Beyond the Flag

The late Kyle Busch was supposed to run the eighth and final race on his initial 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule for Spire Motorsports this past weekend at Richmond Raceway.

Expectations were high for Williams in 2026, as James Vowles has been targeting this season as a game-changing year since 2024. Given how well the FW47 performed last season, that trajectory was expected to be followed. Unfortunately, things have gone wrong for Williams ever since pre-season testing, with issues of weight and aerodynamics; both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz have expressed their frustrations publicly on multiple occasions.

Don't look now, but three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano is showing everyone again why he should never be counted out after winning the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night. That was not only Logano's second win in the four most recent races, but the recent surge has moved him from 20th to ninth in the standings and put him back into title contention when it looked like he may be fighting for a Chase berth altogether just six races ago.

At this point, it's probably going to take a billion-point lead for the IndyCar on Fox announcers to actually admit that, unless he misses the final four races of the 2026 season or crashes out on the opening lap in each, Alex Palou losing his championship lead is simply not a possibility worth actually discussing seriously to start every single practice, qualifying, and race broadcast.

Four races remain on the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series schedule, including this weekend's inaugural (and possibly only) street race in Washington, D.C., next weekend's doubleheader at the Milwaukee Mile oval, and the following weekend's season finale at Laguna Seca, which most recently concluded a season in 2023.

Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Corey Day was considered among the most likely candidates to replace Alex Bowman behind the wheel of the organization's No. 48 Chevrolet at the Cup level, after Bowman announced that the 2027 season would be his last following the confirmation of a new one-year contract extension.

In preparation of a full-time move to the NASCAR Cup Series with 23XI Racing, where he has served as a development driver since 2025, next year, reigning Craftsman Truck Series champion Corey Heim is running part-time schedules in both the Cup Series and the Truck Series this year.

For multiple years, it was everybody's expectation that Corey Day was the heir apparent to Hendrick Motorsports' No. 48 car once Alex Bowman was out of the seat. But now, NASCAR's most storied organization has thrown a wrench into those plans by signing Connor Zilisch to the entry beginning in 2028.

After Corey Heim became the first driver since the legendary A.J. Foyt in 1965 to score his second NASCAR Cup Series victory within the first 15 starts of his career, all anybody actually wanted to talk about was Carson "Dale Earnhardt" Hocevar and the absolutely generational ninth-place performance from the driver who lost eight positions from his starting spot.

When Joey Logano was 20th in the point standings, it was allegedly vindication for the fans who spent years calling him a "playoff merchant" and basked in the fact that the new consistency and points-based playoff format meant that the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford would never again be a NASCAR Cup Series championship contender. No more five-overtime win over the driver last in points getting him into the playoffs.