Kurt Busch was announced as a nominee for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2026. Is the elder Busch brother a first-ballot Hall of Famer?
Luken Glover: When you look at the 2026 nominees, how could he not be? There are some strong candidates on the list, including decorated drivers like Harry Gant and Neil Bonnett. However, they don’t stack up to the amount of accomplishments Kurt Busch racked up in his career. Thirty-four NASCAR Cup Series wins, a Cup championship in 2004, the Daytona 500 triumph in 2017 and a Coca-Cola 600 trophy are just a few of the notable milestones Busch achieved during his career. He won with all four manufacturers that were present during his career, and you have to factor in his ability to help race teams grow in his twilight years, taking Chip Ganassi Racing and 23XI Racing to victory lane. Despite his colorful history in his youth, Busch’s presence in the garage in his later years was respected by his peers.
Jake Altmayer: When you consider both Busch’s career accomplishments and how they compare to the other drivers on the ballot for 2026, it’s clear that he is more than worthy of being a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Any driver who managed to win 30 or more races in NASCAR’s modern era should be a shoo-in for the Hall as soon as they are eligible.
Logan Kendall: Busch has 43 wins across all three NASCAR national touring series, a Cup championship, a Daytona 500 win and he managed to stay consistent across multiple generation of Cup cars. Because of that, he is absolutely a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Few drivers manage to be able to contend for wins as long as Busch was able to, and that sustained success deserves to be recognized.
Mike Neff: The answer to this is simple. Yes, the precedent is set, excluding the absolute travesty that is the horrible treatment of Bill Rexford. Every Cup champion who is eligible, besides Rexford, is in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Considering the other nominees, Busch is a champion and has more wins. It is a no-brainer.
Jordan Bianchi reported the Cup Series championship race could start rotating tracks in 2027. Which tracks should be a part of that rotation?
Christopher Hansen: I’d like to see traditional 1.5-mile tracks such as Charlotte Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway be factored into the rotation, not only because that’s the bread and butter of the NASCAR schedules but also because those tracks have produced the best racing since the debut of the Next Gen car in 2022. Additionally, the weather around the time of Championship Weekend should be taken into consideration. This is where a track like Las Vegas Motor Speedway could come in handy, as the average temperature for November is 66 degrees, which couldn’t be better in terms of conditions.
Altmayer: The tracks that make the most sense to me to include in the rotation are Homestead-Miami Speedway, Las Vegas and Phoenix Raceway, as these three tracks are in locations where weather would likely not be an issue in November, and they are also in or around large markets. In addition, each of these tracks race differently and require different skillsets from drivers.
Neff: Weather is a factor when looking at the championship race. Considering warm weather locations, the list should look like this: Homestead, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Darlington Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte. Atlanta needs to be several years down the road when the asphalt ages. Scream about Texas, but the asphalt is beginning to age and the racing is going to get better. We can’t do superspeedways because of the randomness, so Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway are out. As long as we get tires that fall off, we’ll have good races at all of them. One other caveat: no stages in the championship race. They aren’t necessary.
Glover: Bianchi reported that Homestead will return as the site of Championship Weekend in 2026, and rightfully so. It wouldn’t be disappointing to see it stay there for several years. However, if it does rotate, there are a few tracks that would be worthy candidates. Crowning the champion in the sport’s backyard of Charlotte would be valid, as the infrastructure is mostly there to host such an event and the racing has been superb there since the introduction of the Next Gen car. Outside of that, tracks like Darlington, Nashville Superspeedway and Las Vegas would be potential candidates with some upgrades. I’ll even throw out Richmond Raceway as a longshot, as there are aspects of the facility that could play host to a marquee weekend.
Which Cup driver benefited the most from the off-week?
Neff: We won’t have an answer to that for a week or two until we see who comes out of the break running better. Unquestionably, the driver who really needs to turn things around is Brad Keselowski. He is 31st in points, 214 behind the lead, more than three full races out of the top spot. His teammates, Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece, are 12th and 14th, respectively. He is obviously in a must-win situation for the playoffs, but he is really just in a must-improve situation for his self esteem.
Hansen: Keselowski and Alex Bowman. It’s been well documented how much Keselowski and the No. 6 RFK Racing team has struggled thus far, sitting 31st in the standings with a 25th-place average finish. Additionally, after his strong start to the season, Bowman and the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 has had three straight finishes outside the top 20 following a solid second-place finish at Homestead. Look for Keselowski to be a contender at Talladega, one of his best tracks on the schedule, where he has amassed six Cup wins in his career.
Kendall: Ty Gibbs will likely benefit the most from the break. Gibbs had been a topic of conversation for much of the beginning of the season as he and his team struggled. But they may have finally figured something out, as the No. 54 team earned two-straight solid finishes going into the break with a ninth at Darlington and a top five at Bristol Motor Speedway. Now that they have had a week off to strategize and develop more, they can come out hunting for wins and make a push to get into a playoff position.
Altmayer: Keselowski. It has been a dreadful start to the season for the RFK co-owner and driver, as he is currently without a single top-10 finish. While Keselowski has certainly had some bad luck this season, the No. 6 team just hasn’t been showing the speed and consistency necessary to be legitimate contenders. Perhaps the off-week allowed it the opportunity to reset and reevaluate its program as we approach the halfway point of the regular season.
Should Rockingham Speedway get a date on the 2026 Cup schedule?
Hansen: With a resounding outpouring of support from fans who flocked to Rockingham Speedway to see the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, I’d love to someday see the Cup Series get a race weekend at Rockingham, but only after some of the lingering issues with the Next Gen car are resolved. We’ve seen time and time again that the aerodynamics of this car in traffic make it next to impossible for a trailing driver to get close enough to make a pass simply because the cars are so identical in the way they’re prepared. Furthermore, the short-track package still needs work after the last two short-track races saw the race winners (Denny Hamlin at Martinsville and Kyle Larson at Bristol) absolutely crush the competition on their way to victory lane.
Kendall: With all of the debate and controversy surrounding the current Cup car at short tracks, it is probably not the best time for the Cup Series to head to Rockingham as soon as 2026. It should first put out a solid consistent product at short tracks before adding any more. It would also be nice to go back to having tracks that only lower series would go to so those races can be more significant.
Glover: As exciting as the racing was at Rockingham, NASCAR should be patient with returning the Cup Series to the track. First, it needs to address the issues with the Next Gen car on short tracks to greater lengths, whether that’s adding more horsepower, altering tire compounds or adjusting the underbody. Ultimately, the cars are too close competition-wise and horrendous in dirty air on short tracks. Rockingham absolutely had an added level of intrigue last weekend, and it will be fine to wait longer to make sure that the Cup product is appealing if it returns to the track in the near future.
Entering his fifth year with Frontstretch, Luken Glover is the author of The Underdog House, shedding light on the motivation and performance of NASCAR's dark horse teams as they strive to fight to the top. Additionally, Glover reports for the site at various events, and he contributes in the video editing department.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a middle school math and PE teacher, as well as a basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.
Jake Altmayer joined the Frontstretch team in 2025, assisting as a news writer and contributing to other weekly columns and articles, such as Friday Faceoff and Xfinity Breakdown. A 2024 graduate of DePaul University, Altmayer has closely followed NASCAR's national series (Cup, Xfinity and Trucks) for nearly a decade and has attended more than a dozen races over the course of that time. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, spending time with his loved ones, and listening to his favorite band, the Beach Boys.
Logan Kendall joined the Frontstretch team in 2025 as the Tuesday News Writer and fills in other roles as needed. He resides in the Finger Lakes region of New York and spends his free time writing as a hobby creatively and is a self published author.
Logan can be found on X @LoganKendall48
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
