The 2026 NASCAR season is about to begin after a crazy off-season. NASCAR spent a lot of time in the court room with 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports arguing about the charter system. The two sides came to an agreement and it seems like the teams got what they wanted. The court case did reveal some dirty emails that NASCAR had and they cannot be forgotten. The bottom line is that the sport needs to put the Steve Phelps era (2018 – 2025) behind them and try to move on. Phelps is no longer in the sports and it seems like the France Family is willing to work with the teams to improve the product for the fans.
2026 CUP SERIES CHANGES
The theme for the 2026 NASCAR season should be, “Back to its roots.” The fans were not happy with many of the changes made over the last 10 years and they wanted the sport to be put back to the way it was. We will not see the same rules and cars that we had in the late 1990’s and the early 2000’s, but NASCAR is heading in the right direction.
THE CAR: NASCAR increased the horsepower from 670 to 750 HP for all road course and tracks under 1.5-miles in length. The increased horsepower should create more competitive racing on the short track by putting the race into the driver’s hands.
Chevy is going to debut a brand new Chevy ZL1 body for the 2026 season. It will have a larger hood and a revised aerodynamics package for the 2026 season.
THE SCHEDULE: The final race of the season will be moved from Phoenix Raceway to Homestead-Miami Speedway this year. NASCAR will also race on a military installation for the first time when they travel to Navy Base Coronado. Chicagoland Speedway returns and it will replace the Chicago Street Course. North Wilksboro also returns as a points paying race in 2026. The road course race in Mexico and the spring race at Richmond were removed from the schedule and Dover is no longer a points paying race.
CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT: The biggest change for the 2026 season will come from the way NASCAR will crown their 2026 Cup Series Champion. “The Chase” is back. The first 26 races will be part of the regular season. Each driver will earn points and the winning driver will earn 20 more points than second place. “Win is get in” is over. The 16 drivers with the most points will earn a spot in the playoffs. The drivers will then be seeded for the playoffs based on their regular season points. The regular season champion will start the playoffs with a 25 point advantage over second place and 35 point advantage over third place. There are no eliminations in the playoffs. The 16 drivers will compete for the championship and the driver with the most points when the checkered flag is waived at Homestead-Miami Speedway is your 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Champion.
2026 DRIVER PREVIEWS
The Fantasy NASCAR Driver Preview articles have been a popular part of this website since it launched nine years ago. I will once again post two drivers each day (starting with driver’s No. 30 and No. 29) until we get to the top driver in the rankings. The drivers ranked between 21st – 30th will be free. The drivers posted in the top-20 will be behind the pay-wall because I want the subscribers of this website to get an advantage over their competitors in their Fantasy NASCAR Leagues.
Here are the drivers ranked 31st – 35th in the Driver Previews…
#35 TY DILLION (KAULIG RACING) CHEVY
Ty Dillon returns to the No. 10 car for Kaulig Racing. I thought that there may be a chance that Justin Haley would fill this seat, but Kaulig Racing decided to bring back Dillon. Everything will be the same with the No. 10 team and that could be important. This is the first time since 2020 that Dillon has returned to the same team with the same crew chief. This continuity could help him in 2026. He scored the 33rd-most Fantasy Live Points and the 29th-most DraftKings Points last year. It is hard to get excited about Dillon in 2026, but he could have some fantasy value in DFS Contests as a “punt play” at the bottom of your lineups.
#34 RILEY HERBST (23XI RACING) TOYOTA)
Riley Herbst enters his second season at 23XI Racing and it has to be better than the first season. Herbst scored the 35th-most Fantasy Live Points and the 35th-most DraftKings Points in 2025. That is unacceptable for a driver who has the same equipment as Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace. Despite the poor results, 23XI Racing decided to keep everything the same with the No. 45 team. Billy Scott will return as the crew chief and Monster Energy will return as the primary sponsor. It is hard to get excited about Herbst in your fantasy lineups this year. He may be worth a spot as a “punt play” on some of the 1.5-mile intermediate tracks (his home track in Las Vegas is his best track), but he is going to be too inconsistent to trust this year.
#33 NOAH GRAGSON (FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS) FORD
Noah Gragson had a lot of success in the Xfinity Series, but so far that hasn’t translated into any kind of success in the Cup Series. Gragson finished 33rd in the Cup Series Point Standings in 2023 and he finished 34th last year. Gragson returns to Front Row Motorsports in 2026. He will have a new crew chief this year. Grant Hutchens comes over from Team Penske to be the crew chief of the No. 4 car. Hutchens was an engineer at Team Penske and Front Row Motorsports is hoping he can get some speed into the No. 4 car in 2026. Gragson scored the 34th-most Fantasy Live Points and the 33rd-most DraftKings Points in 2025. The crew chief change could help, but not enough to make Gragson a good pick for your Fantasy NASCAR lineups this year.
#32 RICKY STENHOUSE JR. (HYAK MOTORSPORTS) CHEVY
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. enters his 14th full-time season in the Cup Series this year. It seems like he has found a home with Hyak Motorsports. Everything will be the same with the No. 47 team in 2026. Stenhouse will once again have some fantasy value on the Superspeedway tracks. He is a “boom or bust” driver when the Cup Series goes to the drafting track, but he has proven that he is worth the risk, especially in DFS Contests. Keep Stenhouse on your radar at North Wilksboro too as a “punt play.” Stenhouse participated in a test of the 750 HP package at North Wilksboro in January. Stenhouse was one of the fastest at the test and other teams were surprised at the way his tires wore throughout the run compared to the other drivers (I guess his dirt track background helped him save some tread on the tires). Stenhouse was really pleased with the way the test at North Wilksoboro went for his No. 47 team.
#31 COLE CUSTER (HASS FACTORY TEAM) CHEVY
What a wild two years it has been for the Hass Factory Team. The team was reduced from four cars to on after the 2024 season. Tony Stewart left the organization and now the Haas Factory Team is switching from Ford to Chevy. They will have an alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. They will share notes with the Hendrick Motorsports teams and they will now be a “Tier 1 Team” within the Chevy Racing family. This means more time in the Chevy simulator, more data sharing and more help with their cars. This has to help Cole Custer in 2026, right? I need to see it on the track first. Custer scored the 32nd-most Fantasy Live Points and the 30th-most DraftKings Points in 2025. He should have some value as a “punt play” in your DFS Contests, but it is hard to justify using Custer in your Fantasy Live lineups in 2026.
Other drivers competing in a partial schedule in 2026 include Jimmie Johnson, Justin Allgaier (Daytona 500), Corey Heim and Austin Hill
The rest of the Driver Preview articles will begin to be posted on Wednesday, January 21st.
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