PREVIEW: Owner point swaps and missing teams tangle the fields in Texas
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Dawson Cram, @dawsoncram41
Friday, May 1, 2026 (Green Flag 8:22 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 7 of 25
SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Kaden Honeycutt
ENTRY LIST
There are 35 drivers entered for 36 spots in tonight’s return of the Truck Series, so all will qualify. This marks the first short field for the Truck Series since last fall at Phoenix, which saw only 34 take the green flag.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TRICON Garage
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series regular Brandon Jones makes his first Truck Series start of the season, his first since a 4th-place showing at Pocono last June. He drives TRICON’s “all-star” #1 entry in place of 30th-place Bristol finisher Corey Heim. Jones carries sponsorship from Sprecher.
DRIVER SWAP: #2-Team Reaume
DRIVER CHANGE: #22-Team Reaume
Team owner Josh Reaume returns to the driver’s seat for the first time since his 35th-place showing in Darlington. He pilots the #22 entry in place of Bristol last-place finisher Clayton Green, who moves to the Reaume team’s #2 entry in place of 32nd-place Bristol finisher Luke Baldwin. The Turner Company sponsors Green.
MISSING: #4-Niece Motorsports
While three Cup Series regulars remain on tonight’s entry list, not among them is Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who finished 26th in Bristol.
DRIVER CHANGE: #5-TRICON Garage
Another O’Reilly driver running double-duty this weekend is William Sawalich, who returns to the Truck Series for the first time since his 10th-place showing in Darlington. This time, he pilots the #5 entry run most recently by Chase Briscoe to a 14th-place finish in Bristol.
DRIVER CHANGE: #25-Kaulig RAM Racing
This week’s driver for Kaulig’s “all-star” #25 is Parker Kligerman, who makes his first series start of 2026, his first since his 26th-place showing at Talladega last fall for Charlie Henderson. This will mark Kligerman’s first Truck Series start at Texas since 2016, a track where he finished runner-up twice in 2011 and 2012. The paint schemes for he and his teammates feature cowboy hats on the RAM logo.
RETURNING: #27-Rackley W.A.R.
Toni Breidinger returns for her second attempt of the 2026 season in the part-time second entry for Rackley-W.A.R., her first since she failed to qualify for the season opener at Daytona. ONE/SIZE Beauty is Breidinger’s sponsor following her 26th-place showing in this race last year.
DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Niece Motorsports
Conner Jones is another driver returning to the Truck Series garage for the first time since Darlington, where he finished 16th with this same #42 entry. Jones and his sponsor Comprehensive Logistics take the place of Tyler Reif, who finished 34th after a tangle with Frankie Muniz in Bristol.
MISSING: #56-Hill Motorsports
Timmy Hill is not among this week’s entrants following his 33rd-place run following a multi-truck accident at Bristol.
DRIVER CHANGE: #62-Halmar Friesen Racing
Welcome back Cory Roper, who tonight makes his first Truck Series start since October 4, 2024 at Talladega, and whose Roper Racing #04 entry last ran that season’s championship race at Phoenix. This time, Roper drives the second Halmar Friesen entry with sponsorship from Drydene, taking the place of Bristol race winner Christopher Bell. This marks Roper’s first Texas race since 2021, when he finished 18th in his own truck.
MISSING: #71-Spire Motorsports
Daniel Suarez is not entered this week, nor is the Spire team’s part-time #71 entry, following an 18th-place finish in Bristol.
RETURNING: #93-Costner Motorsports
Caleb Costner returns to the Truck Series for the first time since his 33rd-place showing in Rockingham, this time sponsored by Piedmont Outfitters and Realtree. This marks Costner’s first series start at Texas.
CUP INVADERS: #7-Kyle Busch, #45-Ross Chastain, #77-Carson Hocevar
Saturday, May 2, 2026 (Green Flag 3:38 P.M. ET, CW)
O’REILLY Race 12 of 33
Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 at Texas
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Christian Eckes
ENTRY LIST
While the preliminary entry list showed 39 drivers entered for 38 spots, a midweek withdrawal of Hettinger Racing’s lone Ford team means all 38 entrants will make the show.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-JR Motorsports
RETURNING / DRIVER SWAP: #9-JR Motorsports
Connor Zilisch returns to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for his 40th career start and fourth of the season, his first since his win at Bristol. This bumps 22nd-place Talladega finisher Carson Kvapil back to the returning #9 part-time entry with Arby’s BBQ as the sponsor.
RETURNING: #3-Richard Childress Racing
Austin Dillon makes his first O’Reilly race of the season, his first since his 14th-place run at Iowa last summer, when he drove in place of a suspended Austin Hill. Boot Barn sponsors the #3, which Dillon last ran in the series last May in Charlotte. This marks Dillon’s first O’Reily race at Texas since 2017, when he ran 10th. He has six top-five finishes in 11 series starts at the track and has never finished outside the Top Ten.
MISSING: #5-Hettinger Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Young’s Motorsports
RETURNING / DRIVER SWAP: #53-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
The preliminary entry list showed the Hettinger team not entered for the first time in 2026, meaning no Fords would be in the field. It also showed Joey Gase bringing back his #53 entry for the first time since Daytona, where Talladega last-place finisher David Starr failed to qualify. On Wednesday came word the two stories are connected as the #53 acquired the Hettinger team’s Owner Points, and puts Starr behind the wheel in place of Hettinger’s driver J.J. Yeley, who’s not entered after an 11th in Talladega. Starr had last week driven the Young’s Motorsports #42, and it had already been announced that Brad Perez will drive this week after two in-race substitute roles for the team at COTA and Bristol. Weiss Sand & Clay LP returns as primary sponsor of the Perez effort.
DRIVER SWAP: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #88-JR Motorsports
Kyle Larson returns to the #88 for a fourth time in 2026, his first since his runner-up finish to Zilisch at Bristol. He takes the place of 30th-place Talladega finisher Rajah Caruth, who returns to Jordan Anderson Racing’s #32 entry in place of 32nd-place finisher Tyler Ankrum, whose series debut took a bad turn early after nose damage in a first-lap accident.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
TEAM UPDATE: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
The entry list also showed TBA in the driver’s column of the #35, which was driven to a 33rd-place finish in Talladega with Natalie Decker. The #35 will this week be on Mike Harmon Racing’s #74, similar to Harmon’s deal with Jordan Anderson Racing’s #32 in 2024. This puts Harmon’s driver Dawson Cram behind the wheel. Harmon’s team had itself acquired the Owner Points from Richard Childress Racing’s #33 team last fall.
MISSING: #38-RSS Racing
Patrick Emerling is not among this weeks entrants as the Sieg team has not fielded their part-time third entry with which Emerling took a 16th-place finish in Talladega.
CUP INVADERS: #1-Connor Zilisch, #3-Austin Dillon, #88-Kyle Larson
Sunday, May 3, 2026 (Green Flag 3:43 P.M. ET, FS1)
CUP Race 11 of 36
Wurth 400 at Texas
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Denny Hamlin
ENTRY LIST
After only the second full field of the 2026 season, there are 38 teams for 40 spots this week, so all will qualify. This marks the ninth short field in 11 races this season.
MISSING: #33-Richard Childress Racing
MISSING: #44-NY Racing Team
MISSING: #62-Beard Motorsports
MISSING: #78-Live Fast Motorsports
The four “open” teams not making the trip to the Lone Star State are Richard Childress’ #33 entry with which O’Reilly series regular Jesse Love finished 27th. Love focuses on Saturday’s race along with Joey Gase, who piloted NY Racing Team’s #44 to a 30th-place finish after he ran in the last spot during the opening laps. Beard Motorsports also hasn’t fielded the #62 which was washed out of the Talladega field along with driver Casey Mears, who continues his pursuit of 500 career Cup starts. Finally, Live Fast Motorsports hasn’t fielded their car after Daniel Dye’s 24th-place finish, and Dye will return to the circuit at Pocono in two months.
RETURNING: #67-23XI Racing
Joining Garage 66 and driver Chad Finchum as the only other “open” car in this Sunday’s race is a returning part-time 23XI Racing entry for Corey Heim, marking Heim’s third series start of the season and first since his 15th-place showing in Kansas. This will mark Heim’s first series start in Texas.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (May 1, 1955): Ed Cole picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Grand National Series career in a 133-lap race at the three-quarter-mile Charlotte (North Carolina) Speedway when his #0 1954 Ford had issues with the shocks after 3 laps. This was Cole’s first of 26 Cup Series starts. His best finish of 8th came at Hickory on September 30, 1956.
