With the Daytona 500 quickly approaching on Sunday, February 15, a new NASCAR season will be here before you know it. It may seem like just yesterday that Kyle Larson was hoisting his second Bill France Cup at Phoenix Raceway, but it is time to flip the page and start looking ahead to another 36-race campaign that will be full of several changes.
While the usual drivers are almost sure to return to victory lane, there are some drivers who are still in search of their first Cup Series win. Some have led numerous laps and done everything but win a race while circumstances have simply not worked out for others.
Now that the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium is less than a month away and the green flag is set to wave on a new NASCAR season, here are four drivers who are poised to win their first Cup Series race.
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
Gibbs is entering his fourth full-time season at the Cup Series level and is still in search of his first win after 123 starts. He won the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series championship in 2022 after a seven-win campaign and many expected him to immediately find success at the Cup level.
After producing an average finish of 18.4 in his rookie season, Gibbs posted a career-high eight top five finishes and 12 top 10 finishes in the 2024 campaign, in addition to an improved average finish of 17.4 and a career-high 417 laps led. Tyler Allen was brought in as his crew chief for the 2025 season, one in which Gibbs led the most laps of any winless driver (304) and claimed the inaugural In-Season Challenge title.
The overall production was worse for Gibbs in 2025, especially compared to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates and Championship 4 drivers Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe, as well as Christopher Bell, who made it to the round of 8. As someone who is the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, pressure is nothing new for the younger Gibbs, but he is beyond due for a Cup Series win.
Ryan Preece, RFK Racing
Preece may have ended up on his roof for a second time at Daytona in the 2025 running of the Great American Race, but he is coming off the best season of his Cup Series career by far after his first year at RFK Racing.
2025 was Preece's sixth full-time season, but aside from his 149 laps led in 2023, Preece posted career-bests in every major category, including top five finishes (three), top 10 finishes (14) and average finish (15.7). He led 60 laps from the pole at Richmond Raceway and finished a season-high third in the spring race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
As someone who finished 18th in points in 2025, a playoff berth is definitely on the table for Preece in 2026. However, if RFK Racing can put everything together and bring some more consistency to the track, he could lock up his first playoff appearance with his first career win.
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports
Hocevar certainly made his sophomore season a memorable one to say the least, even if his points position (23rd) and average finish (21.6) dipped from his freshman campaign. He was in contention to win multiple races, but for one reason or another, he could not put it all together, posting eight DNFs in the process.
The Portage, Michigan native was in contention to win the Coca-Cola 600 before his No. 77 Chevrolet suffered an engine failure shortly after the final stage began. Had it not been for a tire issue, Hocevar was also in position to win his home race at Michigan International Speedway.
Hocevar rubbed several drivers the wrong way with his overly aggressive driving throughout the season, but he was near the front of the field when most of the run-ins occurred. If he can clean that up and put the late-race issues behind him, he could be in line for his first Cup Series win in just his third season.
Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
Zilisch may be the only Cup Series rookie for the 2026 season, but don't let that fool you. Following a historic 10-win season in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and a record-breaking streak of 18 consecutive top five finishes during the year, he is one of the most talented drivers to enter the Cup Series in a long time.
He may have come away empty-handed in the championship race at Phoenix to his best friend Jesse Love, but the 2025 season was historic on many levels for Zilisch, who also posted a best finish of 11th at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta) in three Cup starts.
It is going to be a learning curve for Zilisch as he gets acclimated to the Next Gen car and the competitiveness throughout the field, but with veteran crew chief Randall Burnett calling the shots and the immense talent that he brings in, don't be surprised if Zilisch wins a race during his rookie season.