Cup drivers test new NASCAR rules package at North Wilkesboro

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — It has been 30 years since a NASCAR Cup Series points race has been run at North Wilkesboro Speedway and 12 years since the Chase format was used to crown a Cup Series champion. Both will take place during a 2026 season that is shaping up to be a throwback year for NASCAR's top series. Race teams representing each chartered Cup Series organization were on hand in North Wilkesboro on Tuesday for a daylong test of NASCAR's new 750-horsepower rules configuration. The session was the first opportunity for teams to test out the new rules package, which will be used this season on all road courses and oval tracks shorter than 1.5 miles. Drivers participating in the test session had plenty to say about the return of points racing at North Wilkesboro and the return to the Chase format, which was announced on Monday. North Wilkesboro Speedway has hosted NASCAR All-Star Race - a non-points event - for the past three seasons. But when the Cup Series returns to North Wilkesboro in July for the Window World 450, teams will contend with some new variables as a full field runs a longer race on the historic 0.625-mile oval. "We've run 200-lap races around here," said Tyler Reddick, who drives the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, "This will be much longer than that. The challenge will be keeping up with your race car." The biggest variable, however, will likely be the rules package the teams were testing on Tuesday. The jump from 670 to 750 horsepower will force drivers to save their brakes and tires, especially on short tracks. "Directionally, this is the right way," Reddick said. "The speed down the straightaways is crazy different. It's easier to make mistakes and easier to burn your stuff up." Reddick, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Joey Logano, Zane Smith, Cole Custer, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Cody Ware were all on the track Tuesday putting the new rules package through its paces. Many drivers who participated in Tuesday's test session said the increase in horsepower will likely lead to more tire wear this season. Goodyear has been working in recent years to bring tire combinations to the track that facilitate more falloff in lap times, which helps create opportunities for more passing. Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet for Rick Hendrick Motorsports, said he noticed falloffs in his lap times even during the shorter runs he was making during the morning test session, and that was on a cool racetrack. Most drivers expect tire falloff to be even more drastic when they return to North Wilkesboro in July. "After 40 laps, we had a good bit of falloff even at these temps," said Elliott, who was running in the low 18-second range early in his runs before tire wear slowed him to mid to high 18-second lap times at the end of the run. "Once the tires wear out, you definitely notice the difference," added Briscoe, driver of the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. In past years, a win at this year's Window World 450 would be enough to lock a driver into the Cup Series Playoffs. That all changed on Monday when NASCAR announced a return to the Chase format, which was used to crown champions from 2004-2013. This year the 16 drivers who amass the most points during the regular season will qualify for the 10-race Chase, and the driver who racks up the most points over those final 10 races will go home with the Cup. Wins will no longer lock drivers into the playoffs, and there will be no eliminations in the Chase. Similar Chase formats will also be implemented this season in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. Logano flourished in the old playoff system, winning Cup championships in 2018, 2022 and 2024. However, he was not a fan of the way the previous playoff system forced drivers to step over the line at times in order to earn a spot in the playoffs or advance to the next round. "Desperate people do desperate things," said Logano, driver of the No. 22 Ford for Team Penske. "It was a true challenge mentally figuring out what you're okay with and what you aren't," adding that "do-or-die moments" will likely fall by the wayside as consistency is rewarded in the Chase format. Busch, who has been on both sides of quite a few "do-or-die moments" during his storied career, didn't see eye-to-eye with Logano when it came to the level of aggression that will be on display moving forward. As a dad watching his son Brexton race, he believes aggression is ingrained in the sport and isn't likely to change anytime soon. "When you watch all the children that race all year long in the ARCAs and the late models, and you see that stuff already, they're taught from a very young age to dive-bomb and run into them and to door that guy," Busch said. "Being a dad, I've heard those words and I've said those words once or twice. I don't think it will change a whole lot."