NASCAR Analysis

  Chase Elliott     Hendrick Motorsports has not gotten off to the best start in 2026. This was the deepest that they had gone winless in a season in quite some time, but Elliott broke through for the team at Martinsville. He was not the dominant car on the day, as he was only up front the last 100 laps of the race. Elliott had a decent long run today, but he could just not move his way forward for much of the race. He ran 10th to 15th for most of the race and didn't earn stage points. Elliott had gotten up into the top 10 during the first part of stage 3, but was largely stuck battling his teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson. Alan  Gustafson decided to do something vastly different in the third stage, however, to get Chase to the front.     The plan for Elliott during stage 3 was to split the stage into thirds and get off sequence from everyone else. Elliott would end up pitting at lap 260 and was going to have to deal with most of the...

  Tyler Reddick     Reddick is a freaking beast of a driver. No matter what is thrown his way, he finds a way to rebound and recover. This week, Reddick dealt with a battery issue the entirety of the race, being put behind at the end of stage 1 but was still able to rally his way through the field. He qualified on the pole, was easily the fastest in practice, and had the best car today. Reddick's worse finish so far this season is 13th which came last week at Vegas. Aside from that and an 8th place finish at Phoenix, Reddick has won every race this season. He is just the 3rd driver in NASCAR's modern history to win 4 of the first 6 races of the season.      The most wins 23XI has had in a season was 3, which happened back in 2024 when Reddick won 3 races and made it to the Championship 4. Reddick has already surpassed that total in just the first 4 races this season. 23XI could very well get to double digit wins as a team this season especially with the spe...

Denny Hamlin     The best drivers in the Cup Series are often able to overcome a lot of adversity to get good finishes. Denny Hamlin was busted for speeding at the start of stage 2, but overcame that to win at Las Vegas for the 2nd time in a row. Hamlin would end up finishing stage 2 5th after restarting around 20th. He quickly moved his way to the front in stage 3 and was able to fend off Chase Elliott who was charging late. Hamlin's car was not the best on the long run, as was evident when he lost the lead to William Byron just before the Connor Zilisch caution in the middle of stage 3.     Hamlin's win puts him in sole possession of 10th on the all time wins list, surpassing Kevin Harvick. Hamlin is now just 2 race wins off of Kyle Busch, who has 63 career wins and sits 9th on the all time wins list. Hamlin is likely to retire after the 2027 season, but he realistically should pass Kyle Busch especially with how much Busch has struggled at RCR. Haml...

     Ryan Blaney     Ryan Blaney is able to pick up his first win of the 2026 season at Phoenix Raceway after holding off Christopher Bell for the last 10 laps. Blaney ran up inside the top 5 for much of the race, but had multiple loose wheels that put up in the back, where he had to race his way back up to the front. An Austin Dillon caution with about 25 laps to go led to a split pit strategy, where guys like Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Larson, and more took just two tires. whereas Bell & Hamlin took 4 tires to try and be on the attack. That said, a caution on the next restart involving Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, and Ty Dillon hurt Bell and Hamlin's chances of catching Blaney who moved past Gibbs and Larson on the last restart.     Blaney's win at Phoenix adds to the elite resume that Blaney has built up at the track. Since 2021, he has just two finishes outside the top 5, which was a 10th at the Spring 2021 race and a 28th place finish in...