4 Burning Questions: Will Chevy’s Redesign be the Difference at Daytona?

Will the new Camaro nose push Kyle Larson and the Chevy camp to the front today?

Just last year, Kyle Larson drove his No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro to a Cup championship. A few weeks later, the same car received a much-needed upgrade for 2026 in the form of a new front fascia. Chevy says the new nose should help when it comes to drafting tracks and locations in which aerodynamics can make the difference; Daytona will be the first big test.

Can the new nose help? How?

To understand the importance of this change, we need to step back to when the Next Gen chassis first debuted. The Ford Mustangs boasted a rounded, yet flat front fascia while the Toyota Camrys, especially the new ones, looked exactly the same.

The Camaro was a different story, though. In oddly keeping with what stock car racing is intended to be, the front fascia of the Camaros actually came to somewhat of a point in the center. In theory, the design should have improved aerodynamics, allowing the cars to cut through the air with greater ease than their flat-faced counterparts.

It just didn’t work out that way. The past few years, the Camaros were markedly harder to push and be pushers in the draft than any other cars on the track. They’ve had success despite that deficiency (William Byron is a two-time defending Daytona 500 winner, after all) but the drivers have had to overcome some challenges there. Ford, specifically Team Penske, still is considered top dogs when it comes to both teamwork and the ability to negotiate the bump draft on these drafting tracks.

But are we about to see a shift? On the ground here in Daytona, it’s easy to spot the difference in last year’s bumper and this one. With the more rounded nose, the Camaros look more comfortable in the draft than anyone else. At one point during a practice on Friday, the entirety of the top 10 were Camaros. It follows up a strong performance by Chase Elliott in Thursday’s Duel win and Kyle Busch’s pole-winning lap.

That type of speed doesn’t happen by accident. If I’m Ford, I’m now officially worried someone is coming for my superspeedway crown.

Even if it’s just by a nose at the start/finish line today.

Was Saturday the perfect start to the new O’Reilly’s partnership?

It felt weird Saturday when NASCAR’s second-tier division took the track, and nobody mentioned that the cars were faster than Xfinity Mobile. However, I’ve come back around to the change of sponsorship this season to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. In fact, I’ve come so far around to the point I think it could be an excellent opportunity for NASCAR to draw yet another large, national chain to the forefront of its portfolio.

It’s no small secret the O’Reilly cars put on the best racing show of the last few seasons. With the skinny, flexible tires and twitchy steering, the races are full of action, and the drivers actually have to work to keep the car on a straight line. Pound for pound, it’s the best racing product that NASCAR puts out on a regular basis, and hardcore fans know it. That held true on Saturday night, too, despite Austin Hill’s dominant win. A strong list of storylines followed behind him, from Ryan Ellis’ career-best sixth to Anthony Alfredo running 11th in a car he didn’t even drive until Saturday afternoon.

Coming into a spot vacated by a beloved title partner is never an easy ask, but they’ve done it without controversy. Names and signage have been switched, and oddly enough, not many fans are complaining about the differences. So far, so good, with all races presented nationally on the same network: the CW.

The trick, though, came when the cars took to the track for the first time this year. The perfect start for O’Reilly was in its presentation. Since it is NASCAR’s best racing, the on-track theatrics had to sell themselves. There were no gimmicks, no embarrassments, real authenticity, and thank God, no cartoon graphics on TV. The way you pronounce the series might have changed but the competition? It’s better than ever.

With a typical Daytona race in the O’Reilly cars behind it, full of excitement and excellent storylines throughout the grid, the series is off to a roaring start. And it appears the drivers have already made the shift in naming sponsors, because Justin Allgaier didn’t miss a beat when I spoke to him after the race.

Did the Truck Series race have too much star power?

In one of my more unpopular opinions ever, I’m going to say yes.

There were so many storylines coming into this race, it was enough to make my head spin. Between RAM re-entering the series, Tony Stewart coming back, Garrett Mitchell (Cleetus McFarland) and Travis Pastrana making the start along with John Hunter Nemechek and Carson Hocevar, it was easy to forget the series regulars. I haven’t even mentioned two more Daytona 500 winners who started the race: Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

All of these things are wonderful, and I am so glad it made for an exciting Truck night in America for the fans both in attendance and at home. But I can’t help but feel that if all of these star appearances were spaced out a bit more, the sustained outcome would be more beneficial to the series than dumping it all into one race.

These cameos create an interesting problem for NASCAR. How do you follow up that star-studded debut? Sure, I’m excited for the Truck race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but for the ~100k people who only tuned in due to last night’s fanfare, what do they have to look forward to? Those are thousands fewer eyes that will be on the Atlanta race, and thousands less at the ensuing event, too.

We’re the only sport that starts our season off at its most revered race weekend on the calendar, and that should never change. However, since that’s the case, the focus for the remainder of the season should be on keeping fans engaged rather than pulling out all the stops on opening weekend, only to run out of surprises come summer.

Can the CW steal the show on Fox’s big weekend?

Make no mistake about it, having Daytona 500 rights is one of Fox Sports’ biggest bragging points, and I’m not just talking about stock car racing. It’s one of the best and most popular sporting events, period, on the yearly calendar.

Millions upon millions will tune into the Daytona 500, but this weekend also serves as a huge opportunity for the CW to build on its momentum from last year when it took over the broadcast rights to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, building a new brand and increasing the overall audience watching.

The CW broadcast succeeded for two big reasons. First, it wasn’t gimmicky. It didn’t rely on over-the-top production, manufactured drama, or “gotcha” moments. Instead, it relied on the product, which we’ve already established is the best racing NASCAR has to offer.

Secondly, it gave the series a permanent home. Every Saturday during race season, fans knew exactly where to find every O’Reilly race. In fact, I would wager that the “Where to Watch” story data here on Frontstretch would show that, as the season went on, fewer and fewer fans kept looking at those articles. They knew where and how to find their racing.

That being said, especially compared to the Truck broadcast, the CW didn’t have to do anything special for me to come away from this weekend a lot more scot free than its counterpart. They showed up, clocked in, did what was expected, and called it a day. Fox has a different tilt to how they present their broadcasts, creating more of a love/hate relationship among the fan base.

The CW, meanwhile, stays right down the middle, providing a checklist of what they think a race fan wants to see. I have a feeling that’ll give them a leg up among all the networks again during 2026.

Follow Tanner Marlar on X at @tanner_marlar