PREVIEW: Late model upstarts set to battle Cup Series regulars in final phase of North Wilkesboro’s revival
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Trackhouse Racing, @TeamTrackhouse
Saturday, July 18, 2026 (Green Flag 12:48 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 15 of 25
FaithFest 250 at North Wilkesboro
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Norm Benning
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for 36 starting spots in Saturday’s race, meaning two teams will fail to qualify. Before the withdrawal of a 39th entry, it was the largest entry list since the season opener at Daytona, and only the fourth time since then that at least one team was sent home. As it stands, it matches the two DNQs at Rockingham, Watkins Glen, and Nashville.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TRICON Garage
Nick Leitz will make his 10th series start and first since his 11th-place showing at this year’s Daytona opener, when he drove TRICON’s #5 entry. Leitz takes the place of Thomas Annunziata, who nearly swept the weekend at Lime Rock Park before his #1 caught fire while running under caution in 2nd spot, dropping him to 29th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #2-Team Reaume
Luke Baldwin will likewise make his 10th series start and fifth of this year, his first since a blown engine left him in last place at Charlotte back in May. Baldwin looks to turn around a string of three straight DNFs in each of his last three series starts, and will again pilot Josh Reaume’s #2 entry with sponsorship from MoHawk Northeast, Inc. Baldwin takes the place of Jackson Lee, who earned a solid 13th last week in Lime Rock.
RETURNING: #4-Niece Motorsports
Pulling double-duty with this weekend’s CARS Tour Late Model Stock Series is 20-year-old Donovan Strauss, who will make his NASCAR national series debut in Al Niece’s returning #4 Chevrolet. Strauss carries sponsorship from performance apparel company Nightclubs Suck, co-founded by Ty Martin and Clayton Wilson. In conjunction with the effort, the team’s press release indicates the promo code “STRAUSS” is active for 15% off online orders.
DRIVER CHANGE: #5-TRICON Garage
While the preliminary entry list showed “TBA” for the #5 entry in place of Graham Doyle, who finished a solid 19th in his series debut at Lime Rock, the truck will be driven by a returning Corey Heim with sponsorship from Frontline Enterprises. The Cup Series winner at San Diego seeks his fourth win in only six starts this season in this, his first race since his victory in Michigan.
DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Spire Motorsports
The first of three full-time Cup Series drivers in tomorrow’s race is Chase Elliott, who makes his 19th series start and first in more than three years, dating back to his 10th-place run for the McAnally team at the Daytona opener back in 2023. Elliott takes the place of Connor Mosack, who suffered damage in a restart wreck at Lime Rock en route to an 18th-place finish.
DRIVER CHANGE: #22-Team Reaume
Joining both Luke Baldwin and Frankie Muniz among the Reaume entries is a returning Clayton Green, who carries sponsorship from Badass Workbench on the #22 Ford. Green makes only his 16th series start and seventh of the season, his first since a 29th-place showing back at Nashville. He takes the place of team owner Josh Reaume, who held the last spot for most of the opening laps at Lime Rock before he climbed to 27th at the finish.
DRIVER CHANGE: #25-Kaulig RAM Racing
Not among the Cup full-timers is series veteran Ryan Newman, who will make only his eighth Truck Series start and first since July 18, 2018, when he finished 30th on the dirt at Eldora. Newman, who has competed in the Cup Series’ All-Star Open at the North Wilkesboro track in 2023, finishing 12th, takes the place of 10th-place Lime Rock finisher Colin Braun in Kaulig’s “all-star” #25 entry.
RETURNING: #27-Rackley-W.A.R.
The Rackley team brings back its part-time second entry for the first time since Nashville, where Toni Breidinger failed to qualify, and seeks their first start since Dover, where Breidinger came home 26th. Driving the truck this week is ARCA West competitor Kasey Kleyn, who will make his first of five series starts for the team this Saturday. Kleyn also seeks to make his debut in the CARS Tour this season.
DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Niece Motorsports
Tyler Reif returns to the driver’s seat for the first time since his heartbreaking last-lap loss at San Diego, again piloting the #42 Chevrolet. Reif takes the place of Ben Maier, who finished last with the team at Lime Rock following a persistent electrical issue. Making just his eighth series start and first at North Wilkesboro, Reif carries sponsorship from AutoVentive and Precision Vehicle Logistics.
RETURNING: #56-Hill Motorsports
Timmy Hill has competed in two of the last three Truck Series races at North Wilkesboro with a best finish of 26th his last time out in 2024. He returns to make his 126th series start and seventh of the season, his first since an 18th-place finish in Charlotte that stands as his second-best run of the year.
DRIVER CHANGE: #62-Halmar Friesen Racing
The second Cup regular on the list – and the only one not driving for Spire Motorsports – is last year’s All-Star Race winner Christopher Bell, who takes the place of 16th-place Lime Rock Park finisher Wesley Slimp in the second Halmar entry. Pristine Auction sponsors Bell for his fifth start of the year and first since Michigan, where he came home in 6th.
WITHDREW: #69-Motorsports Business Management
Carl Long had originally entered Jonathan Shafer to attempt tomorrow’s race in the team’s #69 Ford, but withdrew by Thursday. Shafer remains 0-for-2 on attempts in 2026, having failed to qualify at both Rockingham and Nashville.
RETURNING: #71-Spire Motorsports
Next among Spire’s full-time Cup invaders is road race dominator Shane Van Gisbergen, who carries sponsorship from Nations Guard on the returning #71 Chevrolet. This will be only the fourth series start for Van Gisbergen, who finished 15th in his latest start at Charlotte with this same team and sponsor – the most recent start for the #71. This will be Van Gisbergen’s first Truck start at North Wilkesboro.
RETURNING: #75-Henderson Motorsports
Welcome back to Landon Huffman, who returns to the Truck Series for his sixth series start and first since August 15, 2019 at Bristol, when he ran 16th for Young’s Motorsports. Having fixed up his father Robert’s shop for his own successful late model effort, Huffman will drive for the Henderson team, which returns for the first time since Parker Kligerman’s 18th-place performance in San Diego. Huffman runs a patriotic paint scheme for sponsor Baldeagle.com, the online hub for Cleetus McFarland’s racing efforts.
DRIVER CHANGE: #76-Freedom Racing Enterprises
Last week in Lime Rock, Louis Foster enjoyed himself as he threw shoulders with the Truck Series regulars, nearly coming away with a top-ten finish before a late spin dropped him to 21st. Returning to the driver’s seat is Nathan Nicholson, who up to this point has been the road course specialist for Spencer Boyd’s #76 team. Nicholson, who last time out had a career run going in San Diego before a crash left him 28th, will make his oval track debut on Saturday.
DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports
Completing Spire’s Cup group is Carson Hocevar, one week after the upstart nearly scored his second career win in Atlanta. Hocevar makes his 91st series start and tenth of the season, his first since a 3rd-place finish at Michigan, where he led 65 laps at his home track. Delaware Life is again the listed sponsor as he takes the place of Parker Kligerman, who carried those colors to a 4th-place showing last Saturday on the road course.
CUP INVADERS: #7-Chase Elliott, #62-Christopher Bell, #71-Shane Van Gisbergen, #77-Carson Hocevar
Sunday, July 19, 2026 (Green Flag 7:14 P.M. ET, TNT)
CUP Race 21 of 36
Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro
1996 Last-Place Finisher: Derrike Cope
ENTRY LIST
For the first time since 1996, the NASCAR Cup Series will host a points-paying race on the calendar, where 37 drivers are entered for 40 spots, marking the 19th short field in 21 races this season. Back in ‘96, 37 drivers started the most recent Cup Series points-paying race here, but 40 cars entered of which three failed to qualify.
MISSING: #78-Live Fast Motorsports
Last Sunday in Atlanta, the Live Fast team was mystified what the issue was that kept B.J. McLeod from running competitive laps in the first half of the Cup race, ultimately leading to their last-place finish. McLeod and team are not entered this week, leaving only Chad Finchum for Garage 66 as the lone “open” entry in the field. Having withdrawn his Truck Series entry for Jonathan Shafer, team owner Carl Long will focus on Finchum’s effort for Sunday.
Saturday, July 25, 2026
O’REILLY Race 22 of 33
Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Logan Bearden
The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series returns a week from tomorrow at Indianapolis.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (July 17, 2004): Johnny Chapman scored the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career when his #20 Enviro Paint Chevrolet broke the rear end after 1 lap of the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers RAM Tough 200 at Gateway.
