The 2026 NASCAR season is set to end this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with champions set to be crowned in the Craftsman Truck Series, O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, and Cup Series this coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively.
But it's been a big news week for far more reasons than the three championships battles, one of which might have already been decided.
Here are some of the notable developments as we head into the final weekend before the start of the three-month offseason.
Dodge returns
Dodge hasn't been involved in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2012, and even after Ram's return to the Craftsman Truck Series was announced for 2026, it wasn't believed that a Dodge Cup return would be possible before 2028.
Now that return has been accelerated, and with the same team that brought Ram back to the Truck Series: Kaulig Racing.
Matt Kaulig's team punched above their weight in 2026 after losing factory support from Chevrolet. Their drivers haven't yet been confirmed for next year, but expect both A.J. Allmendinger and Ty Dillon to be back.
NASCAR has not added a fourth Cup Series manufacturer since Toyota joined Chevrolet, Ford, and Dodge in 2007.
Brad Keselowski's future
And Brad Keselowski is supposedly not at all involved in Dodge's return, despite the rumors after he announced his impending departure from RFK Racing.
He spoke with the media on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, and the fact is that he doesn't currently have anything lined up for 2027.
It is looking increasingly unlikely that he will be a full-time Cup driver next year. Keep an eye on a potential return to the Craftsman Truck Series, both as a driver and an owner. But an equally interesting question is who replaces him in the No. 6 Ford in Cup.
Carson Hocevar out for 2026
Surprise! For the first time in 2026, actions have actually proven to have consequences for Carson Hocevar, who was suspended for intentionally wrecking Austin Cindric at Martinsville Speedway with his non-stop brake-checking.
Ironically, it was Spire Motorsports, not NASCAR, which issued the suspension. Hocevar immediately changed his tune when the suspension was announced, going from stating "it's just Martinsville" and that he "had a lot of fun" to calling it an "embarrassing day for me". Maybe something will actually change now.
NASCAR got in on the action by fining him $100,000 and docking him 25 points in the standings, although the fact that it took his own team suspending him before NASCAR finally acted is a bit alarming. They also docked Josh Berry 25 points for his own brake-checking incident with Ryan Blaney, but with only a $50,000 fine. Hocevar also notably intentionally spun out to bring out a yellow.
NASCAR championship battles
While it would take Christopher Bell or Denny Hamlin moving mountains to beat Kyle Larson, who owns a 67-point lead over Bell and a 70-point lead over Hamlin with the tiebreaker already clinched and just 76 points still up for grabs, the other national series championship battles are still far from over.
The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series title battle is still a five-way fight, with Justin Allgaier leading Jesse Love by 22, Corey Day by 23, Carson Kvapil by 31, and Sheldon Creed by 42. Allgaier is the favorite, but any one of those four could strike with a strong day at Homestead on Saturday.
The Craftsman Truck Series fight is a two-way fight, but it's also a close one. Kaden Honeycutt owns just a 20-point lead over Layne Riggs. All in all, the move to the "Chase" instead of "win and in" has paid off in 2026, even amid the frustrations some fans have shown about Larson's lead.
Other news
The Hocevar 2027 Indy 500 rumor was indeed a load of nonsense, promoted by a figure known within the IndyCar community for promoting nonsense and scamming people. We're still waiting on the Tom Brady-owned Indy 500 entry (more Brady ownership in Indiana would admittedly be cool, though).
On a serious note, Hocevar in the Indy 500 would be a terrible idea for everybody involved. It may work in NASCAR (barely), but his driving style at 240+ miles per hour in an open-wheel Indy Car is a recipe for total disaster.
On a much lighter note, Rajah Caruth is set to return to JR Motorsports next year, and unlike this year, he is set to run full-time. He ran full-time in 2026 overall, but 10 of the 33 races were spent with Jordan Anderson Racing. The announcement gives the team four confirmed full-timers for 2027, and they've confirmed that they plan to run the No. 9 car, which was a part-time entry this year, full-time as well.
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