On Sunday (Feb. 15), the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season will officially kick off with the 68th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
2026 will feature a new championship format, a fresh schedule, and plenty of storylines.
Here’s where the Cup Series field stacks up ahead of the first of 36 races in the 2026 campaign.
1. Kyle Larson
Larson is coming off his second championship season, and with a new championship format in place that will reward both winning and consistency, he could be primed for a repeat. He hasn’t won a race since Kansas in May of 2025, but it’d be a surprise if the No. 5 isn’t strong out of the gates.
2. Denny Hamlin
To say Hamlin had a tumultuous offseason would be a massive understatement. From a heartbreaking championship loss, the very public spotlight of 23XI Racing’s lawsuit against NASCAR, the tragic death of his father, and a re-torn shoulder, the 45-year-old driver was put through the wringer.
But the NASCAR world learned long ago not to doubt Hamlin, who won six races a year ago. He should be an easy lock for the Chase and in title contention well into the fall.
3. Christopher Bell
Bell missed out on the Championship 4 in gut-wrenching fashion in both 2024 and 2025. He’s probably excited to see NASCAR rid itself of the playoffs and return to the Chase – he led the Cup Series with an average finish of 11.2 in 2025, and a similar campaign could yield his first championship.
4. Ryan Blaney
Blaney, the 2023 Cup Series champion, has blossomed into a bona fide superstar over the past three years, and there’s little reason to believe he’ll fade from contention in 2026.
Blaney has won 10 races over the last three years, though his average finish (10th best in the Cup Series in 2025) leaves something to be desired.
5. William Byron
Like Blaney, Byron has become a star over the last three years, making the Championship 4 three straight times and winning 12 races – including the last two Daytona 500s – over that span.
Byron can become the first driver in history to win three consecutive Daytona 500s on Sunday and should easily make the Chase. What he can do once he gets to the postseason could hinge on how many races he’s able to win in the regular season.
6. Chase Briscoe
Not even the biggest Briscoe fans could’ve predicted the rise of the Mitchell, Ind., driver in 2025. In his first year with Joe Gibbs Racing, Briscoe won three races, including a second straight Southern 500, and made it to the Championship 4.
Any doubts regarding Briscoe’s ability to step into the shoes of Martin Truex Jr. have been quelled going into 2026, where Briscoe will look to finish two spots higher in the championship than he finished a season ago.
7. Chase Elliott
As he comes off of his first multi-win campaign since 2022, there’s arguably no bigger winner in NASCAR’s return to the Chase than Elliott, who has become one of the most consistent drivers in the sport.
Consistent race-winning speed would be nice to see from the No. 9 team, but Elliott should be in championship contention in 2026 so long as he maintains his model of consistency.
8. Tyler Reddick
Reddick is in an interesting position going into the 2026 season. His 2025 season was solid – 14 top-10 finishes and a ninth-place points finish – but he didn’t find victory lane and was underwhelming for a driver coming off of a Championship 4 appearance in 2024. 23XI Racing is taking steps towards being a championship-caliber organization, but if Reddick is to be the team’s flag-bearer, he needs to win again soon.
9. Joey Logano
In contrast to Elliott, Logano may be the biggest loser from NASCAR’s championship format switch. The three-time champion made a living off of opportunistic performance in 2018, 2022 and 2024 en route to his three titles. He’ll need to improve both his consistency – his average finish was 11th-best last season – and his winning pace if he wants a fourth crown.
10. Bubba Wallace
Wallace looked like the best driver at 23XI in 2025. Not only did he match Reddick in top-10 finishes (14), he also won the Brickyard 400, scoring his third career victory. Wallace has steadily improve over his five-year tenure with 23XI, and his sixth year with the team seems poised to continue that trend.
11. Alex Bowman
Bowman’s contract with Hendrick Motorsports is up at the end of 2026. Needless to say, he needs a big season.
Bowman certainly hasn’t been bad during his eight years with HMS. He’s made the postseason in seven of his eight seasons and won eight races. But Hendrick drivers are always under the microscope, and Bowman has lagged behind compared to his teammates in recent years.
A winless season – or worse, one in which he misses the Chase – could potentially spell the end of his Hendrick tenure.
12. Ryan Preece
Preece didn’t make the postseason in 2025, but he did have the 12th-best average finish in the Cup Series in his first year with RFK Racing. On the heels of his win in the exhibition Clash at Bowman Gray, there’s real momentum behind the No. 60 team as Preece looks for his first Cup Series win and a Chase berth.
13. Ross Chastain
It’s difficult to make out exactly how good Chastain and the No. 1 team are. Chastain won the 2025 Coca-Cola 600 and was relatively consistent, but on far too many occasions, the No. 1 unloaded for a race weekend woefully off the pace.
A new crew chief for Chastain in former Hendrick Motorsports engineer Brandon McSwain could change that trend. Anything less than a season that includes a Chase berth would be disappointing for Chastain, who is searching for his first multi-win season since 2023.
14. Chris Buescher
The Chase should favor Buescher, who had the seventh-best average finish in the Cup Series in 2025. But he hasn’t won since September 2024 at Watkins Glen, and at some point, the No. 17 team will need to translate their consistent top-10 speed into a race win.
15. Shane van Gisbergen
Wins no longer guarantee postseason eligibility in NASCAR, but that might not be as big of a problem as many fans see it to be for road course ace Shane van Gisbergen.
After winning five road course races a season ago, it wouldn’t be a surprise if SVG ran the table and won all four road course races in 2026. Winning three of them and continuing to improve on ovals could be enough to punch his ticket to the Chase.
16. Carson Hocevar
What Hocevar lacks in results, he makes up for in speed and marketability. The 23-year-old driver signed a contract extension with Spire Motorsports last week that will keep him with the team into the 2030s, and that was no accident.
Spire employs a budding superstar in Hocevar behind the wheel of the No. 77 Chevrolet, and they know it. Even if Hocevar doesn’t make the Chase or get his first career win, you’ll be hearing about him all season long.
