The 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series is the 45th season of the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season started on February 14 with the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway and will end with the Hard Rock Bet 300 at Homestead–Miami Speedway on November 7.
Jesse Love of Richard Childress Racing entered the season as the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion. Following the Focused Health 250 at EchoPark Speedway, Justin Allgaier claimed the No. 1 seed in the Chase, the new championship format for the series.
This is the first year under the new title sponsor, O'Reilly Auto Parts, as Xfinity did not extend their sponsorship.
Teams and drivers Full-time teams Manufacturer Team Driver Crew chief Ref Chevrolet Big Machine Racing 48 Patrick Staropoli (R) Patrick Donahue Darrell Phillips DGM Racing withJesse Iwuji Motorsports 91 Mason Maggio Mario Gosselin Carson Kvapil Alex Labbé Ross Chastain Myatt Snider Dexter Bean Jesse Iwuji Derek Lemke Stefan Parsons TBA 92 Josh Williams Steve Addington Alex Guenette B. J. McLeod Leland Honeyman Preston Pardus Mason Maggio TBA Haas Factory Team 00 Sheldon Creed Jonathan Toney 41 Sam Mayer Jason Trinchere Hendrick Motorsports 17 Corey Day Adam Wall Jeremy Clements Racing 51 Jeremy Clements Matt Weber Jordan Anderson Racing 27 Jeb Burton J. C. Umscheid 31 Blaine Perkins Cody McKenzie 32 Jordan Anderson Mark Setzer Ross Chastain Rajah Caruth Andrew Patterson Tyler Ankrum Carson Brown Daniel Dye JR Motorsports 1 Carson Kvapil Rodney Childers Connor Zilisch 7 Justin Allgaier Andrew Overstreet 8 Sammy Smith Cory Shea 88 Rajah Caruth Mardy Lindley William Byron Kyle Larson Chase Elliott Peterson Racing 87 Austin Green Jody Measamer Nick Sanchez Lee Pulliam TBA Richard Childress Racing 2 Jesse Love Danny Stockman Jr. 21 Austin Hill Chad Haney RSS Racing 28 Kyle Sieg Aedan McHugh SS-Green Light Racing 07 Josh Bilicki Paul Clapprood SS-Green Light Racing with BRK Racing 0 Garrett Smithley Bryan Berry Alex Labbé Cole Custer Myatt Snider Viking Motorsports 96 Anthony Alfredo Joshua Graham 99 Parker Retzlaff Danny Efland Young's Motorsports 02 Ryan Ellis Eddie Troconis 42 Carson Hocevar Andrew Abbott Nick Leitz J. J. Yeley Nathan Byrd Brad Perez Logan Bearden David Starr Will Rodgers C. J. McLaughlin Baltazar Leguizamón Garrett Smithley Natalie Decker Matt DiBenedetto TBA Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing 18 William Sawalich Jeff Meendering 19 Brent Crews (R) Seth Chavka Gio Ruggiero Chase Briscoe Christopher Bell 20 Brandon Jones Sam McAulay 54 Taylor Gray Jason Ratcliff Sam Hunt Racing 24 Harrison Burton Brian Gainey 26 Dean Thompson Kris Bowen Chevrolet Ford TBA Alpha Prime Racing 44 Brennan Poole Frankie Kerr Chevrolet Ford TBA 45 Lavar Scott (R) Kase Kallenbach Chevrolet Toyota Ford TBA Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen 55 Joey Gase Scott Eggleston Garrett Harrington Joey Gase TBA Chad Finchum Sage Karam Blake Lothian Glen Reen Brad Perez David Starr TBA Chevrolet Ford RSS Racing 39 Ryan Sieg Ryan Sieg is running the full season split between the Nos. 38 and 39 RSS Racing cars. Matt Noyce Andy Jankowiak
Part-time teams Manufacturer Team Driver Crew chief Races References Chevrolet Alpha Prime Racing 4 Caesar Bacarella Keith Wolfe Anthony Alfredo Barrett–Cope Racing 30 Carson Ware George Church Cody Ware Baltazar Leguizamón Austin J. Hill Myatt Snider DGM Racing withJesse Iwuji Motorsports 71 Leland Honeyman Nathan Kennedy JR Motorsports 9 Shane van Gisbergen Phillip Bell Carson Kvapil Ross Chastain Lee Pulliam Jake Finch Mike Harmon Racing 74 Dawson Cram Mike Harmon Kevin Cram Gray Gaulding Pardus Racing Inc. 50 Preston Pardus Dan Pardus Richard Childress Racing 3 Austin Dillon Ryan Chism 33 Garrett Mitchell Robert Strmiska SPS Racing 43 Landon S. Huffman Blake Bainbridge Connor Mosack Team Stange Racing withMike Harmon Racing 47 Dawson Cram Kevin Cram Carson Ware David Starr Natalie Decker FordAM Racing 25 Nick Sanchez Dewey Townsend IV 52 Daniel Dye Blake Bainbridge Matthew Lucas Hettinger Racing 5 Luke Fenhaus (R) Joe Williams Jr. Tyler Gonzalez Chandler Smith J. J. Yeley Luke Baldwin Chevrolet Toyota Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen 35 Natalie Decker Jay Guy Scott Eggleston Jim Gase Garrett Harrington Shannon Shehan Kevin Cram Joey Gase Austin J. Hill Blake Lothian Chad Finchum Matt DiBenedetto Justin Carroll Dawson Cram Entries are fielded in a collaboration with Mike Harmon Racing. Matt Wilson Carson Ware Chevrolet Toyota 53 David Starr Jim Gase Garrett Harrington Shannon Shehan Jason Miller Derek White Natalie Decker Joey Gase Kyle Kelley Tyler Tomassi Glen Reen Blake Lothian Carson Ware Austin J. Hill Chevrolet Ford RSS Racing 38 Patrick Emerling R. B. Bracken Logan Bearden J. J. Yeley Ryan Sieg Brad Perez Notes:
Team changes Kaulig Racing is pausing their O'Reilly Auto Parts Series program for the 2026 season. Sam Hunt Racing will field two full-time cars in 2026 with the No. 24 car expanding from being fielded part-time to full-time. Young's Motorsports will expand to two full-time cars with the addition of the No. 02 driven by Ryan Ellis. ARCA Menards Series team Sigma Performance Services announced the acquisition of AM Racing. The team, renamed to SPS Racing, planned to field an entry in the series but did not specify whether it would be full-time or part-time. However, it was later revealed that the purchase was not finalized, and SPS would return to the ARCA Menards Series with AM continuing its O'Reilly Series operations. Cope Family Racing partnered with Stanton Barrett Motorsports, a team returning to NASCAR for the first time since 2015 and the series for the first time since 2008, in 2026 and the team's car switched from the No. 70 to the No. 30, a number SBM ran in their previous stint in the series from 2007 to 2008. On January 5, 2026, Barrett–Cope Racing was announced as the merged team's new name. Viking Motorsports will field two full-time cars in 2026 with Anthony Alfredo driving the No. 96 car. After collaborating with Jordan Anderson Racing for two years to jointly field Austin Green's entries with them part-time, Peterson Racing will split from JAR and field their No. 87 car on their own in 2026 with Green and the team running full-time in the series for the first time. SS-Green Light Racing with BRK Racing renumbered their No. 14 car to the No. 0 for 2026. Garrett Smithley, who drove that car in the majority of the races in 2025 and will again in 2026, is synonymous with that number from when he drove it for JD Motorsports from 2016 to 2019. Jordan Anderson Racing will expand to three full time entries.
Driver changes Rookies
Brent Crews will run 29 races in the No. 19 for Joe Gibbs Racing. Lavar Scott, who ran full-time in the ARCA Menards Series for Rev Racing for two years, will run full-time for Alpha Prime Racing in their No. 45 car. He drove that car part-time in 2025. Patrick Staropoli, who in 2025 ran part-time for Sam Hunt Racing as well as part-time in the Truck and ARCA Series for Cook Racing Technologies and Venturini Motorsports, respectively, will run full-time in the No. 48 for Big Machine Racing, replacing Nick Sanchez.
Moving between series Connor Zilisch will move up to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2026 driving full-time for Trackhouse Racing. Leland Honeyman was initially set to move down to the ARCA Menards Series in 2026, driving for Nitro Motorsports. Both him and Thomas Annunziata, who did run full-time in ARCA in 2026, did not return to Barrett–Cope Racing in 2026. After running full-time with Kaulig Racing in 2025, Daniel Dye and Christian Eckes will both return to the Truck Series full-time in 2026. Dye will continue with Kaulig in the Truck Series with their Ram team while Eckes will return to McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, the team he drove for full-time for in the Truck Series in 2023 and 2024.
Moving teams Harrison Burton moved from AM Racing to Sam Hunt Racing for 2026. Parker Retzlaff moved from Alpha Prime Racing to Viking Motorsports for 2026. Retzlaff replaced Matt DiBenedetto. Josh Bilicki will not return to DGM Racing. He will join SS-Green Light Racing full-time for 2026. Josh Williams will return to DGM Racing full-time. Nick Sanchez will not return to Big Machine Racing for 2026. Anthony Alfredo moved from Young's Motorsports to Viking Motorsports for 2026. Austin Green will run full-time for Peterson Racing in their No. 87 car.
Moving to part-time schedule Connor Zilisch will run part-time for JR Motorsports in 2026, splitting the No. 1 car with Carson Kvapil.
Crew chief changes Rodney Childers, a longtime Cup Series crew chief who most notably worked with Kevin Harvick at Stewart–Haas Racing for several years as a crew chief in the series, will join JRM in 2026 as the crew chief of the No. 1 car in which Kvapil and Zilisch will share. Jim Pohlman, who was the crew chief for JRM's No. 7 car driven by Justin Allgaier, moved up to the Cup Series to crew chief the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing car driven by Kyle Busch. Danny Efland, who was the crew chief of the AM Racing No. 25 car in 2025, will move to Viking Motorsports where he will crew chief their No. 99 car in 2026. He replaces Pat Tryson, who became the head of the team's shop operations. With JRM hiring Rodney Childers to crew chief the No. 1 car, former No. 1 car crew chief Andrew Overstreet will move to their No. 7 car to replace Jim Pohlman who left the team to crew chief for RCR in the Cup Series. JRM crew chiefs Phillip Bell and Cory Shea switched cars for 2026, with Bell moving from the full-time No. 8 to the part-time No. 9 and Shea moving from the part-time No. 9 to the full-time No. 8. Aeden McHugh moved from the No. 70 with Cope Family Racing to the No. 28 with RSS Racing. George Church will replace McHugh as crew chief for the renumbered No. 30 car for CFR in their new partnership with Stanton Barrett Motorsports. Joshua Graham, who previously crew chiefed for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in the Truck Series in 2025, will be the crew chief for Viking Motorsports' new No. 96 car driven by Anthony Alfredo. The two of them worked together in the series in 2024 at Our Motorsports in their No. 5 car. Joe Williams Jr, who crew chiefed the Alpha Prime Racing No. 4 car in 2025, will crew chief the new Hettinger Racing No. 5 car in 2026. Matt Weber, who was previously an engineer and crew chief for Our Motorsports, which closed down during the 2025 season, will be the new crew chief for Jeremy Clements' No. 51 car in 2026, replacing Kase Kallenbach.
Manufacturer changes Haas Factory Team switched from Ford to Chevrolet in 2026, with a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. RSS Racing switched from Ford to Chevrolet in 2026 to continue its existing technical alliance with Haas Factory Team. Technical Changes Jeremy Clements Racing will form a technical alliance with Haas Factory Team. Viking Motorsports and Jordan Anderson Racing formed technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing.
Rule changes Loosening Cup Series restriction The amount of races full-time Cup drivers can run in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series was increased to ten and eight, respectively, up from the 2025 restriction of five in each series. Cup drivers remain ineligible for points, as well as unable to compete in the postseason events.
Age limit The minimum age requirement to race in the O'Reilly Auto Parts series was lowered to 17 for road courses and oval tracks less than 1.25 miles in length. This change creates a staggered minimum age: 16 in Trucks, 17 in O'Reilly, and 18 in Cup series events.
Postseason format