Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images By Adam Carabine Ryan Blaney overcame the odds to break Tyler Reddick’s winning streak, and wins for the second time in a row at Phoenix Raceway.    Blaney suffered through much adversity all day long, but clearly had one of the best cars and managed to make his way back to the front to cross the finish line first.    Lap 1: Logano starts on the pole, with Kyle Larson beside him to start the race.    Lap 40: A fairly uneventful start to the race, no cautions yet. Interesting to note that tire fall-off has already slowed the cars down about 1.5-2 seconds per lap.   Lap 42: As we’re on #ReddickWatch to see if he can win four in a row, he’s made his way up to 3 rd  after starting 8 th .   Lap 47: Logano’s teammate Ryan Blaney takes over the lead.   Lap 58: Christopher Bell starts charging forward and moves to P3.   Lap 59: Logano is fading back, Bell moves to P2 just ahead of the end of the stage.   Lap 60: Ryan Blaney wins a caution-free Stage One! There are 25 cars on the lead lap, and Riley Herbst gets the free pass.   Lap 65: Pits open, Bell wins the race off pit road.  Larson is nabbed for speeding on pit road and will start at the rear.   Lap 71: Stage Two is green with Bell and Logano on the front row.   Lap 93: Kyle Busch tags the wall, though it stays green.  He has a tire down and manages to limp it to pit road.   Lap 94: Just one lap later, though, Shane Van Gisbergen spins on his own right at the start-finish line, CAUTION comes out.   Lap 97: Pits open, Bell just beats Logano to the line to win the race off pit road.  Brad Keselowski gets the free pass.   Lap 98: Ryan Blaney has to come back to pit road a second time to fix a loose wheel.  Bubba Wallace gets a speeding penalty as well, the two of them will start at the back.   Lap 102:  Back to green (get ready because we’ll be saying this a lot coming up)   Lap 103: CAUTION – Big pileup in Turn 2 – Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Ryan Preece, Josh Berry are all involved.  They’ll pit to get fresh tires again (which will come into play later on in the race)   Lap 109: Back to green.   Lap 132: CAUTION is out for Chase Briscoe as he has a tire go down and he slams the outside wall.  He’s out of the race, and now he has finished outside of the Top 35 in three of the four races so far this season.   Lap 134: On pit road, Blaney has another wheel that’s not tight.  They catch it in time, and he stops in his teammate Logano’s pit box to get it tightened.  However, that’s a penalty that will send him to the back of the field a SECOND time.   Lap 140: Back to green.   Lap 158: Noah Gragson tags the wall with a tire down, but it also seems to be tire-mageddon as under the ensuing caution, William Byron, Connor Zilisch and Michael McDowell all have tires go down too.    Lap 167: Back to green.  Denny Hamlin took two tires on pit road and leads the field to green.  As concern over tire wear continues to grow, there’s a mixture of teams who have put qualifying scuffs on here to conserve fresh tires for later in the race.   Lap 174: With Hamlin only having two fresh tires, he gives up the lead to Christopher Bell who has 4 fresh sticker tires.   Lap 185: Bell wins Stage Two.   Lap 191:  Christopher Bell wins the race off pit road again.   Lap 197: Final stage is green!   Lap 209: CAUTION for Ryan Preece spinning after some contact with Connor Zilisch.   Lap 213: As pit road opens, more and more concern that the 8 sets of tires given to teams might not be enough to make it to the end.   Lap 217: Just as we go back green, another CAUTION comes out involving quite a few cars.  Joey Logano put Chastain in a bad spot and ended up spinning him into a sea of 4-and-5-wide in the dog leg.    Lap 225: Back to green.  Josh Berry and Christopher Bell on the front row.   Lap 228:  Riley Herbst bounces off the wall, but manages to not cause another caution.   Lap 246:  CAUTION – SVG is around after some contact from Austin Dillon.    Lap 248: Pits open, almost everyone comes down for tires.  Chris Buescher gets a speeding penalty.   Lap 253: Back to green.   LAP 254: CAUTION – Logano, Josh Berry and Daniel Suarez are all involved.    Lap 264: Lots to clean up after that caution, so finally we are back to green.   Lap 282:  Connor Zilisch makes it to pit road with a tire down – no caution.   Lap 286:  Austin Hill, driving the 33 car for RCR, also has a tire down, and also makes it to pit road without a caution.   Lap 288:  CAUTION – Austin Dillon has a tire down.   Lap 290:  Pits open, pretty much everyone comes down, but some are at a disadvantage because of taking too many tires earlier in the race.  Ty Gibbs wins the race off pit road with two tires.  Bell comes out P7 with four tires.   Lap 294:  Back to green, but CAUTION immediately again, as Zane Smith, Ty Dillon and John Hunter Nemechek tangle in the back of the pack.   Lap 301: Back to green with 12 to go in the race.   Lap 303:  Ty Gibbs loses the lead to Ryan Blaney.   Lap 305:  Christopher Bell makes it to P2, being on four fresh tires.  Blaney is leading.   Lap 312:  Blaney WINS the race, holding off the charging Christopher Bell.  He ends the 23XI winning streak, and also earns a Team Penske sweep for the weekend at Phoenix, as their IndyCar counterparts won over the weekend too.   Tyler Reddick finished P8, but still has a 60-point standings lead over Blaney who is now in 2nd place.   Next weekend we head to Las Vegas!

Press Release | RON CAPPS MOTORSPORTS GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 6, 2026) – Monster Energy has joined NHRA Rookie of the Year candidate Maddi Gordon and the championship-winning Ron Capps Motorsports team in a multi-year partnership beginning with the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. Announced today at Gainesville Raceway ahead of qualifying for the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals, the partnership will see Monster Energy support Gordon’s rookie campaign competing in the sport’s premier Top Fuel class as a major associate-level partner. “This is a huge weekend for us,” said RCM team owner and NAPA Auto Care Funny Car driver Ron Capps. “We’re debuting as a two-car team with Carlyle Tools, it’s Maddi’s first-ever Top Fuel race, the start of NHRA’s 75th anniversary season, and now the cherry on top – we get to announce a partnership with Monster Energy. It’s a brand that carries a lot of weight and has always backed some of the coolest, most extreme athletes in the world, and there’s not much more extreme than what we do, driving these nitromethane-burning beasts at 330 miles per hour. It’s an incredible brand to be aligned with, and I’m beyond proud that Ron Capps Motorsports gets to make this announcement today.” The collaboration with Gordon and the fifth-year RCM organization will feature Monster Energy branding across both team entries, with a larger presence on Gordon’s Top Fuel dragster. The signature Monster Energy M-claw logo will be on full display Friday afternoon when Gordon stages her 12,000-horsepower Carlyle Tools machine in NHRA national event competition for the first time during the opening round of qualifying. Gordon arrives in Top Fuel after years spent both behind the wheel and working on race cars alongside her family where she developed a reputation for her hands-on approach and deep mechanical understanding. That work ethic and dedication reflect the kind of driven, high-performance athletes Monster Energy has long been associated with across the world of motorsports. “It’s really exciting to have a brand like Monster Energy supporting me as I begin my professional career,” said Gordon, who spent the past two seasons piloting her family’s Top Alcohol Funny Car where she picked up three national event wins and a regional championship. “They’ve been involved with some of the most incredible athletes in motorsports, so to now be a part of that Monster family is truly an honor, and honestly, somewhat surreal. If someone would’ve told me a few years ago that in 2026 I’d be driving for Ron Capps, in a fuel car, and with huge, well-known brands such as Carlyle Tools and now Monster Energy, I would’ve told them they were crazy! I’m just so incredibly grateful for the opportunity and proud to represent Monster Energy with this Ron Capps Motorsports team.” Gordon’s Monster Energy-backed Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster will make its competition debut this weekend, March 6-8, at Gainesville Raceway during the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals. Qualifying kicks off at 2:30 p.m. ET on Friday. About Ron Capps Motorsports Established in 2021, Ron Capps Motorsports is a multi-car NHRA team owned and operated by three-time Funny Car world champion Ron Capps. Headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., the team made its on-track debut in 2022 and competes on the 20-race NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series circuit thanks to the support of NAPA Auto Parts, Carlyle Tools, Monster Energy, USA Compression, Champion Spark Plugs, Mobil 1, Blue Wolf, Johnsen’s Brake Clean, and Core Scientific. Capps, who pilots the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car, is the second-winningest Funny Car driver in NHRA history and a class leader among active drivers with 76 wins in the category. His 77 overall wins (1 Top Fuel) rank seventh amongst NHRA’s four premier classes. The 2026 NHRA season marks Capps’ 32nd year competing in the sport’s professional ranks and 19th representing NAPA Auto Parts. Driving the organization’s second entry is third-generation drag racer Maddi Gordon, who will make her professional NHRA debut during the 2026 season aboard the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster. Previously, Gordon competed in the Top Alcohol Funny Car category where she became the 100th woman to win an NHRA national event in 2024

By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday. This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series travels to Avondale, Arizona for the Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway.   Phoenix is a 1-mile oval with a signature dogleg just past the start/finish line.  It served as the Championship Race for the past six years, though that has changed in 2026.  The track opened in 1964, but the Cup Series didn’t start racing there until 1988.  Alan Kulwicki won the first race there in this series.  Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney won the races at this track last year.   Tomorrow’s race will be 312 laps long (for a total of 312 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 60 – 185 – 312.  Pit road speed is 45 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 50 mph.  The fuel window is approximately 95-105 laps.   This year, the NASCAR Cup Series has run 566 laps, for 1,141.16 miles so far this season.  14 drivers have completed 100% of them so far.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Phoenix: Kyle Larson 10.35 over 23 races (1 win) Denny Hamlin 10.49 over 41 races (2 wins) Ryan Blaney 10.90 over 20 races (1 win) Kyle Busch 11.24 over 41 races (3 wins) Chase Elliott 12.11 over 19 races (1 win)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Phoenix: Cody Ware 30.33 over 9 races Riley Herbst 30.00 over 2 races Michael McDowell 27.67 over 30 races SVG 27.50 over 2 races Zane Smith 27.40 over 5 races   For the purposes of this article, we are calling Phoenix a Short Track. (Any tracks 1 mile and less)   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Joey Logano 11.19 over 196 races (13 wins) Chase Elliott 11.51 over 109 races (4 wins) Ryan Blaney 12.03 over 113 races (5 wins) Christopher Bell 12.12 over 65 races (7 wins) William Byron 12.73 over 87 races (5 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Cody Ware 31.88 over 40 races Riley Herbst 28.19 over 12 races SVG 26.44 over 12 races Michael McDowell 26.31 over 173 races Ty Dillon 25.60 over 85 races   Kevin Harvick is far and away the winningest driver at Phoenix of all time.  He has 9 wins.  Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson are tied for 2 nd -most with 4 each.   Drivers who WON their first Cup Series race at Phoenix: Chase Briscoe 40 th  Career Cup Series Start   Drivers whose most recent Cup Series Victory was at Phoenix: Ryan Blaney 2025   Notable drivers who have not won at Phoenix: Brad Keselowski (has won at 17 other tracks) Tyler Reddick (has won at 10 other tracks) Alex Bowman (has won at 8 other tracks) Chris Buescher (has won at 6 other tracks) SVG (has won at 5 other tracks)   Based on average finish, no driver lists Phoenix as their BEST or WORST track.   Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at how this season is comparing to last season for drivers:   Drivers Faring Better than in 2025 Tyler Reddick +1199 pts Bubba Wallace +490 pts Daniel Suarez +437 pts AJ Allmendinger +383 pts Noah Gragson +340 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2025 Alex Bowman -612 pts Christopher Bell -593 pts Chase Briscoe -579 pts Denny Hamlin -473 pts Kyle Larson -440 pts   The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (55 for 1 st , 35 for 2 nd , 34 for 3 rd , etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.   Manufacturer Standings Toyota 165 Chevrolet 104 Ford 93   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings 23XI 165 Hendrick 90 Penske 90 Spire 89 Trackhouse 86 Joe Gibbs 83 RFK 79 Front Row 77 Kaulig 76 RCR 55 Legacy MC 54 Hyak 45 Wood Bros 40 Haas Factory 37 Rick Ware 37   At each stage break, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points based on their finishing positions.  Here are the leaders this year:   Stage Point Leaders Bubba Wallace 34 Ryan Blaney 25 Tyler Reddick 21 Austin Cindric 19 William Byron 18 Chris Buescher 16 Daniel Suarez 15 Chase Elliott 15 AJ Allmendinger 15 Ty Gibbs 15   Milestone Watch Ross Chastain Looking for his 40 th  Career Top 5 Chase Briscoe Looking for his 30 th  Career Top 5   Scorigami Update COTA was the first time that: Connor Zilisch finished 14 th   Carson Hocevar finished 4 th     Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks: Winless Streaks Cole Custer 136 races Erik Jones 120 races Kyle Busch 96 races Michael McDowell 87 races Daniel Suarez 73 races Brad Keselowski 62 races AJ Allmendinger 59 races Alex Bowman 51 races Chris Buescher 47 races Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 44 races   The race begins Sunday, March 8 th   at 3:30 pm EST (12:30 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!   Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter  @RacingRefresh   Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!

By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of O’Reilly Stats Friday. This weekend the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series travels to Avondale, Arizona for the GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway.   Phoenix is a 1-mile oval with a signature dogleg just past the start/finish line.  It served as the Championship Race for the past six years, though that has changed in 2026.  The track opened in 1964, but the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series didn’t start racing there until 1999.  Jeff Gordon won the first race there in this series.  Aric Almirola and Jesse Love won the races at this track last year.   Tomorrow’s race will be 200 laps long (for a total of 200 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 45 – 90 – 200.  Pit road speed is 45 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 50 mph.    This year, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has run 348 laps, for 704.16 miles so far.  Only 7 cars have completed 100% of all laps.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Phoenix: Jesse Love 4.50 over 4 races (1 win) Taylor Gray 6.50 over 2 races Harrison Burton 9.00 over 6 races Sammy Smith 9.14 over 7 races (1 win) Justin Allgaier 9.42 over 31 races (2 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Phoenix: Josh Bilicki 27.38 over 8 races Dean Thompson 27.00 over 2 races Anthony Alfredo 26.38 over 8 races Kyle Sieg 25.56 over 9 races Parker Retzlaff 24.38 over 8 races   For the purposes of this article, we are calling Phoenix a Short Track. (Any tracks 1 mile and less)   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Harrison Burton 11.16 over 33 races (1 win) Taylor Gray 12.48 over 13 races (1 win) Justin Allgaier 13.02 over 158 races (11 wins) Sammy Smith 13.14 over 30 races (2 wins) Brandon Jones 13.91 over 100 races (2 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Austin Green 29.50 over 4 races Josh Bilicki 28.09 over 29 races Blaine Perkins 27.51 over 30 races Dean Thompson 26.50 over 10 races Ryan Ellis 26.34 over 47 races   Kyle Busch is the winningest driver in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Phoenix, with 11 wins, followed by Carl Edwards, who had 4.   Drivers who ran their first O’Reilly’s Series race at Phoenix: Ryan Sieg 2013 – P21 Blaine Perkins 2021 – P24 Nick Sanchez 2022 – P26 Parker Retzlaff 2022 – P36   Drivers who WON their first O’Reilly’s Series race at Phoenix: Sammy Smith This was his 13 th  Career O’Reilly’s Start   Drivers whose most recent O’Reilly Series Victory was at Phoenix: Jesse Love 2025   Notable drivers who have not won at Phoenix: Austin Hill (has won at 7 other tracks) Sam Mayer (has won at 6 other tracks) Harrison Burton (has won at 4 other tracks) Jeremy Clements (has won at 2 other tracks)   Based on average finish, Jesse Love lists Phoenix as his BEST track, but no driver lists it as their WORST.   Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at how this season is comparing to last season for drivers:   Drivers Faring Better than in 2025 Austin Hill +604 pts Sheldon Creed +282 pts Jesse Love +273 pts Blaine Perkins +171 pts Brennan Poole +162 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2025 Harrison Burton -606 pts Nick Sanchez -280 pts Dean Thompson -261 pts Sam Mayer -229 pts Jeremy Clements -204 pts   Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:   Best Career Year Austin Hill 5.00 Jesse Love 6.00 Sammy Smith 12.67 Parker Retzlaff 15.33 William Sawalich 18.67 Blaine Perkins 20.33 Ryan Ellis 20.67 Dean Thompson 24.00   Rookie of the Year Battle Patrick Staropoli 60 Lavar Scott 45   The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (55 for 1 st , 35 for 2 nd , 34 for 3 rd , etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.   Manufacturer Standings Chevrolet 165 Toyota 70 Ford 60   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings RCR 122 JR Motorsports 119 Haas Factory 94 Jordan Anderson 92 Hendrick 75 Viking 72 Alpha Prime 70 Joe Gibbs 70 SS-Green Light 67 Big Machine 60 Young’s 59 RSS Racing 56 AM Racing 47 Sam Hunt 45 Peterson 35 DGM 32 Hettinger 31 Barrett-Cope 25 Jeremy Clements 18 Joey Gase 7   At each stage break, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points based on their finishing positions.  Here are the leaders this year:   Stage Point Leaders Justin Allgaier 47 Austin Hill 39 Jesse Love 33 #1 Car 29 #88 Car 29 Brandon Jones 19 Sam Mayer 19 Sammy Smith 13 #91 Car 13 Sheldon Creed 12   Milestone Watch Justin Allgaier Looking for his 170 th  Career Top 5 Taylor Gray Looking for his 19 th  Career Top 5 Sheldon Creed Looking for his 70 th  Career Top 10 Harrison Burton Looking for his 60 th  Career Top 10 Taylor Gray Looking for his 20 th  Career Top 10 Austin Hill Looking for his 90 th  Career Top 10 Austin Hill This will be his 150 th  Career O’Reilly’s Start   Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Jeremy Clements 112 races Jeb Burton 93 races Harrison Burton 70 races Sammy Smith 26 races Justin Allgaier 22 races Nick Sanchez 19 races Sam Mayer 14 races Brandon Jones 8 races Taylor Gray 4 races Jesse Love 3 races   The race begins Saturday, March 7 th  at 7:30 pm EST (4:30 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!   Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter  @RacingRefresh   Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!

By Adam Carabine Welcome to the StatChat NASCAR Games!   We are now three races into the 2026 season, and I thought it might be fun to share some of the silly little games I play on my NASCAR Excel Sheet.   BRACKET GAMES These games are similar to NASCAR’s In-Season Tournament, as created by Denny Hamlin, but it lasts all season long.    Drivers are originally seeded by a mixture of performance from last year, with some creative discretion from myself.  Each week, whichever driver finishes better in each matchup moves on to the next round.    Winning also gives you points which grow with each round. Round 1 win: 1 pt Round 2 win: 2 pts Round 3 win: 3 pts Round 4 win: 4 pts Finals win: 5 pts   Those points then determine the seeding for the next round of the Bracket Games, and they continue until the end of the season.  Whichever driver has the highest points at the end of the season wins the Bracket Game!   There is a bracket for each of the three NASCAR Series.  Let’s see how things look in Week 3:   Cup Series   O’Reilly Auto Parts Series     Craftsman Truck Series   ELIMINATION GAMES These games are just another fun way I like to keep things interesting throughout the grind of the long NASCAR season.  These games only follow the NASCAR Cup Series, though that could change in the future.    Because there are 36 races, and 36 full-time drivers in the Cup Series, this works out very nicely.  The first elimination happens after Race #2, and continues through the season, so there will be a final two head-to-head matchup at the final race.    Each week, a new driver is eliminated in each game.  The criteria for each game is different, so it’s not always the same driver being eliminated in each game.    Power Rankings Elimination Whichever driver has the worst score in the StatChat Power Rankings gets eliminated.    After Week 2, Josh Berry was eliminated.   After Week 3, Erik Jones was eliminated.   Last Place Elimination Whichever driver finishes the worst out of all the remaining drivers is eliminated.   After Week 2, Josh Berry was eliminated   After Week 3, Chase Briscoe was eliminated   Average Finish Elimination Whichever driver has the worst average finish out of all the remaining drivers at the end of each week is eliminated.   After Week 2, Austin Dillon was eliminated.   After Week 3, Alex Bowman was eliminated.   Stay tuned each week to see who is winning the StatChat NASCAR Games!

Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images By Adam Carabine The StatChat Power Rankings return in 2026! While finishing position is important, it’s not always indicative of the full picture.  StatChat rankings are determined using a large number of statistical inputs. Let's look at the Top 10:   Michael McDowell – This week: 10 – Last week: 23 McDowell is great at the drafting tracks, and at road courses.  After the first two races of the year didn’t go his way (he finished P22 and P20), he rebounded at COTA with his first Top 5 of the year.  I’m not sure McDowell stays in the Top 10 after Phoenix next week, but this week it counts.   Daniel Suarez – This week: 9 – Last week: 9 Suarez had a decent run through the second stage of the race at COTA this past weekend, but a somewhat baffling strategy call ruined his day.  Instead of flipping the stage and maintaining some track position, they opted to let him finish Stage Two without pitting, where he earned 8 Stage Points.  However, he finished P25 on the day, and likely deserved better.    William Byron – This week: 8 – Last week: 5 William Byron didn’t really have much to compete with the front runners at COTA.  He was solid, and even led a lap because of some pit strategy, but ultimately wasn’t good enough to compete with the wizards of road coursing.  P13 and two stage points.   Ross Chastain – This week: 7 – Last week: 4 Ross Chastain got bit by the tire bug this past weekend!  He was having a great day to start things off too.  He was running up front, led a few laps, and even won the first stage.  But his tire came off his car and created the only caution outside of stage breaks for the race at COTA.  He finished P35, so is probably pretty happy he got that first stage win.   AJ Allmendinger – This week: 6 – Last week: 15 The poor guy, Allmendinger was running COTA with a broken cool-suit.  And unfortunately for anyone who’s cool-suit fails, it can actually make your warmth situation even worse than if you didn’t have it at all.  The cool water that’s supposed to travel around your body is now just hot water.  Allmendinger held on and finished P9, impressively, but was treated by EMS after the race.  For the record – he was fine, just exhausted and probably dehydrated!   Chase Elliott – This week: 5 – Last week: 7 Once known as the road course king, Elliott hasn’t won at a road course in this Next-Gen car yet.  However, he wasn’t terrible this past weekend at COTA.  He earned some stage points, and finished in the Top 10.  He’s also been quite consistent, and sits third in the Points Standings.   SVG – This week: 4 – Last week: 12 No surprise to see SVG make his way up into the Top 5 of the Power Rankings after a road course.  He looked great a lot of the day, but just didn’t have quite enough to take down eventual winner, Tyler Reddick.  He is still so fun to watch on Road Courses.    Ryan Blaney – This week: 3 – Last week: 6 Ryan Blaney had what might have been the best car at COTA, but just couldn’t get past Tyler Reddick.  For the majority of the second stage, he was trailing Reddick – at one point even getting frustrated that all he could see was Reddick’s bumper.  He got stuck on old tires on the final run and faded to P8, but he was in contention for much of the day.    Bubba Wallace – This week: 2   – Last week: 2 Not necessarily known for his road course racing, Bubba Wallace had a very respectable outing at COTA this past weekend.  He earned some stage points, had a really solid +54 Pass Differential (only bested by Ty Gibbs), and finished in P11.  He sits 2 nd  in the Points Standings after a solid three weeks to start this season.    Tyler Reddick – This week: 1 – Last week: 1 The most obvious of obvious answers – Tyler Reddick retains the top spot in our Power Rankings after becoming the first driver in NASCAR history to win the first three races of a season.  It was a fairly dominant win, though not without its drama.  Props to Reddick for having the mental fortitude to keep things mistake-free, even when SVG was hot on his tail over the final run to the checkered flag.  Great show by the 45 team, and suddenly he’s got a 70-point lead over 2 nd  place.   Biggest Movers   Chase Briscoe – This week: 27 – Last week: 11 Falls 16 places   Ty Gibbs – This week: 15 – Last week: 32 Gains 17 places   Rest of the List 11. Joey Logano LW: 10 -1 12. Kyle Larson LW: 19 +7 13. Ryan Preece LW: 16 +3 14. Carson Hocevar LW: 8 -6 15. Ty Gibbs LW: 32 +17 16. Ty Dillon LW: 14 -2 17. Zane Smith LW: 3 -14 18. Kyle Busch LW: 24 +6 19. Chris Buescher LW: 17 -2 20. Denny Hamlin LW: 21 +1 21. Noah Gragson LW: 13 -9 22. Connor Zilisch LW: 20 -2 23. Brad Keselowski LW: 22 -1 24. Christopher Bell LW: 27 +3 25. Riley Herbst LW: 26 +1 26. Austin Cindric LW: 18 -8 27. Chase Briscoe LW: 11 -16 28. Cody Ware LW: 25 -3 29. Todd Gilliland LW: 31 +2 30. JH Nemechek LW: 30 -- 31. Austin Dillon LW: 34 +3 32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. LW: 33 +1 33. Alex Bowman LW: 28 -5 34. Josh Berry LW: 36 +2 35. Cole Custer LW: 35 -- 36. Erik Jones LW: 29 -7

Pre-season testing in Bahrain - Photo from www.x.com/f1 By Ryan Wu As pre-season testing has wrapped up and attention turns to the season opener in Melbourne this weekend, I will revisit my bold, and wildly inaccurate, predictions from last year. I will give myself an accuracy score and offer some new predictions for this season that will hopefully prove to be more accurate. McLaren will remain as the main title competitor to Red Bull for another season but will ultimately fall short again in their Drivers’ Championship chase. This was a close one. As a reminder, Lando Norris narrowly edged out Max Verstappen for the Drivers’ Championship by just two points, needing the final race to secure it. McLaren was dominant as a team and appeared to have the Constructors’ Title wrapped up by April, so this prediction came very close to coming true. Accuracy Score: 6/10 (part way through the year this seemed like a 1/10, if I am to be honest) The excitement doesn’t last long at Ferrari, as driver controversies follow the Scuderia throughout the year, with questions lingering about who the ‘number one’ driver is, resulting in a slip in the standings. A year after finishing second in the Constructors’ Standings, Ferrari slipped to fourth as car inconsistencies persisted throughout the season. What was consistent, however, was who led the team. Charles Leclerc comfortably outperformed his new teammate Lewis Hamilton, who failed to secure a podium for the first time in his career. Their head-to-head record was as follows: Qualifying Grand Prix: Leclerc 19 to 5 Hamilton Sprint: Leclerc 4 to 2 Hamilton Race Grand Prix: Leclerc 18 to 3 Hamilton Sprint: Leclerc 3 to 3 Hamilton Championship Points: Leclerc 242 to 156 Hamilton Position: Leclerc 5th, Hamilton 6th No points were awarded at the Chinese Grand Prix after both drivers were disqualified, and neither scored in the Dutch or Sao Paulo Grands Prix after retiring from those races. Alas, this was another prediction that proved half right, while the other half missed the mark entirely. Accuracy Score: 5/10 Verstappen dominates again and, with the emergence of Lawson, Red Bull secures both championships. Max Verstappen endured a difficult start to the season and, by midseason, trailed Oscar Piastri by 97 points in the championship after the Hungarian Grand Prix. However, he responded emphatically, winning six of the final nine races starting at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. He reminded the world why he was the four-time reigning World Champion, pushing Lando Norris to the very end before ultimately finishing second in the standings by just two points. The same cannot be said for Liam Lawson, who lasted only two races before being replaced by Yuki Tsunoda. Tsunoda, for what it is worth, did not fare much better in the second Red Bull seat. Lawson still managed to outscore his replacement 38 to 33 by season’s end, but a midseason demotion does little to help the accuracy score. Accuracy Score: 2/10 (if it weren’t for Verstappen’s second half resurgence this score might be well into the negatives) George Russell fills the big shoes left by Lewis Hamilton more than adequately and finishes as a top-three driver in the standings. George Russell claimed two wins in 2025 and finished ahead of both Ferrari drivers. However, he placed a distant fourth in the championship, ending the season 91 points behind Oscar Piastri. Accuracy Score: 7/10 With Newey aboard and Alonso still defying father time, Aston Martin enjoys a bounce-back season and contends for a top-four finish in the Constructors’ standings. Fernando Alonso did secure a top ten finish in the Drivers’ standings, but no one would describe Aston Martin’s 2025 season as one of contention. The team fell to seventh in the Constructors’ standings, finishing behind both Racing Bulls and Williams. Accuracy Score: 2/10 Alpine’s underperforming engine and Jack Doohan’s inconsistency cost the team, resulting in a drop to seventh in the standings. The good news is that Alpine did not finish seventh in the standings. The bad news is that they finished last, and by a margin of 48 points. Jack Doohan showed some early inconsistency, recording two DNFs in his first six races before being demoted in favor of Franco Colapinto for the remainder of the season. He ultimately parted ways with Alpine at the end of the year. Accuracy Score: 9/10 Ocon finds greater consistency, Bearman proves his cameo was no fluke, and Haas finishes sixth — their highest-ever Constructors’ result. Esteban Ocon enjoyed his best season since 2023, recording nine points finishes. Oliver Bearman performed even better, outscoring his veteran teammate 41 to 38. Unfortunately, Haas finished 13 points behind Racing Bulls in the battle for sixth, but the pairing showed clear promise for the future. Accuracy Score: 7/10 Yuki Tsunoda fails to show meaningful improvement and loses his F1 seat for 2026. I am not here to kick a man when he is down so let’s just move on. Accuracy Score: 10/10 With an improved car and Sainz’s consistency, Williams climbs to seventh in the standings. Carlos Sainz enjoyed an impressive debut season with Williams, finishing ninth in the Drivers’ standings. His teammate Alex Albon fared even better, placing eighth. As a team, Williams exceeded expectations. Despite pausing development of their car midway through the season to shift focus to 2026, they secured fifth in the Constructors’ standings, their highest finish since 2017. Accuracy Score: 9/10 Sauber doubles its points tally but still finishes last in the standings. Sauber got more than 17x their points total from 2024, ending the season with 70 points. Additionally, with Alpine struggling so severely this year, Sauber avoided finishing last, placing ninth in the Constructors’ standings, just nine points behind Haas in eighth. Accuracy Score: 8/10 ------ Predictions for 2026 With a new season approaching and, more importantly, a brand new set of regulations, chaos is likely to follow. Learning from last year and judging by the three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain, it appears that the top four teams from last season McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari will remain at the front of the field. That said, there is room for surprises, similar to Williams’ resurgence this past year, and there is no guarantee that past performance will carry over under the new regulations. Teams that interpret new rules correctly and execute strong car designs often enjoy periods of dominance. This was evident during Mercedes’ control of the turbo hybrid era and Red Bull’s recent success with ground effect cars. With that in mind, here are four predictions for the upcoming 2026 season. A McLaren driver wins the World Championship… but it won’t be Lando Norris Oscar Piastri came remarkably close to winning his maiden title last season, leading the championship until the United States Grand Prix before relinquishing it to Lando Norris for the remainder of the year. The hope is that McLaren can once again deliver a championship-calibre car and treat fans to another thrilling season-long battle. Lewis Hamilton will secure his first Ferrari podium… by winning the first race of the season in Australia It is no secret that the seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton did not enjoy a smooth debut season with the Prancing Horse at Ferrari. However, anyone who doubts him does so at their own peril. With a new set of regulations and a strong sense of urgency within the team to secure their first Drivers’ Champion since Kimi Räikkönen in 2007, expect Hamilton and Ferrari to rebound in a significant way, beginning with the opening race of the season. Cadillac does not finish last in the constructors’ standings… but will be 10th With a veteran driver pairing of Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas for their debut Formula 1 season in 2026, the hope is that experience will help Cadillac establish early credibility. No one expects the team to contend for race wins in the near future, but reports of strong leadership and a capable engineering group offer optimism. This foundation should be enough to keep Cadillac out of the bottom of the standings, a position that this writer expects Alpine to occupy once again. There will be six different race winners for the first time since the 2009 season Much has already been made of how this new generation of cars handles, with Max Verstappen describing them as “Formula E on steroids.” George Russell has also explained to reporters that drivers will be downshifting to first gear more frequently in corners than in previous seasons in order to keep the turbos spooled. This approach has the potential to destabilize the car and demands greater precision from the driver. In addition, aerodynamic changes aimed at promoting closer racing have simplified the front and rear wings, while the introduction of active aerodynamics has created a learning curve for many drivers. Taken together, these factors suggest that the playing field may be more level than before, potentially opening the door for a wider range of drivers to seize race victories. The 2026 F1 Season kicks off with the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, March 8 th

Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images By Adam Carabine Tyler Reddick became the first driver in NASCAR history to make it back-to-back-to-back wins to start the NASCAR Cup Series Season!   Reddick started strong, earning the pole in qualifying.  Through Stage One, he maybe went too easy on his car, trying to save tires, but was able to adjust his pace and eventually held off road-course wizard, Shane Van Gisbergen (SVG) for the win.    Lap 1: Reddick started the race on pole, but lost the lead at turn one to Chase Briscoe who looked fast early.   Lap 5: SVG, who started 13 th , had already made his way up to 7 th .  He was the fastest car on the track.   Lap 9:  Ryan Blaney takes the lead from Chase Briscoe, and SVG is now up to P5.   Lap 16:  With the stage end looming, a group of drivers hit pit road to try and flip the stage.    Lap 17:  An even larger group of drivers heads to pit road.   Lap 18:  Ryan Blaney pits from the lead, and pit road closes behind him with 2 to go in the stage.   Lap 20:  Ross Chastain wins Stage One, SVG finishes P2 afer staying out.   Lap 24:  Stage Two begins with Tyler Reddick back up front after cycling through pit stops.  Reddick and team worry that he might have a loose right rear wheel, but opt to stay out and chance it.  Connor Zilisch gets spun by Suarez in Turn 1 and undoes a lot of the hard work he did to get up near the front.   Lap 27:  Noah Gragson loses it, spins and hits a wall, but gets it back going.  No caution.   Lap 39:  After starting 15 th in the stage, SVG has worked his way up to P4, and is still charging.   Lap 41:  Again, with the end of Stage Two looming, we get our first takers on pit road – Brad Keselowski and Zane Smith.   Lap 42:  Another group come to pit road, including Alex Bowman who gets a penalty for an uncontrolled tire.   Lap 43:  Josh Berry spins, but again it stays green.  Leader Tyler Reddick pits alongside Chase Briscoe and Michael McDowell.   Lap 44:  Ryan Blaney, SVG, Kyle Larson, and William Byron pit, Ty Gibbs to the lead as the pits close.   Lap 45:  Ty Gibbs wins Stage Two, Tyler Reddick gets stage points despite flipping the stage, as he finishes P5.   Lap 51:  Green flag for the final stage!   Lap 52:  Erik Jones spins from 33 rd , but it stays green.   Lap 55:  Ryan Blaney starts gaining on Reddick, and starts really challenging for the lead.   Lap 57:  Connor Zilisch makes it up to P10.   Lap 60:  Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell go toe-to-toe for most of the lap.  Aggressive driving!   Lap 61:  Kyle Busch capitalizes on Bell and Larson’s feud and moves to P10.  Zilisch is now up to P7.   Lap 63:  The pit window is officially open, and Christopher Bell is the first taker.  Issue for Chase Briscoe – it seems only one tire is spinning properly.  Turns out to be a transmission issue, and Briscoe is the first (and spoiler alert only) DNF of the day.   Lap 64 – After seeing Christopher Bell pit, a big group follow the next lap to not get left behind.   Lap 66 – Leaders are playing a bit of chicken over who’s going to pit first, as many others farther back are pitting.   Lap 69 – Reddick’s lead over Blaney has become 1.6 seconds, it’s assumed Blaney will pit next time.   Lap 70 – Blaney does indeed pit, but Reddick gets wind of it and comes too.  Nearly a drag race off of pit road, but Reddick maintains the lead over Blaney just barely.   Lap 72 – Now Michael McDowell is in the lead, nearly everyone behind him has pit.  He’s running 3 seconds slower a lap, but has a decent lead.   Lap 75 – CAUTION – Ross Chastain loses a tire!  Also, Alex Bowman is reportedly really not feeling well.  He brings it down pit road, and Hendrick standby driver Myatt Snider swaps with him and takes over the 48 car!   Lap 79 – Back to green.  Having stayed out, Reddick leads Blaney, SVG and Zilisch to the line – Zilisch gets the raw end of the deal and gets spun out in Turn One due to an accordion effect started by Kyle Busch.  SVG gets by Blaney for P2.   Lap 82 – Chris Buescher spins at the final turn before the front stretch, again due to Kyle Busch – this time he was warring with part-time teammate Jesse Love in the 33.   Lap 84 – SVG is closing in on Reddick for the lead.  Bell is the first driver with new tires, and has made his way up to P4.   Lap 85 – Bell now to P3!   Lap 88 – Reddick has been seeing nothing but SVG in the rearview mirror, but it looks like SVG’s car is backing off.  Reddick’s lead grows to just over one second.   Lap 93 – Reddick continues to keep pushing.  His lead is now 3 seconds over SVG.   Lap 95 – Final Lap – Hocevar spins just past the start finish online on his own, but finally manages to get it back going.  It stays green to the finish, where Tyler Reddick wins his third race in a row!  The first time in NASCAR history that anyone has won the first three races of the season!   Next weekend we head west to Phoenix Raceway!

By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday. This weekend the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series travels to Austin, Texas for the DuraMAX Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, or COTA.   The portion of the track that NASCAR uses at COTA is a 17-turn 2.4-mile road course.  The facility opened in 2012, and NASCAR first visited in 2021. Christopher Bell won this race last year.   Tomorrow’s race will be 95 laps long (for a total of 223.82 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 20 – 45 – 95.  Pit road speed is 40 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 45 mph.  The fuel window is approximately 34-36 laps.   This year, the NASCAR Cup Series has run 566 laps, for 1,141.16 miles so far this season.  15 drivers have completed 100% of them so far.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at COTA: Tyler Reddick 4.60 over 5 races (1 win) Alex Bowman 5.20 over 5 races Ross Chastain 5.60 over 5 races (1 win) William Byron 6.20 over 5 races (1 win) Chase Elliott 6.25 over 4 races (1 win)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at COTA: Connor Zilisch 37.00 over 1 race Josh Berry 30.50 over 2 races Daniel Suarez 30.20 over 5 races Bubba Wallace 29.80 over 5 races Cody Ware 28.75 over 4 races   COTA is a Road Course.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Road Courses: SVG 6.36 over 12 races (6 wins) Chase Elliott 7.72 over 41 races (7 wins) Tyler Reddick 11.17 over 32 races (3 wins) Chris Buescher 12.48 over 43 races (1 win) Christopher Bell 12.85 over 32 races (3 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Road Courses: Cody Ware 30.57 over 21 races Josh Berry 27.17 over 11 races Ty Dillon 26.92 over 31 races Riley Herbst 24.83 over 6 races Noah Gragson 24.44 over 15 races   Since this race has only been run five times, there is no winningest driver at COTA.  There are actually five different winners here, each with one win.   Drivers who ran their first Cup Series race at COTA: Connor Zilisch 2025, P37   Drivers who WON their first Cup Series race at COTA: Ross Chastain 121 st  Career Cup Series Start   Notable drivers who have not won at COTA: Kyle Busch (has won at 24 other tracks) Denny Hamlin (has won at 20 other tracks) Joey Logano (has won at 19 other tracks) Kyle Larson (has won at 18 other tracks) Brad Keselowski (has won at 17 other tracks)   Based on average finish, no driver lists COTA as their BEST track, but Connor Zilisch, Dnaiel Suarez, and Bubba Wallace list it as their WORST track.   Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at how this season is comparing to last season for drivers:   Drivers Faring Better than in 2025 Tyler Reddick +1217 pts Zane Smith +663 pts Bubba Wallace +628 pts Daniel Suarez +575 pts Carson Hocevar +468 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2025 Christopher Bell -893 pts Denny Hamlin -629 pts Kyle Larson -608 pts Alex Bowman -570 pts Ty Gibbs -513 pts   The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (40 for 1 st , 35 for 2 nd , 34 for 3 rd , etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.   Manufacturer Standings Toyota 110 Chevrolet 69 Ford 64   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings 23XI 110 Front Row 61 Penske 61 RFK 60 Hendrick 59 Spire 57 Trackhouse 51 Joe Gibbs 49 Kaulig 48 Hyak 36 Legacy Motor Club 34 RCR 30 Rick Ware 30 Haas Factory 29 Wood Bros 29   At each stage break, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points based on their finishing positions.  Here are the leaders this year:   Stage Point Leaders Bubba Wallace 29 Ryan Blaney 21 Austin Cindric 19 William Byron 16 Tyler Reddick 15 Chase Elliott 12 Carson Hocevar 12 Kyle Busch 11 Zane Smith 10 Chris Buescher 9   Milestone Watch Ross Chastain Looking for his 40 th  Career Top 5 Chase Briscoe Looking for his 30 th  Career Top 5 Christopher Bell Looking for his 60 th  Career Top 5 Ryan Blaney Looking for his 170 th  Career Top 10   Scorigami Update Atlanta was the first time that: Connor Zilisch finished 30 th   Carson Hocevar finished 4 th     Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Cole Custer 135 races Erik Jones 119 races Kyle Busch 95 races Michael McDowell 86 races Daniel Suarez 72 races Brad Keselowski 61 races AJ Allmendinger 58 races Alex Bowman 50 races Chris Buescher 46 races Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 43 races   The race begins Sunday, March 1 st   at 3:30 pm EST (12:30 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!   Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter  @RacingRefresh   Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!

By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of O’Reilly Stats Friday. This weekend the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series travels to Austin, Texas for the Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas, or COTA.   The portion of the track that NASCAR uses at COTA is a 17-turn 2.4-mile road course.  The facility opened in 2012, and NASCAR first visited in 2021.  Kyle Busch won the first O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (Xfinity) race there that year.  Connor Zilisch won this race last year.   Tomorrow’s race will be 65 laps long (for a total of 153.14 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 20 – 40 – 65.  Pit road speed is 40 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 45 mph.    This year, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has run 283 laps, for 551.02 miles so far this season.  Only 8 cars have completed 100% of all laps.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at COTA: Sam Mayer 6.00 over 4 races Jesse Love 6.00 over 2 races Taylor Gray 7.00 over 1 race Austin Hill 11.25 over 4 races Parker Retzlaff 14.00 over 2 races   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at COTA: Josh Bilicki 29.00 over 4 races Kyle Sieg 26.50 over 2 races Josh Williams 26.50 over 2 races Nick Sanchez 24.00 over 1 race Ryan Ellis 23.25 over 4 races   COTA is a Road Course   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Road Courses: Austin Hill 10.26 over 30 races Austin Green 11.00 over 13 races Sam Mayer 13.51 over 31 races (4 wins) Taylor Gray 13.57 over 7 races Jesse Love 13.64 over 13 races   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Road Courses: William Sawalich 30.00 over 6 races Ryan Ellis 27.06 over 32 races Kyle Sieg 27.02 over 18 races Dean Thompson 24.86 over 7 races Anthony Alfredo 23.99 over 28 races   AJ Allmendinger is the winningest driver in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at COTA, with 2 wins.    Drivers who ran their first Cup Series race at COTA: Austin Green 2024, P7   Notable drivers who have not won at COTA: Justin Allgaier (has won at 20 other tracks) Austin Hill (has won at 7 other tracks) Sam Mayer (has won at 6 other tracks) Brandon Jones (has won at 4 other tracks) Harrison Burton (has won at 4 other tracks)   Based on average finish, Dean Thompson lists COTA as his BEST track, but no driver lists it as their WORST.   Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at how this season is comparing to last season for drivers:   Drivers Faring Better than in 2025 Austin Hill +626 pts Sheldon Creed +436 pts Ryan Ellis +340 pts Jesse Love +207 pts Blaine Perkins +155 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2025 Harrison Burton -639 pts Sam Mayer -493 pts Brandon Jones -289 pts Dean Thompson -228 pts Nick Sanchez -203 pts     Rookie of the Year Battle Patrick Staropoli 43 Lavar Scott 30   The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (40 for 1 st , 35 for 2 nd , 34 for 3 rd , etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.   Manufacturer Standings Chevrolet 110 Ford 48 Toyota 39   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings RCR 87 Haas Factory 68 Jordan Anderson 64 JR Motorsports 64 Viking 58 Young’s 50 Alpha Prime 43 Big Machine 43 Hendrick 43 SS-Green Light 43 Joe Gibbs 39 AM Racing 35 RSS Racing 35 Sam Hunt 34 Hettinger 31 Peterson 31 Barrett-Cope 24 DGM 14 Jeremy Clements 13 Joey Gase 7   At each stage break, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points based on their finishing positions.  Here are the leaders this year:   Stage Point Leaders Justin Allgaier 30 #1 Car 29 #88 Car 27 Austin Hill 24 Jesse Love 20 Sheldon Creed 12 Sammy Smith 9 Brandon Jones 9 Jeremy Clements 8 Taylor Gray 8   Milestone Watch Justin Allgaier Looking for his 170 th  Career Top 5 Taylor Gray Looking for his 19 th  Career Top 5 Sheldon Creed Looking for his 70 th  Career Top 10 Harrison Burton Looking for his 60 th  Career Top 10 Taylor Gray Looking for his 10 th  Career Top 10    Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Jeremy Clements 111 races Jeb Burton 92 races Harrison Burton 69 races Sammy Smith 25 races Justin Allgaier 21 races Nick Sanchez 18 races Sam Mayer 13 races Brandon Jones 7 races Taylor Gray 3 races Jesse Love 2 races   The race begins Saturday, February 28 th  at 3:00 pm EST (12:00 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!   Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter  @RacingRefresh   Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!

By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, you might be familiar with the Cup Series’ Stats Saturday article, but this year we are branching it out to the Top 3 Series.  It’s now time for another Truck Stats Thursday. This weekend the Craftsman Truck Series travels to St. Petersburg, Florida for the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at the St. Petersburg Street Circuit.   The Street Circuit at St. Petersburg is a 14-turn 1.8-mile course that takes over some streets, as well as one of the runways at Albert Whitted Airport. This is the first time that NASCAR will participate at the track, but it has been a staple on the IndyCar schedule for years.   While usually the Trucks race on Friday, this week they’re racing early Saturday morning.  Saturday’s race will be 80 laps long (for a total of 144.64 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 20 – 40 – 80.  The fuel window is unknown, as this is the first time they will be visiting.   This year, the NASCAR Crafstman Truck Series has run 227 laps, for 447.50 miles so far this season.  Seven drivers have completed all of them so far.   St. Petersburg is a Road Course.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Road Courses: Gio Ruggiero 3.00 over 2 races Daniel Hemric 7.83 over 4 races Grant Enfinger 10.21 over 12 races Tyler Ankrum 10.82 over 12 races Ty Majeski 11.08 over 9 races   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Road Courses: Frankie Muniz 28.00 over 1 race Kris Wright 24.00 over 6 races Dawson Sutton 21.50 over 2 races Layne Riggs 20.33 over 3 races Jake Garcia 19.88 over 5 races     Notable drivers who have not won at St. Pete: Grant Enfinger (has won at 11 other tracks) Ben Rhodes (has won at 7 other tracks) Chandler Smith (has won at 7 other tracks) Ty Majeski (has won at 5 other tracks) Stewart Friesen (has won at 4 other tracks)    Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at how this season is comparing to last season for drivers:   Drivers Faring Better than in 2025 Chandler Smith +455 pts Stewart Friesen +326 pts Gio Ruggiero +220 pts Andres Perez de Lara +191 pts Frankie Muniz +121 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2025 Layne Riggs -643 pts Daniel Hemric -556 pts Grant Enfinger -473 pts Tanner Gray -212 pts Kaden Honeycutt -198 pts Rookie of the Year Battle Brendan Queen 53 Mini Tyrell 36 Cole Butcher 29   The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (40 for 1 st , 35 for 2 nd , 34 for 3 rd , etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.   Manufacturer Standings Chevrolet 89 Ford 88 Toyota 69 RAM 57   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Team Standings Front Row 86 TRICON 69 Spire 68 ThorSport 66 Niece 59 Kaulig RAM 57 McAnally-Hilgemann 57 Halmar Friesen 44 Reaume Bros 35 Freedom Racing 26 Rackley WAR 25 CR7 Motorsports 23 Young’s 0   At each stage break, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points based on their finishing positions.  Here are the leaders this year:   Stage Point Leaders #7 Truck 26 #77 Truck 25 #1 Truck 22 Ty Majeski 18 Chandler Smith 17 Stewart Friesen 15 Christian Eckes 12 Layne Riggs 10 Tanner Gray 9 #45 Truck 9   Milestone Watch Chandler Smith Career Truck Series Start Number 90 Christian Eckes Looking for his 10 th  Career Truck Series Win Ty Majeski Looking for his 40 th  Career Top 5 Gio Ruggiero Looking for his 10 th  Career Top 5 Grant Enfinger Looking for his 130 th  Career Top 10 Andres Perez de Lara Looking for his 10 th  Career Top 10   Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Ben Rhodes 62 races Grant Enfinger 29 races Ty Majeski 27 races Daniel Hemric 22 races Tyler Ankrum 20 races Layne Riggs 7 races Justin Haley 7 races Christian Eckes 5 races Stewart Friesen 5 races Gio Ruggiero 4 races   The race begins Saturday, February 28 th  at 12:00 pm EST (9:00 am PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!   Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter  @RacingRefresh   Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images By Adam Carabine The StatChat Power Rankings return in 2026! While finishing position is important, it’s not always indicative of the full picture.  StatChat rankings are determined using a large number of statistical inputs. Let's look at the Top 10:   Joey Logano – This week: 10 – Last week: 8 Logano might not have finished as well as his P3 at Daytona the previous week, but he had a solid day in Atlanta.  He led 26 laps, earned some stage points, and was in contention for a good chunk of the day.  P18 finish after some attrition near the end, but Logano looks good early this year.   Daniel Suarez – This week: 9 – Last week: 7 Atlanta might be Suarez’s favourite track.  He’s got one of his two Cup Series wins there, and he finished P5 there this week.  He kind of appeared out of nowhere near the end of the race (even the FOX Broadcast commented that they hadn’t mentioned him at all up until that point).  I’m not sure I had Suarez in the Top 10 in points after 2 races on my 2026 Bingo Card.    Carson Hocevar – This week: 8 – Last week: 17 Hocevar is a polarizing driver in the Cup Series.  He’s exciting to watch, though that comes at a cost sometimes.  His aggression and seeming lack of caring about his other drivers out on the track make for some good TV, but some don’t like his tactics.  Regardless of how you feel, he finished P4 this week, earned some stage points, and led a couple of laps.  He was looking for his first Cup Series win, and I feel it could be coming soon.   Chase Elliott – This week: 7 – Last week: 18 Another somewhat quiet race at EchoPark Speedway, Chase Elliott finished P11 but wasn’t super visible most of the day.  He did lead 11 laps, and had an average running position of 10 th .  That’s two solid weeks in a row for Chase, and he moves up into the Top 10 of the Power Rankings.   Ryan Blaney – This week: 6 – Last week: 15 A solid day for Ryan Blaney in Atlanta puts him in the Top 10 of our Power Rankings as well.  Points earned in both stages, 6 laps led, and a Top 10 finish on the day.  Blaney looked like he was struggling with the handling of his car through some of the day, but managed to work through it and bring it home P10.   William Byron – This week: 5 – Last week: 4 This goes to show that finishing position doesn’t always dictate how you fare in the Power Rankings.  Despite Byron’s P28 finish after a calamitous finish to the race on Sunday, he stays in the Top 5 of the Power Rankings. It was a great day on the track for Byron up until those final few laps.  He had the second-most stage points, and the most Quality Passes (288) of anyone in the field.  He crashed out 15 laps early of what ended up being the finish of the race, but he’s still looking good to start this season.   Ross Chastain – This week: 4 – Last week: 14 A nice day at EchoPark Speedway for Ross Chastain moves him up into our Top 10 Power Rankings.  He finished P3, earned a stage point, and showed a nice mixture of aggression and maturity on the track throughout the race.  He was in a position to win it right at the end, but just fell short.   Zane Smith – This week: 3 – Last week: 2 Zane Smith is in the Top 5 of the points standings right now.  I know it’s only two races, but still! This is great for the young driver.  He and Tyler Reddick are the only two drivers to have two Top 10s in two races to start the year.  He didn’t earn any stage points on Sunday, but still finished P7, and even led a lap.    Bubba Wallace – This week: 2   – Last week: 6 Bubba Wallace really is showing he’s one of the cars to beat at these drafting tracks.  Two weeks in a row and he has been a threat both times.  An ill-timed block on the final lap of the second overtime attempt thwarted his hopes for a victory, but he had a great day nonetheless.  He had the most stage points of any driver (which included a win in Stage Two), tied for the best average running position (6 th ) and led 46 laps on the day.  He jokingly said he might be in trouble next week at COTA, but we’ll see how his Power Ranking spot is affected next week.   Tyler Reddick – This week: 1 – Last week: 1 It was probably pretty obvious who would be on the top of the Power Rankings this week.  It was hard to go with anyone other than Tyler Reddick, who put together back-to-back wins to start this 2026 season.  He’s looked fast, focused, and also smart.  He led the most laps at EchoPark Speedway, earned extra points in both stages, and oh right, he also won the race.  He’s also no slouch on road courses, could we see him go three in a row next week?   Biggest Movers   Riley Herbst – This week: 26 – Last week: 3 Falls 23 places   Chase Briscoe – This week: 11 – Last week: 31 Gains 20 places   Rest of the List 11. Chase Briscoe LW: 31 +20 12. SVG LW: 26 +14 13. Noah Gragson LW: 10 -3 14. Ty Dillon LW: 13 -1 15. AJ Allmendinger LW: 24 +9 16. Ryan Preece LW: 28 +12 17. Chris Buescher LW: 5 -12 18. Austin Cindric LW: 25 +7 19. Kyle Larson LW: 11 -8 20. Connor Zilisch LW: 27 +7 21. Denny Hamlin LW: 30 +9 22. Brad Keselowski LW: 22 -- 23. Michael McDowell LW: 19 -4 24. Kyle Busch LW: 9 -15 25. Cody Ware LW: 20 -5 26. Riley Herbst LW: 3 -23 27. Christopher Bell LW: 36 +9 28. Alex Bowman LW: 32 +4 29. Erik Jones LW: 29 -- 30. JH Nemechek LW: 21 -9 31. Todd Gilliland LW: 34 +3 32. Ty Gibbs LW: 16 -16 33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. LW: 12 -21 34. Austin Dillon LW: 35 +1 35. Cole Custer LW: 33 -2 36. Josh Berry LW: 23 -13

Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images By Adam Carabine Tyler Reddick makes it back-to-back wins to start the 2026 NASCAR Cup Season!   Despite some earlier damage, and no front right fender, Reddick was able to make his way back up to the front for a Double-Overtime win at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta.   Lap 1: Due to rained out qualifying, the math-based qualifying metric was used, and last week’s winner Tyler Reddick started on the pole.   Lap 4: Joey Logano and Reddick were trading the lead back and forth, lap by lap, as they each led one of the two-wide lines.   Lap 29:  Carson Hocevar has a tire go down, tags the wall, and limps it to pit road.  It stays green, and Hocevar loses two laps getting it fixed.   Lap 43:  Because of Hocevar’s fresh tires, it looks like he might get one of his laps back by making his way to the front of the pack.    Lap 60:  Stage One finishes completely green, Austin Cindric came from starting 30 th  to win the first stage.   Lap 65: Larson wins the race off pit road to get the lead.  Penalties on pit road to Ryan Blaney for speeding and Cody Ware for pitting outside of his box.   Lap 69:  Green flag for Stage Two!   Lap 82:  CAUTION – Ty Gibbs and Josh Berry get the worst of it, they’re both out of the race.  Gibbs’ car sets fire to the grass for a moment, but they put it out.   Lap 88:  Pits open, Larson maintains the lead through another round of pit stops.   Lap 92:  Green flag   Lap 103: CAUTION – Bigger wreck with Riley Herbst, Austin Dillon, Todd Gilliland and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. involved.  Stenhouse is the lone DNF after this wreck.   Lap 111: The top 18 cars stay out, and most everyone else comes down for a fuel top-up and some fresh tires.  Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace make up the front row as the green flag flies again.   Lap 124: CAUTION – Kyle Busch gets loose, moves up the track, gets a little nudge from Noah Gragson, which sends Busch spinning and hitting the inside wall on the backstretch.  That’s the end of his day.   Lap 131: Back to green.   Lap 160: End of Stage Two – finishes under caution at the last minute as Kyle Larson comes down the track, seemingly not realizing SVG is below him.  He spins, hits the outside wall hard, and is done for the day.  Important note: Bubba Wallace wins Stage Two (his second stage win of the season already).   Lap 170: Final Stage is Green!   Lap 198: CAUTION – SVG gets loose and spins on his own.  Todd Gilliland is the free pass.   Lap 201: Pits open, most everyone comes down.  Denny Hamlin is off first with a fuel-only pit stop.   Lap 204: Green flag again.   Lap 224: CAUTION – a big one, Hamlin looks to have started things, but a bunch of cars are involved, including Tyler Reddick, Michael McDowell, Connor Zilisch, Alex Bowman, etc.    Lap 232: Back to green.   Lap 239: CAUTION – Joey Logano gets turned by Carson Hocevar, though it looks like Logano did it to himself by cutting off Hocevar’s nose.    Lap 244: Back to green.   Lap 257: CAUTION – William Byron got loose, hit the wall and lost a lot of speed.  Further back in the pack, everyone trying to avoid him end up getting into a big wreck.  This ends the race for Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Byron, Gilliland, and Cody Ware.   Lap 260: The scheduled end of this race – but we are going to Overtime because of all the cleanup needed after that last wreck.   OT1: Immediately after taking the green flag, Hocevar tries to find an opening between leaders Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell.  Bell goes into the wall, and CAUTION comes out again.    OT2:    Green flag, then White flag.  Bubba Wallace tries to block the high line, but goes too high and Hocevar capitalizes on a crossover move. Tyler Reddick on the bottom gets a good push from Chase Briscoe, and makes his way to the checkered flag for the second week in a row!