There was minimal movement throughout the NASCAR Cup Series garage during the off-season, but still enough to talk about. Beyond driver moves, there were also a couple of manufacturer changes and a flurry of crew chief swaps that will be notable stories to follow during the year.
Here’s a look at what’s different for 2026:
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Drivers on the move
Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Daniel Suarez joins Spire: The NASCAR Cup field is remaining fairly unchanged, but it was Trackhouse that really shook things up. After five years with the team, Trackhouse’s original driver is moving elsewhere for 2026. He will take over the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet from Justin Haley, who joins Kaulig Racing’s Ram program in the NASCAR Truck Series. This will be the fifth different team Suarez has driven for at the Cup level.
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Connor Zilisch promoted to Cup and number swap: The top prospect in NASCAR has finally arrived to the Cup Series, and he’s already locked up Rookie of the Year honors as the only rookie on the grid for 2026. He is replacing Suarez at Trackhouse, but not as the driver of the No. 99. Zilisch will actually take the No. 88 from Shane van Gisbergen, who has been granted the No. 97, a number of personal significance and one he drove to all of his many triumphs back in Supercars. It also keeps some continuity for Zilisch, who was driving the No. 88 in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, where he won ten races in his rookie season last year.
Shifting alliances
Cole Custer, Haas Factory Team Ford
Cole Custer, Haas Factory Team Ford
Haas partners with Hendrick: Gene Haas is returning to Chevrolet in a new technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. The once mighty Stewart-Haas Racing is now a one-car operation with Cole Custer and the No. 41 team after the exit of Tony Stewart. After downsizing, Haas went winless in 2025. This is a homecoming of sorts for Haas, as Haas CNC Racing ran Chevrolets in the 2000s, and continued to do so as it became SHR and into the 2010s. They only switched to Ford after the 2016 season.
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Rick Ware leaves Ford for Chevy: Ford lost another single-car team to their bowtie rivals as Rick Ware Racing and the No. 51 of Cody Ware made the decision to join the Chevrolet camp in 2026. They have also formed a technical alliance with a more prominent Chevrolet team, taking ECR engines and support from Richard Childress Racing.
Kaulig Racing expecting less support: While nothing is changing on the surface for Kaulig in 2026, things will still be different for the two-car team that had aligned itself with Richard Childress Racing and ECR Engines. As they embrace Ram in the Truck Series with likely ambitions to become the new flagship Dodge team should they return to Cup in the near-future, Kaulig will be operating with less support from Chevrolet in 2026. Team CEO Chris Rice recently said Kaulig will be “out on our own” with no further support from RCR beyond the supply of ECR engines.
Notable driver/crew chief pairing changes
Crew chief Randall Burnett and driver Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Crew chief Randall Burnett and driver Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Ross Chastain and Brandon McSwain: Chastain will have a change atop the pit box for the first time in five years. He was partnered with Phil Surgen for the entirety of his time with Trackhouse Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing, earning all six of his Cup victories with Surgen. The duo even went from last to first to win the 2025 Coca-Cola 600, but this year, Trackhouse has brought in an engineer from Hendrick Motorsports to lead the effort for the No. 1 team. McSwain was part of the No. 24 HMS Chevrolet with William Byron for the last six years, bringing with him expertise that might help Trackhouse to bridge a competitive gap to the larger Chevrolet organization.
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Kyle Busch and Jim Pohlman: The two-time NASCAR Cup champion is facing the longest winless streak of his career, as he has not visited Victory Lane since June of 2023. He placed 20th and 21st in points the last two years, respectively, and has struggled to get a handle on his No. 8 RCR Chevrolet. With Randall Burnett leaving to partner with Zilisch at Trackhouse, RCR had the opportunity to bring in someone new for Busch in 2026. They managed to secure Pohlman, who won the 2024 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts title with JR Motorsports and Justin Allgaier. He previously worked with RCR as the head of research and development as well.
Noah Gragson and Grant Hutchens: After a dismal 2025 season with Gragson beating just two other full-time drivers to finish 34th in points, Front Row Motorsports has made a change in crew chiefs. Veteran Drew Blickensderfer, who previously won two Daytona 500s, will become the team’s Competition Director as Hutchens now sits atop the pit box for Gragson. He has limited experience as a crew chief, but previously worked at Team Penske.
Erik Jones and Justin Alexander: Over at Legacy Motor Club, Alexander takes over from Ben Beshore as crew chief for the No. 43. He brings with him plenty of experience, leading Austin Dillon to victories in the 2017 Coca Cola 600 and 2018 Daytona 500. Jones has been winless since the 2022 season, and has finished outside the top 20 in points in each of the last three years.
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