NASCAR Drivers Sound Off: Answering 4 Burning Questions for 2026 Cup Season
Let’s hear straight from the NASCAR Cup Series drivers themselves.
Here are some of the best answers from our FOX Sports production days as we asked drivers about the new Chase playoff format, who would make the playoffs this year after missing in 2025, and whether Connor Zilisch will win a race as a rookie this year.
Who does the new playoff system help?
Kevin Harvick: “The first one that comes to my mind is Chase Elliott. When you look at his consistency and the amount of points that they score — Chase Elliot, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Those are the ones that stick out right off the top of my head that can take those bad days and turn them into something, obviously, in this format, you’re going to have to be able to do that to get the most out of each day.”
AJ Allmendinger: “The guys that consistently run up front. It’s still going be the same guys, right? Christopher Bell, William Byron, [Kyle] Larson is always up front. Denny [Hamlin].”
Christopher Bell: “I’m very, very happy about this new system. … Before, there are a couple key tracks that, if people were good at, it really, really suited them. And for me, unfortunately, Martinsville was kind of that hurdle. We struggled at Martinsville and we didn’t have a shot because of that right there.”
Ryan Blaney: “I don’t know if it favors anyone in particular. I think everyone’s going to sit in here and say, ‘Oh, it benefits our team, it helps us more and more.’ I think everybody thinks it benefits them.”
Alex Bowman: “Chase Elliot, for sure. It’s a Chase Elliott type of system. Honestly, I think it helps me. Over the years, I think I would have finished better in points pretty much every year with this format.”
How will the Hendrick foursome of Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and William Byron fare in 2026?
Chase Elliott: “It’ll be the same five or six or seven guys that you see be contenders each year. Obviously, they’re going to have to put together a larger sample set of races to make it work. But your contenders aren’t going to change a whole lot.”
Denny Hamlin: “It’s going to help your fastest five, six, seven guys, week in week out. I think you can probably put them on a list. It’s the same six or seven that are up front. It’s the same guys over the last two, three years. It’s going to reward those guys.” Are you one of those guys? “That’s what I assume.”
Kyle Larson: “I feel like Chase Elliott is the most consistent driver across the board year in and year out. He finishes just about every race inside the top 15. So if it was going to help anybody, I think it would help him. But it’s also going to reward wins, too. If he can get back to winning at a big clip, then I think for sure he would be a heavy favorite.”
Tyler Reddick: “I haven’t thought about anyone else but me. I think [it helps me]. I like chasing consistency. I know I like to drive like a lunatic sometimes and all that stuff, but when I’m happiest is when we’re running consistent.”
Who does the new playoff system hurt?
Kevin Harvick: “Kyle Larson has, self admittedly, and just the stats say it for themselves — those DNFs are going to hurt a lot more. When you look at those finishes and getting those DNFs at those moments, you’ve got to minimize those DNFs.”
Clint Bowyer: “The guy who is starting last. The guy starting last is definitely at a disadvantage. But he has a chance. He definitely has a chance.”
Kyle Busch: “Honestly, it kind of hurts everybody, really, because what I look at is at least before, when you had the regular season and you had all the playoff points and the resets. … Now there’s no resets through the round. So if you have one or two bad races, and that’s just getting wrecked by somebody else or getting caught up in something not of your own doing — that can eliminate you from the championship. I’ve been there before. I’ve run the Chase before. In 2014, we had a bad race at Talladega, it knocked us out of being able to win the championship. We finished third that year. And then I believe it was 2007, we’re running at Kansas. I get dumped down the backstretch at Kansas, and I think we were second in points at that time, and that eliminated us from having a shot at the championship. If you have a bad day, you have to recover and I don’t know how easy it is to recover in this day and age.”
Kyle Busch is itching to get back into the playoffs under the new format.
Alex Bowman: “The guys that struggle historically but then crank out a win.”
Ross Chastain: “I did ask Shane [van Gisbergen] if this was a change to affect him the most, but he clarified that when he won his first race, yes, he was way down in points, but by the time he won the last one in the regular season he was way further up.”
Kyle Larson: “I don’t know if it hurts me. I think last year we still scored the most points throughout the playoffs anyway, and maybe the whole season. But you don’t really know how other teams play it differently. I run up front a lot, but I crash sometimes. too, as does everybody. So we’ll see. I don’t know. We’re just going to race.”
Besides yourself, if you didn’t make the Chase, name a driver who will make the Chase this year that didn’t make it last year?
We didn’t limit drivers to one answer. Here were the top vote-getters:
8-Chris Buescher
5-Ty Gibbs
4-Brad Keselowski
3-Kyle Busch
AJ Allmendinger: “Kyle Busch. As we worked with that group over the last couple years, it’s been a bit of a struggle. Kyle Busch is one of the best we’ve ever seen. So especially with it not being win-and-in, so you’re not kind of falling back if somebody wins and knocks you out of the playoffs, he’s got to be one of the 16 guys in.”
Christopher Bell: “Chris Buescher has to be a popular answer.”
Chris Buescher on all three RFK drivers possibly making it: “We’ve got very good speed. We’ve got a ton of consistency. We have three drivers that have a good head on their shoulders that have grown up in this world of taking everything that is available to you every week and when it’s not there, try not to do something insanely dumb.”
Kyle Busch: “I feel like Chris Buescher is really, really good, really consistent — not always flashy, but they’re really good at being able to just finish.”
Joey Logano: “It’s easy to look at, right? It’s, it’s who won that was outside the top 16 in points. And then replace those with the top 16 in points. It’s pretty simple way of looking at it.”
Will Connor Zilisch win a race as a rookie?
Eight drivers said no. Five drivers said yes. And the rest leaned toward him winning one. The biggest reason is just the stats — Zilisch has just three Cup starts and many of the recent first-time winners are doing it somewhere in their 90-100th start.
Ryan Blaney: “I think there is a good possibility he could win one.”
Ross Chastain: “Oh yeah. Everything I’ve seen from the first time [team co-owner] Justin [Marks] talked about him racing in TransAm to the Cup Series and everything in between. I haven’t seen him be slow for very long and anything. And I expect that to continue with the resources he has at Trackhouse.”
Chase Elliott: “How many starts does he have? I say no.”
Will rookie sensation Connor Zilisch become a winner in 2026?
Kyle Larson: “I would not be surprised if he won a Cup race. I think he’s really good on ovals, and he’s really good on road courses as well, so I think there’s opportunity for him to win on either. He can have a great year. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t win, because it’s a large, large jump from Xfinity to Cup.”
Michael McDowell: “I don’t. He’ll be close, and I think he’ll be fast, but the level of execution it takes to win a Cup race is so tough. The potential is always there. Obviously, the speed’s there, and I’ve been super impressed with everything that he’s done. But how many years did it take for Kyle Larson to win or Chase Elliott? You can go down the list.”
Daniel Suarez (whose ride Zilisch now has): “He’s going to be very competitive on road courses. I will be impressed if he wins a race.”
Bubba Wallace: “There’s a steep learning curve, so you’ve got to crawl before you walk when you get in the Cup Series, and you’ll have your aha moment of oh, this is it. And I don’t know if that’s hit him yet. But I think that when that does, you’ll start to see progression come from there.”
Tyler Reddick: “If he can beat SVG, yeah.”
Connor Zilisch: “What have other people said? … Hopefully.”
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