10 Things Nobody Saw Coming in NASCAR 2026

10 Things Nobody Saw Coming in NASCAR 2026Chris Graythen - Getty Images

Almost everyone in NASCAR garages starts the season with great expectations. In the preseason, the only word in the NASCAR dictionary is excited, as in, “We’re excited about what we’ve got this year.”

The season will reach its one-quarter point with Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway, and it’s fair to say reality hasn’t matched expectations. In quite a few ways.

A list of things not many would have predicted in early February:

• Tyler Reddick’s four wins, including three consecutive.
• Zero wins for these guys: Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Christopher Bell.
• Kyle Larson’s winless streak reaching 32.
• Only three drivers have finished all eight races to date on the lead lap. They are Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Preece.
• Richard Childress Racing wasn’t expected to roar out of the box with a run of top fives, but the struggle there has reached dizzying proportions with the team now having failed to score a top-10 finish through eight races, its worst run since 1981. RCR’s best finish is a 12th by Austin Dillon at Las Vegas.

Kyle Busch.Matt Kelley - Getty Images

• Kyle Busch remains the focal point of RCR’s slide. His average finish of 22nd is his worst through eight races since 2005, and a 25th-place finish at Bristol Sunday produced some crackling back-and-forth on the team radio.

• Ty Gibbs broke through for his first career win Sunday at Bristol, but the bigger surprise is his consistency—top-six runs in the past six races after poor finishes at Daytona and Atlanta. The top-10 streak is the longest of his career, and he has moved from 33rd in Cup points to fourth over the past six events. Gibbs has as many top-five finishes—five—as point leader Tyler Reddick.

• NASCAR makes a fairly dramatic race-management move for the April 26 race at Talladega Superspeedway, modifying stage lengths in an attempt to take away some of the advantages of fuel saving.

• Ryan Blaney’s pit problems. Blaney sits second in points but has had to overcome a string of pit-stop issues. Unusual for Team Penske operations, Blaney’s team has lost a net 88 positions on pit road through eight races.

• Chase Briscoe has jumped from 33rd in points to 17th over the past five races, but he remains the most significant driver currently outside the playoff list.

• Cleetus McFarland.