Even before the season, a frequent question was whether Kyle Busch, on an expiring contract, would re-sign with Richard Childress Racing or the parties would go their separate ways at the end of the year. Busch said he wanted to get through the opening stretch of the season to see how RCR was doing before making any decision. When the organization then struggled, a divorce felt inevitable.
Despite the sluggish performance, it is increasingly likely that Busch and RCR will remain together, with Busch eventually signing an extension, team and league sources say.
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Alex Bowman’s future with Hendrick Motorsports is a topic of speculation each year, and with Bowman in a contract year, it’s no different in 2026.
It’s been a rough stretch for Bowman, whose last win came in July 2024. He was a non-factor most weeks in 2025 and then missed four races this season while recovering from vertigo. All this has happened during a period when teammates William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson have each won multiple times and vied for championships, with Larson winning the title last year. It’s why Bowman’s future with Hendrick is very much unsettled, even if he is well-liked within Hendrick and has the full support of primary sponsor Ally.
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RFK Racing leadership faces a unique situation. Not only do all three drivers (Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece) have contracts either expiring or with options that need to be exercised, but the team’s contract with anchor sponsor Kroger is also up.
RFK also finds itself without a third charter, as the one it’s leasing from Rick Ware Racing is already spoken for. That charter is one of two owned by RWR, one of which is already sold to Legacy Motor Club, while RWR is keeping the other for itself in 2027.
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After years of shuffling and reshuffling, Spire is preferring stability and at present is happy with its three-driver lineup consisting of Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell and Daniel Suárez. The consensus within the organization, team sources say, is that they’re not itching to make a change. (Suárez was considered on the bubble coming into the season, but his impressive performance — he’s currently 14th and in a Chase spot — has quieted any speculation that he could be one-and-done.)
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With the Jimmie Johnson co-owned Legacy Motor Club having acquired a third charter, it will be expanding to three full-time teams next year.
During its search over the past year, Legacy has tossed out several names. That search is effectively over, with 23XI Racing’s Riley Herbst as the leading candidate to fill out the team’s driver roster. The two sides are expected to eventually finalize a deal, according to team and league sources.
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With Herbst expected to join Legacy, who then replaces him on the team co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin? There’s one obvious choice for 23XI Racing. That would be 23-year-old Corey Heim, widely considered NASCAR’s top young prospect not already full-time in Cup and already under contract to 23XI.
See much more at The Athletic.