the couch in July after I made my decision on what to do. And I’m so grateful to be a part of Toyota and this amazing manufacturer. To carry on this championship now, we got a 50 percent chance of winning it at least. So I’m very much looking forward to next weekend. Regardless of how everything goes, I’m just extremely thankful.”
Ty Majeski, ThorSport Racing Ford
Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images
Meanwhile, Majeski did not have his best night, struggling with an ill-handling car and a soft brake pedal at some point.
“Obviously, I have mixed emotions,” Majeski said. “We come to a short track and we expect to be a little bit more competitive than that, but we qualified good, got good stage points and that was the difference tonight. I knew once we got back in traffic we were in pretty big trouble. I kind of knew from when we unloaded this thing today that it wasn’t quite right, but we persevered and got good stage points. The crew guys had a hell of a pit stop and kept our track position and I was just kind of playing defense at the end. It was just good enough.”
And does he feel good about next week?
“Oh yeah.”
And then that leaves Ankrum, a seven-year veteran of the Truck Series, who is making his first ever appearance in a championship race in this division.
“To fire off the way we did the first six or seven races of the year and then to have that big slump in the middle of the summer and still get here, by just racing smarter than everyone else, that’s a huge tip of the cap to this team,” Ankrum said. “We did it quietly and safely and proud to be in the final four.”
Grant Enfinger and Daniel Hemric faced must-win odds due to how the Roval and Talladega went for them. Enfinger had about a fifth place car, but that wasn’t enough and he took tires late just to try to make something happen.
He finished 12th, as making his way through the field in a track position race was just a grind. Hemric had a radiator and oil cooler puncture during the stack-up caused by the Riggs missed shift and was not running at the finish.
Caruth denied
Rajah Caruth entered the race 14 points above the cutline, best amongst the drivers not named ‘Corey Heim’ but was eliminated following contact with Honeycutt.
The incident occurred in Turn 4 on Lap 73 and cut the left rear tire on the Spire Motorsports N0. 71, and sent Caruth into the wall.
“Just tight racing with steel bodies and stuff you can’t really rub. You’ll cut a tire,” Caruth said after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “And as soon as it cut, it was on the rim, so I kind of was just out of control. So not anything deliberate obviously, just things happen and hate I was on the bad end of it.”
Caruth had won the race at Nashville earlier in the season, his second full-time year in Trucks, and will move up to the Xfinity Series next year in a part-time capacity with JR Motorsports.
“Definitely heartbroken, for sure,” Caruth said. “It’d be different if it was something that I did, if I messed up, but it was pretty much out of my control. Definitely a heartbreaker.”
For his part, Honeycutt was remorseful.
“I was pretty mad at myself, to be honest. I really hate that,” Honeycutt said. “I didn’t want any of that to happen. I know me and him came off the corner pretty close, and I really just need to look and see if he tracked out enough or if I just came up into him. So I’m definitely going to talk to him about that. I hate that it happened. He’s a good buddy. Thankfully, we were able to move past that and just execute all night and put ourselves in a spot to be tied to go on to Phoenix.”
Daytona International Speedway announced today that three-time GRAMMY-award winning country music superstar Miranda Lambert is set to perform the DAYTONA 500 pre-race concert. The most-awarded artist in Academy of Country Music history is set to kickstart the festivities prior to the 68th running of The Great American Race.
“To have this level of talent with an artist such as Miranda Lambert performing our pre-race concert adds an incredible amount of energy for the 68th running of the DAYTONA 500,” said Frank Kelleher, Daytona International Speedway President. “Her powerhouse vocals and passion for music are the perfect mix to represent the prestige of this event. Get ready for the thunder of country music before we wave the green flag and engines roar to kick off the 2026 season!”
Lambert’s generational career in the country music scene has spanned over 20 years, with her first chart-topping studio album Kerosene released in 2005. She has since released nine additional solo albums, plus collaborative projects as part of the Pistol Annies as well as GRAMMY-nominated album The Marfa Tapes together with Jon Randall and Jack Ingram.
A multi-dimensional superstar, she’s earned seven No. 1 solo albums, 10 No. 1 hit radio singles, more than 80 prestigious awards and countless RIAA certifications; conquered Las Vegas with her twice-extended Velvet Rodeo residency; and blurred genres with Leon Bridges, the B-52s, Loretta Lynn, Enrique Iglesias, Sheryl Crow, Elle King; and was named to the TIME100 list honoring the world’s 100 most influential people.
Lambert’s most recent album, the current GRAMMY-nominee Postcards from Texas, continued her unbroken streak of 10 consecutive Top 10s on the Top Country Albums chart. Lambert also recently collaborated with Chris Stapleton on “A Song to Sing,” as well as Reba McEntire and Lainey Wilson on “Trailblazer,” both of which are also nominated at the upcoming 68th Annual GRAMMY Awards.
In addition to performing at Daytona International Speedway, Lambert has various tour appearances scheduled across the country through summer 2026. In addition to her own storied music career, she has taken those standards to become a label co-founder, teaming with longtime collaborator Jon Randall to launch their own imprint, Big Loud Texas, in partnership with Big Loud Records. Lambert is also a New York Times best-selling author and was the first female restaurateur on Lower Broadway with her Tex-Mex cantina Casa Rosa, while also expanding her creative reach with her Wanda June Home collection and Idyllwind western wear brand. Her passion for rescue animals inspired the creation of her MuttNation Foundation, which has raised over $11 million since inception to promote adoption, support shelters across the country, advance spay & neuter and assist with the transport of animals during times of natural disaster.
The action begins on Wednesday, Feb. 11, with DAYTONA 500 Qualifying Presented by Busch Light, setting the field for the Duel At DAYTONA, which occurs the following night on Thursday, Feb. 12, where drivers will battle it out for a spot in the coveted Great American Race.
The season-opening races for all three NASCAR national series as well as the ARCA Menards Series kick off on Friday, Feb. 13, starting with the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Fresh From Florida 250. Saturday, Feb. 14, will feature an action-packed double-header with the ARCA Menards Series race followed by the Xfinity Series United Rentals 300.
Then Sunday, Feb. 15, the USAF Thunderbirds will perform their flyover, preparing both fans and drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series for an intense battle in the DAYTONA 500.
For more information regarding the DAYTONA 500 and Speedweeks Presented by AdventHealth, please visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com.
New installation celebrates the owners who helped shape NASCAR competition
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Jan. 10, 2026) – “Glory Road: Owners,” the sixth edition of the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s signature Glory Road exhibit, is now on display.
The next generation of this exhibit places ownership at the forefront, highlighting the leaders who helped steer NASCAR from its early days to today’s championship-level competition.
Reimagined every three years, the Hall’s Glory Road exhibit reflects the sport’s evolving history.
“The process for identifying the theme and cars for our iconic Glory Road exhibit is among the most challenging and enjoyable activities we are blessed to do here at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The ‘Glory Road: Owners’ edition is no exception,” said Winston Kelley, Executive Director of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
“Our exhibits team has done a phenomenal job selecting a wide range and diverse group of owners and cars to show the remarkable depth and breadth of owners who have been a critical foundation of NASCAR’s history throughout our nearly 80-year history. I believe our guests will be equally impressed and excited with Glory Road: Owners.”
Encircling the Great Hall, Glory Road has served as one of the Hall’s most prominent focal points since opening in 2010.
Along its iconic banked track, visitors will see firsthand how team owners shaped every aspect of NASCAR, from car design and competition strategy to the drivers and teams who became household names.
The collection features 18 historic cars spanning model years 1937 through 2025, representing seven manufacturers across six racing series, and offers an immersive journey through the sport’s evolution.
Fourteen of the owners featured are NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductees.
Together, they account for 55 NASCAR Cup Series championships, nearly 1,700 race wins and 44 Daytona 500 victories, showing the remarkable influence these leaders have had on the sport.
“It is always exciting to present new stories, interactives and historic artifacts to our guests,” said Kevin Schlesier, Senior Director, Museum and Industry Affairs, at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
“Glory Road: Owners is part of the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s commitment to continually update and change exhibits to engage our visitors and to bring new aspects of NASCAR’s history to light.
“It is an honor to be entrusted with these 18 historic race cars that bring to the forefront the incredible contributions owners have made in growing the sport. It is an equal privilege to create unique displays and digital interactives to bring the stories to life.”
Below is the complete lineup of new cars installed on Glory Road.
More details on each owner and car are available here.
Additionally, the full media kit is available here.
Roger Penske (Class of 2019) / Team Penske / 2022 Ford Mustang
Wendell Scott (Class of 2015) / Wendell Scott Racing / 1937 Ford Modified
Glenn Wood (Class of 2012) / Wood Brothers Racing / 1954 Ford Coupe
Bud Moore (Class of 2011) / Bud Moore Engineering / 1964 Mercury Marauder
John Holman, Ralph Moody (Class of 2025) / Holman Moody Racing / 1965 Ford Galaxie
Junie Donlavey / Donlavey Racing / 1979 Ford Thunderbird
Lee Petty (Class of 2011) / Petty Enterprises / 1981 Buick Regal
Junior Johnson (Class of 2010) / Junior Johnson & Associates / 1986 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Robert Yates (Class of 2018) / Robert Yates Racing / 1992 Ford Thunderbird
Jack Roush (Class of 2019) / Roush Racing / 1997 Ford Thunderbird
Richard Childress (Class of 2017) / Richard Childress Racing / 2000 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Rick Hendrick (Class of 2017) / Hendrick Motorsports / 2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Ray Evernham (Class of 2018) / Evernham Motorsports / 2006 Dodge Charger
Duke and Rhonda Thorson / ThorSport Racing / 2019 Ford F-150
Joe Gibbs (Class of 2020) / Joe Gibbs Racing / 2022 Toyota Supra
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Class of 2021), Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Rick Hendrick (Class of 2017) / JR Motorsports / 2024 Chevrolet Camaro
Kevin and DeLana Harvick / Kevin Harvick Inc. / 2025 Chevrolet Camaro
Bill Blair / Bill Blair Racing / 1953 Oldsmobile Super 88
“Glory Road: Owners” will be on display through December 2028 and is included with general admission to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Tickets, hours and additional information are available at nascarhall.com.
About the NASCAR Hall of Fame:
Located in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, the NASCAR Hall of Fame is an interactive, entertainment attraction honoring the history and heritage of NASCAR.
The high-tech venue, designed to educate and entertain race fans and non-fans alike, includes artifacts, hands-on exhibits, a 278-person state-of-the-art theater, Hall of Honor and the NASCAR Hall of Fame Gear Shop.
Opened on May 11, 2010, the NASCAR Hall of Fame is owned by the City of Charlotte, licensed by NASCAR and operated by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.
Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, the only teams in the Cup Series to field four entries, are also the most successful teams in NASCAR. In any given season, they are expected to get at least one of their drivers to the championship finale. But what are the chances that they get all four drivers there?
All four drivers of a team reaching the finale is unprecedented, no doubt, even for JGR and Hendrick Motorsports. Recently, Dave Alpern, the president of Joe Gibbs Racing, discussed this ‘perfect’ scenario in a video for his team media.
“There are only two organizations that could happen, and that’s Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing,” said Alpern.
“Because we are the only ones with four. We are the only ones that have ever put three in. I can tell you one thing. It’s really stressful,” added Alpern, before explaining how dynamics and resources get stretched in the process.
Alpern likened it to having multiple children participating in the same competition, knowing that all except one is going to lose. As stressful as such a scenario would be, he recognizes that it would be an amazing problem to have.
“I would love to try it one year. I am sure our friends down the road will love that as well,” continued Alpern.
The logistics and the sheer workload that would go into such a setting would be massive, to say the least. Moreover, the current format will require three of the cars to each win a race in the playoffs’ Round of 8, while the final car will have to qualify on points for this to happen.
Yes, technically, it could happen. Alpern hopes it does happen. But the question is if it ever will.
“I hope it does happen. In some ways, it’d be great because you’d clinch the championship the week before. But it sounds like the playoff format might change. So, we may never get to find out,” said Alpern.
NASCAR is on the verge of announcing key changes to the existing playoff format. Word around town is that a multi-race championship round is on the cards instead of a single race.
However, speculations will have to wait until official word comes from Daytona. Until then, Joe Gibbs Racing fans can look back at the historic 2019 season, when the team put three drivers in the Championship 4.
Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Denny Hamlin had competed for the title alongside Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick. Busch eventually won that year.
Connor Zilisch is preparing for his rookie NASCAR Cup Series campaign, and he’ll have veteran crew chief Randall Burnett on pit road after leaving Kyle Busch and Richard Childress Racing mid-way through 2025. Zilisch, 19, was confirmed by Trackhouse Racing mid-season, long before the Xfinity Series Championship 4 race in Phoenix, where he fell painfully short to Jesse Love despite dominating the competition year-long.
To support the teenager, Trackhouse made immediate moves to provide Zilisch with veteran experience in the Cup Series. And so, they hired Burnett to be Zilisch’s crew chief.
Burnett and Busch parted ways after underwhelming seasons and missed back-to-back playoff appearances. Zilisch is pleased to have Burnett in his corner, with the crew chief bringing a wealth of experience, having joined RCR in 2020. Before that, Burnett had several years of experience as a crew chief in the Xfinity series.
“He’s a great guy. He worked with a lot of younger guys. He was with Tyler and Xfinity and worked with him in Cup as well, and then he’s also worked with guys like, obviously, Kyle Bush, one of the most pronounced guys in our sport, and so he’s got a lot of experience,” Zilisch said.
Burnett isn’t a rookie when it comes to working with first-year drivers, either. “I think that experience is gonna help me, and the fact that he’s worked with a rookie before, he understands the growing pains. That way, I kinda know what to expect. I think that’s gonna be really helpful for me and him in our relationship,” Zilisch added.
Sign up to our NASCAR newsletter here.
Likewise, Burnett is looking forward to his “fresh start” with Zilisch. “I’m excited about my opportunity over there, and you know, obviously, something’s got to change on this 8 car,” Burnett told NASCAR.com. “We haven’t been performing the way we needed to.
“I think everybody needs a fresh start. I got a really good opportunity with where I’m going. Obviously, Connor’s a great young talent. I miss working with the younger guys. So, you know, just kind of all worked out.”
Before Zilisch’s Xfinity championship heartbreak, Burnett identified that the Cup Series won’t be plain sailing for the NASCAR phenom. “I think he’s going to have a lot to learn in the Cup Series,” Burnett said.
“Obviously, the races are longer. These cars definitely race a little different than what he’s used to on the Xfinity side right now, and the talent level over here is incredible, you know what I mean.
“I think he’ll have a pretty steep learning curve when he gets over here, but I want to help guide him with that and try to coach him up. Obviously, the kid’s got an immense amount of talent — there’s no question about that.
“So it’s just going to be taking that and harnessing it and trying to get the wins and the finishes he deserves over here, and we’re going to work hard on that this winter.”
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series sees relatively few driver swaps compared to prior years, with the lineup largely stable and no open full-time chartered seats (barring any lawsuit outcomes). Key moves include one major driver switch, several crew chief shuffles, and some team alliances/manufacturer changes. Here’s a breakdown by category:
–by Mark Cipolloni–
NASCAR Cup Driver Changes
– Daniel Suárez: Leaves Trackhouse Racing (No. 99 Chevy) after mutual agreement and joins Spire Motorsports (No. 7 Chevy), replacing Justin Haley. – Connor Zilisch: Promoted from Xfinity (JR Motorsports No. 88) to full-time Cup with Trackhouse Racing (No. 88 Chevy, formerly van Gisbergen’s number). – Shane van Gisbergen: Stays with Trackhouse but switches car numbers from No. 88 to No. 97 Chevy. – Cody Ware: Returns full-time to Rick Ware Racing (No. 51 Chevy) for a second season. – No other full-time driver seats are changing hands; veterans like Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Elliott are locked in with extensions.
Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on March 01, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
NASCAR Crew Chief and Personnel Changes
– Ross Chastain (Trackhouse No. 1): New crew chief Brandon McSwain (formerly an engineer with Hendrick’s No. 24). Previous chief Phil Surgen moves to another role at Trackhouse. – Kyle Busch (RCR No. 8): New crew chief Jim Pohlman (from JR Motorsports Xfinity). Randall Burnett shifts to Trackhouse for Zilisch. – Connor Zilisch (Trackhouse No. 88): Crew chief Randall Burnett (from RCR No. 8). – Daniel Suárez (Spire No. 7): Retains Ryan Sparks as crew chief; Matt McCall promoted to competition director at Spire. – Erik Jones (Legacy No. 43): New crew chief Justin Alexander (RCR veteran); Ben Beshore moves to race engineering director. – Noah Gragson (Front Row No. 4): New crew chief Grant Hutchens; Drew Blickensderfer becomes competition director.
Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Jockey x Folds of Honor Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25, 2025 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR)
NASCAR Team and Manufacturer Changes
– Trackhouse Racing: Expands effectively with Zilisch’s promotion; car number swap (88 and 97); new Red Bull sponsorship for Zilisch and van Gisbergen (25 races total). – Haas Factory Team (No. 41): Switches from Ford to Chevrolet with Hendrick alliance; Cole Custer full-time. – Rick Ware Racing: Switches from Ford to Chevrolet with RCR alliance; ownership shift to T.J. Puchyr; Corey LaJoie runs partial schedule in No. 15. – Other Stables: Front Row, Hendrick, Joe Gibbs, Penske, Roush Fenway Keselowski, 23XI, Legacy, and Kaulig see no major team expansions or folds, but various sponsorship renewals (e.g., Dollar Tree/Family Dollar through 2028 for Legacy). – Technical Boost: NASCAR increases horsepower to ~750 on short ovals (<1.5 miles) and road courses (up from 670).
Changes in Other Series (Xfinity/O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Trucks)
For completeness, here’s a high-level overview of notable shifts mentioned in broader silly season coverage: – O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly Xfinity): Rebranded with new sponsorship. Key driver moves include Brent Crews to Joe Gibbs No. 19 (29 races), Rajah Caruth splitting JR Motorsports No. 88 and Jordan Anderson No. 32, Corey Day to Hendrick No. 17 full-time, and Harrison Burton to Sam Hunt No. 24. Teams like Viking Motorsports expand to two cars, Kaulig pauses operations, and RSS switches to Chevrolet. Age minimum lowered to 17 for certain tracks.
NASCAR OReilly Auto Parts Series Logo
– Craftsman Truck Series: Michael McDowell heads to Trucks (as noted in your article), Ross Chastain gets a new crew chief in some reports, and Justin Haley joins Kaulig full-time. Other moves: Rajah Caruth leaves Spire No. 71; expansions at Jordan Anderson and Young’s Motorsports. Additionally, RAM returns as a manufacturer for the first time since 2012, partnering with Kaulig Racing and Cummins; they’ve introduced a reality show (“Race for the Seat”) to select a driver for one of their entries.
2026 Schedule Highlights
Several tracks shift dates: Chicagoland returns (July doubleheader), North Wilkesboro hosts first Cup points race in 30 years, All-Star at Dover, In-Season Challenge back with new tracks ending at Indy. Trucks add St. Petersburg and San Diego; finale at Homestead.
Guven joins the already confirmed trio of Thomas Preining, Ricardo Feller and Klaus Bachler in the “Grello” liveried No. 911 entry.
In a post on social media, Manthey wrote: “A new season, a new chapter — and we’re rolling into Daytona with serious intent. Before we hit the High Banks, there’s one more update to our driver line-up for the first 24h race of the year: reigning DTM Champion Ayhancan Güven joins the No. 911 crew at Daytona. The No. 912 is fully prepped as well, ready to take on our IMSA debut season.”
Guven made his IMSA debut in the 2025 Rolex 24 At Daytona, finishing second in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) with Wright Motorsports.
Meuspath “After the first IMSA test in Daytona in November, we are now looking forward to the official start of the season in January. We are particularly pleased to be able to count on a very strong driver line-up with close ties to Manthey: with Ryan, Riccardo, Morris and Richard as the fourth man for the 24-hour race, we are relying on absolute constants in the Manthey 1st Phorm car – we have gained a lot of experience and celebrated many successes with each of them. Well-known and proven faces will also be at the start for us at the wheel of the starting number 911. Alongside Thomas and Klaus, we are delighted to welcome on board Ricardo, who joins us with valuable IMSA experience. We are excited to see what we can achieve in the coming season,” says Patrick Arkenau, Director Racing at the Manthey Racing GmbH.
Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director of the Manthey Racing GmbH, adds: “With the start of the IMSA season, a new and exciting chapter will begin for us very soon. We can rely on experienced drivers, most of whom already know our team from the DTM, WEC and the Nürburgring, and we are proud that these seven will represent us in America next year. I am looking forward to laying the foundation for a successful season with this team at the first race in Daytona.”
After the official Daytona pre-test, known as ROAR, from 16 to 18 January, the IMSA season opener for Manthey is scheduled for 24 January 2026 with the 24 Hours of Daytona. This event will be followed by four more endurance races in Florida, New York, Wisconsin and Georgia, each lasting between six and twelve hours.
