The State of the Cup Garage
NASCAR enters 2026 with a relatively stable charter map after the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of 2024. Trackhouse Racing and Front Row Motorsports both expanded by absorbing former SHR charters, while Haas Factory Team kept one Cup entry alive under the Haas name. Spire Motorsports has grown into a genuine three-car operation, and 23XI Racing's championship-favourite form has reset the conversation about who actually has the resources to win in this era.
What follows is the team-by-team rundown of the rosters fans are watching closest right now.
Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
The winningest team in Cup history with 14 owner championships, Hendrick co-runs the unified Chevrolet R07 engine program with Richard Childress Racing's ECR shop. The 2026 lineup is unchanged: Kyle Larson in the No. 5, Chase Elliott in the No. 9, William Byron in the No. 24 and Alex Bowman in the No. 48.
Elliott is fourth in points after his Martinsville win on March 29, and Larson is sixth following a runner-up at Kansas. Byron has battled inconsistency early but remains a back-to-back Daytona 500 winner. The depth is still the deepest in the garage.
Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
JGR is Toyota's flagship team and a five-time Cup champion organisation. The 2026 quartet runs Denny Hamlin in the No. 11, Chase Briscoe in the No. 19, Christopher Bell in the No. 20, and Ty Gibbs in the No. 54.
Outside Hamlin's Las Vegas sweep and Ty Gibbs' breakthrough Bristol victory in April, the start has been bumpier than expected. Bell, Briscoe and Hamlin all sit lower in the standings than at this point last year, and the team's crew chiefs have publicly acknowledged the slow opening.
Team Penske (Ford)
Penske remains Ford's championship engine. The lineup is Austin Cindric in the No. 2, Ryan Blaney in the No. 12 and Joey Logano in the No. 22 — all running Roush Yates FR9 power. Logano's three Cup titles (2018, 2022, 2024) and Blaney's 2023 championship make this the most decorated active group in the field.
Blaney's Phoenix win has him third in points entering May. Logano and Cindric have been quieter but remain perennial playoff threats once the format flips in September.
Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
Justin Marks' organisation pivoted hard for 2026, swapping in 19-year-old phenom Connor Zilisch (No. 87) for the departed Daniel Suárez and pairing him with three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen (No. 88). Ross Chastain anchors the operation in the No. 1.
Results have been mixed. SVG remains the field's top road-course threat, Chastain stays in the headlines weekly, and Zilisch is still searching for his first Cup top-10 — though the team and observers like Kevin Harvick continue to defend his ceiling.
23XI Racing (Toyota)
Co-owned by Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin and Curtis Polk, 23XI is now the championship favourite. The 2026 lineup is Bubba Wallace in the No. 23, Riley Herbst in the No. 35 and Tyler Reddick in the No. 45.
Reddick has done the heavy lifting — five wins, the team's first Daytona 500 victory and a 110-point lead — but Wallace has been steady enough to hold a playoff-calibre position, and Herbst is in his second full Cup year. Toyota's resurgence runs through this shop.
RFK Racing (Ford)
Owned by Brad Keselowski and Jack Roush and rebranded from Roush Fenway in 2022, RFK fields three Fords: Keselowski (No. 6), Chris Buescher (No. 17) and Ryan Preece (No. 60). Buescher is seventh in points, the highest-placed RFK driver, and the team led 43 combined laps at Talladega before falling short. Keselowski, recovering from a skiing injury suffered in the offseason, is still chasing his first win since spring 2024 Darlington.
Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Owned by Jeff Dickerson and TJ Puchyr, Spire has gone from afterthought to legitimate threat. The 2026 driver group is Daniel Suárez (No. 7) with Freeway Insurance, Michael McDowell (No. 71) and Carson Hocevar (No. 77). Hocevar's Talladega win on April 26 — his first career Cup victory and Spire's first of 2026 — vaulted him to eighth in points and validated the entire build-out.
Other Teams to Watch
Front Row Motorsports kept its 2025 lineup intact: Noah Gragson (No. 4), Todd Gilliland (No. 34) and Zane Smith (No. 38), all in Fords. Kaulig Racing runs two Chevrolets in 2026 with Ty Dillon (No. 10) and AJ Allmendinger (No. 16). Legacy Motor Club, owned by Jimmie Johnson and Maury Gallagher (with Darius Rucker now part of the ownership group), runs John Hunter Nemechek (No. 42) and Erik Jones (No. 43) in Toyotas. Wood Brothers Racing, the oldest active team in NASCAR, fields Josh Berry in the No. 21. Haas Factory Team, the successor to Stewart-Haas, fields Cole Custer in the No. 41. Smaller pieces, but all part of the picture.