2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series

Full-time teams Part-time teams 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. 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 will partner 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 will switch from the No. 70 to the No. 30, a number SBM ran in their previous stint in the series from 2007 to 2008. • 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. 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. • Leland Honeyman will move down to the ARCA Menards Series in 2026, driving for Nitro Motorsports. Both him and Thomas Annunziata, who will also run full-time in ARCA in 2026, will not return to Cope Family 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. • Nick Sanchez will not return to Big Machine Racing for 2026. • Austin Green will run full-time for Peterson Racing in their No. 87 car. George Church will replace McHugh as crew chief for the renumbered No. 30 car for CFR in their new partnership with Stanton Barrett Motorsports. Technical Changes Jeremy Clements Racing will form a technical alliance with Haas Factory Team. ==Rule changes==

• NASCAR Cup Series drivers with three or more years of experience can participate in ten (up from five) regular season races. They are still prohibited from participating in The Chase and the championship race. • The minimum age to participate in an O'Reilly Auto Parts Series event is lowered to 17 years of age. The new rule applies, as in the case of the Truck Series minimum age rule, to short tracks and road courses only which account for 15 races at 12 tracks. Nashville Superspeedway, at 1.33 miles, and longer circuits still require drivers to be 18 years of age. • Similar to the Cup Series, NASCAR changed the playoff format for the first time since the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series adapted the playoffs in 2016, the format changed on January 12, 2026. The amount of races in the Chase increased from 7 to 9. The win-and-you're-in, as well as the playoff point after a driver won a stage has been removed. ==Schedule==

The 2026 schedule was released on August 20, 2025. Notes: Race names and title sponsors are subject to change. Not all title sponsors/names of races have been announced for 2026. For the races where a 2026 name and title sponsor has yet to be announced, the title sponsors/names of those races in 2025 are listed. Bolded races indicate Dash 4 Cash race. Schedule changes Homestead–Miami Speedway will return to its traditional date as the finale for all three national series. The series will join the Craftsman Truck Series and the Cup Series at the Coronado Street Course. The series will not return to Portland International Raceway, Chicago Street Course, and Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The series will return to Chicagoland Speedway for the first time since 2019, and the second Darlington race was readded after a one-year hiatus. The Charlotte Motor Speedway fall race will move away from the roval layout to the oval, after seven years as a road course race. ==Season summary==

Regular season At Daytona, Austin Hill won the pole. Hill continued his dominance at Superspeedway tracks, winning both stages and the race. The win was Hill's fourth in five seasons at Daytona. Sam Mayer won the pole at Atlanta. Jesse Love won stage 1, and Rajah Caruth won stage 2, his first career stage win in the O'Reilly series. On the final lap, Austin Hill was looking to defend his win from last year, however Ross Chastain knocked him off the racing line, giving Sheldon Creed his first career win after 15 runner up finishes. Connor Zilisch won the pole at Austin, with his Cup Series teammate Shane van Gisbergen on the front row. Austin Hill won stage 1, and Sam Mayer won stage 2. Van Gisbergen dominated the race, leading a race-high 31 laps, ultimately winning the race. Taylor Gray won the pole at Phoenix. Sammy Smith won stage 1, and Jesse Love won stage 2. Justin Allgaier passed Love late in the race, holding him off to win the race, becoming the first driver to win a race in the Nationwide, Xfinity, and O'Reilly era of the series. Sam Mayer won the pole at Las Vegas. defending race winner Justin Allgaier swept the stages, Kyle Larson would end up winning the race. Kyle Larson won the pole at Darlington. Larson dominated the race, sweeping the stages and leading all but 40 laps. Justin Allgaier controlled the race after the final restart leading the final 17, claiming his second consecutive win. Justin Allgaier won the pole at Martinsville after qualifying was canceled due to rain. Allgaier won stage 1, and Austin Hill, the defending race winner, won stage 2. JR Motorsports would dominate the later half of the race, with Allgaier and Lee Pulliam leading majority of the laps "The Big One" would occur with 17 laps remaining, taking out several contenders. Allgaier would later win the race, claiming his second consecutive win. Corey Day won his first career pole at Rockingham. Day would sweep the stages for the first time in his career. During stage 3, teenagers like Brent Crews and William Sawalich would dominate the later half of the race, Sawalich would hold off teammate Brandon Jones for his first career O'Reilly Auto Parts Series victory. William Sawalich won the pole at Bristol. Kyle Larson swept the stages. After an intense, late race battle for the lead, involving Larson, Connor Zilisch and rookie Brent Crews, Zilisch was able to get the upper hand for the race, winning the event. Rain at Kansas canceled qualifying, resulting with Carson Kvapil winning his first career pole. Kvapil was later involved in a scary flip down the backstretch on lap two. Brandon Jones swept the stages. Taylor Gray would later hold off a hard charging Sheldon Creed to get his second career win in the O'Reilly series. Jesse Love won the pole at Talladega. Carson Kvapil won stage one, and Justin Allgaier won stage two. After an exciting, action-packed race, Corey Day held off the field after a caution came out to earn his first career O'Reilly Series victory. Justin Allgaier won the pole at Texas. ==Results and standings==

Race results Drivers' championship (key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or owner's points. * – Most laps led. 1 – Stage 1 winner. 2 – Stage 2 winner Owners' championship (Top 15) (key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or owner's points. * – Most laps led. 1 – Stage 1 winner. 2 – Stage 2 winner Manufacturers' championship After 12 of 33 races ==See also==