William Byron’s path to NASCAR’s top tier did not follow the traditional script. But he is pretty much at home alongside the sport’s elite right now. Unlike most drivers who begin in go-karts almost as soon as they can reach the pedals, Byron, 28, did not climb into a race car until his early teens.

Byron’s introduction to motorsports came through iRacing, where he picked up racecraft in a virtual environment before applying those skills to the real world. That unconventional foundation did little to slow his ascent, though.

Once Byron entered NASCAR’s national ranks in 2016, results followed quickly. His early years in the Truck and Xfinity Series progressed impressively. He won seven races during his rookie Truck season in 2017, and followed that with four victories in Xfinity, a performance that saw him win the 2017 championship.

The transition to the Cup Series, however, demanded patience. His first forays at the sport’s highest level proved more challenging. However, during that period, Byron relied heavily on guidance from within Hendrick Motorsports, particularly Chase Elliott.

In 2018, as he continued to learn the Cup Series and its finer details, Byron acknowledged that he was still a work in progress. Despite having legends such as Jeff Gordon available, he frequently turned to Elliott for perspective.

“I think I lean on all of them pretty equally. I think that I lean on Alex [Bowman] the least amount because we’re both new to what’s happening. We have little conversations of what our cars are doing here and there. But it’s not as broad of information as Chase or Jimmie [Johnson],” Byron had said.

The way Byron leaned on some drivers more than others in the team was logical. Elliott and Johnson represented recent success within the organization, and Byron recognized the value of measuring himself against drivers who consistently contended.

“I feel like Chase and Jimmie are the guys I lean on most because those are the guys that have had the most success the last couple [of] years in our organization. I try to gauge myself off of Chase a lot of times because I think we have very similar styles. We’re really close in the shop. It makes a little more sense for me to lean on him,” added Byron.

That willingness to learn has shaped Byron’s growth. Over eight Cup seasons, he has collected 16 wins across 288 starts. The past three seasons have reinforced his growth. Byron finished each year in the top four, securing a spot in the Championship 4.

The #24 driver captured back-to-back Daytona 500 wins in 2024 and 2025, a feat that places him in rare company and reflects his ability to perform on the sport’s biggest stage. Though Byron’s most prolific season came in 2023, when he won six times, his production has remained steady.

Over the last two seasons, Byron added three wins each year, maintaining his presence near the front of the field. And his decision to lean on the stalwarts like Johnson and Elliott seems to have elevated him as one of the top drivers of this generation.

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AVONDALE, ARIZONA – OCTOBER 31: Chandler Smith, driver of the #38 QuickTie Ford, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on October 31, 2025 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

Front Row Motorsports announced that Chandler Smith will return to the team for the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. Smith will again drive the No. 38 Ford F-150, continuing a pairing that produced strong results in 2025.

The decision keeps the team’s Truck Series lineup intact, with Smith returning alongside Layne Riggs. Smith, 23, earned two wins during the 2025 season and finished eighth in the final standings.

Front Row Motorsports said the move reflects confidence in the progress made during their first year together and provides stability heading into the 2026 season, which opens at Daytona International Speedway in February.

Chan the man is back again.

We’re excited to announce that Chandler Smith will return to drive the No. 38 in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2026! pic.twitter.com/OmfUQctRkE

— Front Row Motorsports (@Team_FRM) December 16, 2025

Chandler Smith’s 2025 season with Front Row Motorsports

Smith joined Front Row Motorsports ahead of the 2025 season with a short turnaround. Even with limited preparation time, he quickly became a factor in the championship picture. He won two of the first six races and showed early title pace, including a victory at Bristol, where he raced Kyle Larson for the win, as reported by Toby Christie of TobyChristie.com.

As the season went on, Smith and the No. 38 team faced challenges during the playoffs that slowed their momentum. Despite that, Smith finished the year eighth in the championship standings. It marked his first full season with Front Row Motorsports and laid the foundation for continued improvement.

“It’s incredible what this group accomplished in just one season,” Smith said in a press release. “When I came to Front Row on such short notice, no one expected us to make a playoff run, but this team never backed down.”

Front Row Motorsports keeps its lineup and leadership

The announcement confirms that Front Row Motorsports will bring back the same two-driver lineup in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Smith will continue as the teammate to Layne Riggs, who drives the No. 34 Ford F-150. Team officials said continuity was an important factor in the decision, according to TobyChristie.com.

Crew chief Jon Leonard will also return to the No. 38 team in 2026. Leonard enters his sixth season as a Truck Series crew chief and worked closely with Smith throughout the 2025 campaign.

“I’m looking forward to working with Chandler again, Leonard said.” “We have a mutual trust for each other; we just click. He knows what he needs out of the truck, and he communicates that well.”

Front Row Motorsports said sponsorship partners for Smith and the No. 38 truck will be announced at a later date.

Focus shifts to the 2026 Truck Series season

With Smith confirmed for 2026, Front Row Motorsports now turns its attention to the upcoming Truck Series schedule. The season will feature races across a wide range of tracks, starting at Daytona and ending at Phoenix Raceway.

Smith said the team plans to build on what it learned during its first year together. “The work, the belief, and the effort they put in made all the difference, he said.” “I’m excited for what’s ahead and confident in what we can achieve together.”

Offseason preparation is expected to begin soon as Smith and the No. 38 team look to improve on their 2025 results. Front Row Motorsports said more updates will be shared before the season begins.

Dogli Wilberforce is a sports writer who covers NASCAR, Formula 1 and IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. With bylines at Total Apex Sports and Last Word on Sports, Wilberforce has built a reputation for delivering timely, engaging coverage that blends sharp analysis with accessible storytelling. Wilberforce has covered everything from major football transfers to fight-night drama, bringing readers the insight and context behind the headlines. More about Dogli Wilberforce

Nissan has a long, proud history in motorsport, which began with a victory in 1958 at the 10,000-mile Round Australia Trial with a Datsun 210. Peter Brock’s BRE Datsun program brought success to America with SCCA dominance throughout the late 1960s and early ’70s. The 1984 founding of Nissan Motorsports International, or NISMO, sharpened Nissan’s efforts to a fine point, and over the next several decades we saw Nissans competing at the sharp end of the grid in motorsports as diverse as Group C endurance racing, GT and touring cars, rallying, and Baja-style off-road events. And with the company’s on-track successes, NISMO performance parts trickled down to the company’s production cars.

Performance enthusiasts take note, then, because in an effort to add more verve to its current lineup, Nissan announced yesterday that is launching new initiatives aimed at enhancing the brand through new motorsport activities and by growing the NISMO lineup.

According to a press release shared on the company’s global newsroom, this will include the introduction of new prototype performance cars for racing as well as to “accelerate technological advancements in both hardware and software development for racing purpose and car lineup expansion.” This initiative is set to begin in 2026. 

Further, for 2026, the company aims to increase the number of NISMO-branded offerings, which currently includes vehicles such as the Z NISMO, Armada NISMO in the U.S. And by 2028, Nissan plans to increase the volume of NISMO vehicles from approximately 100,000 to 150,000. “In pursuit of added customer value,” the statement says, “Nissan will actively consider collaborations with external partners to expand its NISMO car lineup business.” No further information is provided, so we’ll have to see how that shakes out. 

With more than just a focus on new performance cars, Nissan is also doubling down on its restoration and heritage efforts. To that end, Nissan Motorsports & Customization Co. (NMC) “will grow its restoration, restomod, and parts sales businesses, with an initial focus on expanding around the Skyline GT‑R R32, R33, and R34, with more vehicles and regional offerings to follow.” As more and more of these hot JDM machines hit the market, increased factory renovation efforts can only help from a brand identity standpoint, as well as from the perspectives of preservation and values. 

We’ve commented recently that these are turbulent times for Nissan, but the tone of yesterday’s release carries a lot of excitement. A bigger selection of high-performance Nissans, more actively engaged in global motorsport, with an eye on heritage preservation, to boot, bodes well for the company and its loyal fans. 

DGM Racing has tapped Mason Maggio to join its driver lineup for the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series campaign, the team confirmed on Wednesday.

Maggio will get behind the wheel of the No. 91 Chevrolet in select events throughout the upcoming season, beginning with the February 14 season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.

From Florida roots to the Florida team ?We’re excited to have @MasonMaggio1 join the #DGMFamily for the 2026 season.

Fittingly, his first race will be the season-opener at @DAYTONA just two hours from Mason’s hometown and DGM’s HQ!

Read more: https://t.co/WXgLw58P8n#NASCAR |… pic.twitter.com/Hl7IPU2o65

— DGM Racing (@DGMRacingFL) December 17, 2025

Sponsorship details and Maggio’s full schedule of events behind the wheel of an entry for DGM Racing will be announced in the coming weeks.

“I’m super excited and thankful for the opportunity to be driving for DGM Racing in 2026. It is really cool to be able to have the Florida driver work with the Florida team on a regular basis next year,” said Maggio. “A huge thanks to the entire team, my family, partners, and fans for their support and for making this possible. I’m really looking forward to a great season in the inaugural NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.”

The 21-year-old driver has made 47 starts across the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, competing for a number of different organizations. In 2025, Maggio had his biggest season yet, running 12 events in the second-tier series — including one for DGM Racing at Talladega Superspeedway, where he finished 22nd-place.

“We’re excited to welcome another driver from The Sunshine State to our racing family,” said Mario Gosselin, owner of DGM Racing. “Mason is a young, eager driver who isn’t afraid to put in the work to grow on and off track. His demeanor and professionalism at such a young age are refreshing, and I am impressed with his work ethic and willingness to learn.”

Maggio will be partnered with Josh Williams, another Florida-native, for the season-opener at Daytona. Williams was announced earlier in the off-season as the full-time driver of the No. 92 Chevrolet for DGM Racing. 

In 20 career starts in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Maggio has managed to put up a pair of top-20 results, both with Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, at Daytona in the Summer (15th) and Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Fall of 2024.

Maggio also has a total of 27 starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series over the last three seasons, including three top-20 results — a 15th in the season-opener at Daytona for Hettinger Racing, an 18th at Talladega in the Fall of 2024, and a 20th-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway in 2023.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts season opener at Daytona International Speedway will take place on Saturday, February 14, at 5:30 PM ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

As William Byron continues to chase his elusive first NASCAR Cup Series championship, he’ll officially have a longtime partner returning for another year of sponsorship. Liberty University will return to the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team as a three-race primary sponsor during the 2026 season.

The red, white, and blue Liberty University colors will first adorn Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet at Watkins Glen International on Sunday, May 10. Liberty University will return as the primary in the crown jewel Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, and the company will round out its three-race schedule on Sunday, November 1 at Martinsville Speedway.

While the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet paint scheme features slight tweaks from last year, the basis of the paint scheme remains the same with white flames down the blue sides of the race car, and the No. 24 is easy to spot in red on the doors.

Of Byron’s 16 career NASCAR Cup Series wins, three have come with Liberty University serving as the primary sponsorship partner. Byron’s most-recent victory with LU’s colors on his car came at Texas Motor Speedway in the Fall of 2023.

Although Liberty University, which has partnered with Byron since his NASCAR K&N Pro East Series season in 2015, is returning for the 2026 season, the three-race slate marks a decrease in overall primary sponsorship races for Liberty University, and it’s the second consecutive season the university has shed some races aboard the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

In 2024, Liberty University was a 12-race primary sponsorship partner. However, in 2025, the university cut that commitment in half to a six-race primary sponsorship schedule. The Liberty University schedule would be cut in half again heading into the 2026 campaign.

Despite the decrease in Liberty University-backed races, don’t expect Byron, who has blossomed into one of the best drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, to be short on sponsorship in 2026. Byron, 28, comes into the 2026 season seeking his third consecutive win in the Daytona 500, a mark that would put him in a category of his own in the history of the iconic race, which stretches back to 1959.

Additionally, Byron will look to work his way into the Championship 4 for a fourth straight season in 2026. And who knows, with a change in scenery for the season finale (Homestead-Miami Speedway takes over the final race from Phoenix Raceway this year), perhaps it’s time for Byron’s breakthrough to hoist a Bill France Cup.

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The antitrust lawsuit between 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports, and NASCAR may be over, but that hasn’t resolved all of the hard feelings and animosity within the sport. On Tuesday, Denny Hamlin blasted Larry McReynolds and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio for what he perceived to be unfair coverage in the lead-up to the antitrust trial.

Responding to McReynolds’ post on X, where he was giving his followers a preview of what was on tap for his SXM show “On Track” for the day, Hamlin unloaded.

“Good morning,” Hamlin replied to McReynolds. “Now that the case is settled and the evidence is out will you or anyone on channel 90 be issuing an apology for what you all said about 23XI/FRM when the lawsuit was filed?”

Hamlin continued, “I believe it was ‘how dare them for trying to come in and change the sport. 23XI hasn’t been around long enough and FRM wasn’t good enough’. Also how about ‘I don’t know what their problem is, 13 other teams signed it’. Just to name a few examples.”

My, oh, my.

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Prime Video will return as a three-race primary sponsor for Chase Elliott in 2026, and on Tuesday, a refreshed paint scheme was revealed by Prime Video and Hendrick Motorsports.

In 2026, the Prime Video scheme takes a much darker look than a year ago. Elliott will pilot the car at Talladega (April 26), Texas (May 3), and the All-Star Race at Dover (May 17).

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