1. Chase (Elliott) Is as (The) Chase Does
Chase Elliott is probably not going to dominate lengthy stretches of any NASCAR Cup Series season in the Next Gen car.
Maybe that sounds a little harsh, and it turns the risk of discounting the one time he actually did: back in 2022, the debut campaign for the current vehicle, when Elliott turned a five-race stretch between Nashville Superspeedway and Pocono Raceway into three wins and two runner-up results.
All the data we have since makes a compelling argument that the declaration above is correct. From the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL race in the fall of ’22 until this past weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Elliott won as many Cup races as Tyler Reddick won in the first nine races of 2026. At no point during those 117 starts did he look like the guy to beat except for one-off flashes.
What NASCAR’s eternal Most Popular Driver did very well, and continues to do, is consistency. The sport doesn’t track top-15 finishes as a matter of course, but Elliott has a ridiculous number of them in the Next Gen era. They just weren’t enough when the playoffs met the car we have right now, as evidenced by Elliott finishing last in the 2022 Championship 4 and then not even making it back the past three seasons.
With The Chase now in effect, he figures to be a stronger championship contender. Elliott is now third in points; despite leading fewer laps than five other drivers, he’s second (either alone or tied) in wins, top fives and top 10s, and he has zero DNFs. After Watkins Glen International, a track where he used to rule but has turned cruel for him the past few years, there’s a stretch of 11 races where he either finished 15th or better in 2025 or there was no points race held last season (Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, North Wilkesboro Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway).
That suggests Elliott is unlikely to fade during the summer. The guess is he’d probably not publicly express a strong preference for any particular championship format, but The Chase figures to suit the man named Chase just fine.
2. Kyle Busch Was This Close to Changing the Narrative Around His Season, and Now …
If you were writing a way for Kyle Busch to return to NASCAR relevance, you could have done worse than the setup he had at Texas. After running inside the top 10 and looking … well, a lot more like the Busch we have in our memories, it had all the makings of the kind of day that has been in mercilessly short supply for the No. 8 team since the end of 2023.
Even after a late caution shuffled him back a bit, there was every chance he was going to finish with his second straight top 10 and become the subject of thinkpieces everywhere proclaiming that the team had turned a corner.
Then this happened:
Busch has spent the time since coming home 20th defending his actions, which is certainly on brand if nothing else. The discourse has now turned to what penalties he might receive if NASCAR decides he intentionally put John Hunter Nemechek into the wall.
On the “how the mighty have fallen” scale in NASCAR, this has to rate near the very top. Busch used to be good for a few race wins a year and at least a shot at the title. Now he’s getting into dust-ups over a mid-teens finishing spot.
Whether the wrongs for which Busch felt the need to retaliate were imagined or not, it didn’t have to end this way. He entered Texas off a good result, his crew chief was optimistic and he had a legitimately good day going.
Two more laps were all he needed for a much happier ending, and it says something that he couldn’t even manage to find it.
3. Joey Logano May Have Lost His Fastball Longer Ago Than We Thought
I’ve written before about drivers who may regret the fact that the playoffs are no more, but a new one has shuffled his way to the front of the line while sliding down the standings. By that I mean Joey Logano, who compounded the misery of coming home 30th at Kansas Speedway and 39th at Talladega Superspeedway by finishing 37th at Texas.
Logano is now 17th in points and would be left out of the Chase field if it started today. At first glance, that’s a stunning reversal of fortunes for someone who won two of the last four Cup championships.
Look a little closer and that surprised emoji may turn into the one with an eyebrow raised. Since Logano’s 2022 title, he’s been good at times, including his stellar 2024 playoff run, but he’s just as often gone dry for months at a time. His current 36-race winless streak is the second of at least that many races in just the past three-plus seasons.
A win at Texas, ironically, ensured Logano was in the 2025 playoffs, and while he was fine there with six top-10 finishes, he didn’t win any races and failed to make the Championship 4. He’s well known for his even-year magic, but finding a way out of his current malaise without the “win and you’re in” mechanism might be tricky for a driver and team that simply haven’t been elite for some time.
4. Carson Hocevar at the Met Gala Just Feels Right at the Moment
If anyone has main character energy going in NASCAR right now, it’s Carson Hocevar. If his unforgettable celly after nabbing his first Cup Series victory at Talladega didn’t prove it, his attendance at this year’s Met Gala certainly should.
Yes, that’s right, the Met Gala, the prestigious and exclusive event where fashion and fundraising intersect every year in Manhattan. Hocevar isn’t going to make any wildest outfits lists, but he does clean up nicely.
It’s hard to think of another current Cup driver who could feel at ease there. Ryan Blaney … maybe? Regardless, seeing Hocevar in that environment does make one think leading man, perhaps even for the sport writ large before too long.
5. The Number of Road Course Races Was the Wrong Focus
NASCAR fans have had to get accustomed to the idea that other than the Daytona 500, no event’s spot on the Cup Series schedule is sacred. Races can and do get moved around regularly, even if some don’t feel quite right when they land on new dates.
Watkins Glen falls in that category even though its May debut hasn’t happened yet. Except for a jaunt into September two years ago, the annual visit to the New York road course has always taken place in July (early on) or August (since 1986). It’s never been in May.
The shift is even more jarring when you consider that the number of road/street course races was cut back to just four this year. A debate can certainly be had if that’s too few or just the right amount, but what really makes it seem like the former is true is how front-loaded they are.
Once San Diego and Sonoma Raceway are held back-to-back in June, it’s nothing but ovals from there on out. Even if NASCAR doesn’t want a road course in The Chase — which is silly since the championship should be decided on all kinds of tracks, so one road course should be among them — it should at least spread them throughout the calendar.
Keeping Watkins Glen where it traditionally has fallen in the late summer would have helped the imbalance a lot. Hopefully, NASCAR reconsiders where to slot The Glen for 2027, because moving it back would be the easiest fix.
Any chance you guys can find out why Michael McDowells performance is so bad this year? Im curious to know why he is so far off Hocevar and Suarez and worse off then last year? Any insight to what’s going on at Spire? Thanks.
May is a terrible time of year to be racing at The Glen, and not just because the schedule now will go five months without a road race, but also because of the weather. The predicted high for Friday and Saturday is only in the 50’s, and while Sunday is supposed to break into the low 60’s, showers are expected. It can just as easily be in the 40’s in May in the Finger Lakes as it can be in the 70’s.
Making the move to May even worse, is the decision to race on Mother’s Day. As a sport that claims to be a family sport, NASCAR should never race on Easter or Mother’s Day. If the schedule needs to race on one or both of those weekends, race on Saturday night at a track with lights. Watkins Glen is usually packed, and the grandstands sold out. I suspect tickets sales aren’t going as well as usual since I’m still getting weekly emails offering me tickets, and I even got a phone call trying to get me to come back this year.
they never use to race on mother’s day. easter and mother’s day were the off days leading up to the races at charlotte, allstar race and then 600.
This has been a pet peeve of mine for years. Virginia and NC tracks when it’s still snow weather there, cold weather scheduling for the Glen, and then they wonder “why doesn’t anyone go to races anymore?”
People aren’t dumb. Maybe if the weather is good and someone’s schedule allows, they’ll buy a last minute ticket, but many need to plan ahead, and it’s not worth the chance of nasty weather. Rain is one thing. Cold is another altogether.
Have to admit that Hocevar at the Met was not on my Bingo card, but the kid certainly looks dashing.