PREVIEW: Shorter entry lists but one new team set to do battle in Atlanta
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
Caleb Costner debuts his new Truck Series team. (PHOTO: Kenney Kerttula, Jr. on Facebook)
Saturday, February 21, 2026 (Green Flag 1:52 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 2 of 25
FR8 208 at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Keith McGee
ENTRY LIST
There are 36 trucks entered for as many starting spots in Saturday’s Truck Series race, down eight entries from Daytona, so all will qualify.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TRICON Garage
Fresh of his first Daytona 500 start, Corey Heim returns to the Truck Series for the first time since his championship clinching performance at Phoenix last November. He rejoins TRICON Garage, this time in the “all-star” #1, taking the place of 28th-place Daytona finisher Taylor Gray. Robinhood, Heim’s Daytona sponsor, backs the effort. It was in this race four years ago that Heim scored the first of his 23 series victories.
DRIVER CHANGE: #2-Team Reaume
Clayton Green also returns to the Truck Series for the first time since last fall at Phoenix, where he secured the 2025 LASTCAR Truck Series Championship. That night, he earned a career-best 20th-place finish in a backup truck following a costly practice wreck in Martinsville. Once again driving the Reaume team’s #2, Green takes the place of Jason M. White, who finished four laps down in 33rd at Daytona. Josh Reaume and Frankie Muniz remain in the team’s two other entries.
MISSING: #4-Niece Motorsports
MISSING: #6-Norm Benning Racing
MISSING: #27-Rackley-W.A.R.
MISSING: #28-FDNY Racing
MISSING: #35-Greg Van Alst Motorsports
MISSING: #56-Hill Motorsports
MISSING: #75-Henderson Motorsports
MISSING: #95-GK Racing
MISSING: #97-CR7 Motorsports
Among the eight teams from Daytona not making the trip to Atlanta are last-place finisher Cleetus McFarland in Al Niece’s #4, 18th-place finisher Clay Greenfield for his single-truck GK Racing outfit in the #95, and 30th-place finisher Jason Kitzmiller, who made his series debut in CR7’s second entry, the #97. The other five were among the seven teams sent home after qualifying, including drivers Norm Benning (#6), Toni Breidinger (#27), Bryan Dauzat (#28), Greg Van Alst (#35), Timmy Hill (#56), and Corey LaJoie (#75).
DRIVER CHANGE: #5-TRICON Garage
Adam Andretti – son of Aldo, brother of John, and nephew of Mario – is the latest in a series of Trans-Am Series competitors making the jump into NASCAR, one year after finishing a career-best 2nd in the TA Class points. He will drive TRICON’s #5 entry in place of 11th-place Daytona finisher Nick Leitz, who will instead run the O’Reilly race (see below). TopLiner is the listed sponsor.
DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Spire Motorsports
Kyle Busch begins his own eight-race assault on the Truck Series as he seeks yet another Atlanta victory, this time with HendrickCars.com as sponsor of the #7 Chevrolet. Busch takes the place of fellow Cup Series regular Michael McDowell, who finished 24th last week in Daytona.
DRIVER CHANGE: #25-Kaulig RAM Racing
Another Cup regular competing this week is Ty Dillon, fresh off a 14th-place finish in the Daytona 500 despite his involvement in the last-lap wreck at Turn 1. This week, Dillon pulls double-duty, starting by driving the #25 RAM which saw Tony Stewart finish next-to-last after he was swept up in an early crash. This will mark Dillon’s first Truck Series start since September 19, 2024, his last run for Rackley-W.A.R. before current team driver Dawson Sutton took his place. Curiously, this puts him back in the #25, the number he once ran at Rackley.
DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Niece Motorsports
Three-time ARCA Menards Series West race winner Tyler Reif returns to the Truck Series for the first time since his sterling series debut at Phoenix last fall, where he finished a strong 9th. After running Al Niece’s #41 entry last year, he this week pilots the #42 in place of 15th-place Daytona finisher Travis Pastrana. He carries sponsorship from Precision Vehicle Logistics.
NEW TEAM: #93-Costner Motorsports
Last season, ARCA part-timer Caleb Costner made his first six Truck Series starts driving for Mike Harmon Racing, most recently his series-best finish 22nd which likewise occurred at Phoenix last fall. Harmon has not yet fielded a truck this season but returns to the O’Reilly series this week (see below). As for Costner, he’s debuting his own Truck Series team, running the same #93 from his ARCA effort. Costner runs a blue-and-yellow Chevrolet with sponsorship from Autobank RV Sales & Service. The preliminary entry list had no driver listed.
CUP INVADERS: #7-Kyle Busch, #25-Ty Dillon, #45-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., #62-John Hunter Nemechek, #77-Carson Hocevar
Saturday, February 21, 2026 (Green Flag 5:20 P.M. ET, CW)
O’REILLY Race 2 of 33
Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Taylor Gray
ENTRY LIST
There are 39 drivers entered for 38 spots in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, down three from last week in Daytona. One team will fail to qualify.
MISSING: #4-Alpha Prime Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #96-Viking Motorsports
Alpha Prime doesn’t enter their now part-time #4 entry which was intended for Caesar Bacarella last week before arrangements were made for DNQ Anthony Alfredo take his place, yielding an 11th-place finish. Not entered in Sunday’s Cup race after he was stripped of his Daytona 500 start in inspection, Alfredo will again try to get Viking Motorsports’ new second team, the #96, into its first race of the season.
DRIVER CHANGE: #30-Barrett-Cope Racing
Following a 19th-place finish after starting at the tail end of the field in Daytona, Carson Ware will swap with brother Cody Ware as driver of the #30 and carry sponsorship from longtime Rick Ware Racing backer Jacob Companies. Pulling double-duty with the Cup Series, this would mark Cody’s 29th series start and first since July 3, 2021, when he ran 24th in a RWR car at Road America.
DRIVER CHANGE: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing
The other Cup driver running tomorrow afternoon is Ross Chastain, who for the first time will drive for Jordan Anderon Racing. Chastain takes the place of Anderson himself, who on the final lap last Saturday had nearly squeezed his way past Austin Hill for the lead before settling back into 4th at the finish. Chastain runs his familiar “Protect Your Melon” traffic safety initiative on the #32. This will mark his first O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start since last August, when he ran 3rd for JR Motorsports at Iowa.
DRIVER SWAP: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
MISSING: #53-Joey Gase Motorsprts with Scott Osteen
DRIVER CHANGE: #55-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
It was a frustrating weekend in Daytona for the Joey Gase effort, where both Gase’s #55 and David Starr’s #53 missed the show, and Natalie Decker’s #35 was destroyed after a controversial late collision with a wrecking Sam Mayer. This week, Gase moves from his #55 to the #35 in place of Decker, leaving open the #55 for Chad Finchum, who carries sponsorship from acid reducer Alkamind, Ballers, and the New York Sports Show, which also backed Finchum when he drove for Garage 66 at the Clash. Neither Starr nor the #53 are entered.
MISSING: #38-RSS Racing
The RSS team will not field their third entry, the #38, with which Patrick Emerling took home 13th in Daytona, part of a three-car Top 15 sweep for himself and brothers Ryan and Kyle Sieg.
DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Young’s Motorsports
Speaking of RSS, it was with that team that Nick Leitz ran his most recent O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start, an opportunity presented after Ryan Sieg made a one-off start for the Haas Factory Team following the suspension of Sam Mayer. This week, Leitz makes his first start for Randy Young, taking the place of 20th-place finisher Carson Hocevar, who this week focuses on Sunday’s race exclusively.
MISSING: #52-AM Racing
The AM team will not field their second entry with which Daniel Dye took home a 21st-place finish, well ahead of teammate Nick Sanchez in the full-time #25 entry, which crashed after 32 laps. Dye will instead focus on the Truck Series race in his RAM for Kaulig.
RETURNING: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
While the preliminary entry list had no driver listed for the Mike Harmon team’s first attempt of the 2026 season, Dawson Cram will rejoin the team for the first time since his 36th-place finish in last fall’s Phoenix season finale. Cram’s Chevrolet carries sponsorship from Drowned Valley Brewing Company.
CUP INVADERS: #30-Cody Ware, #32-Ross Chastain
Sunday, February 22, 2026 (Green Flag 3:19 P.M. ET, FOX)
CUP Race 2 of 36
Ambetter Health 400 at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Brad Keselowski
ENTRY LIST
A total of 38 drivers will enter Sunday’s Cup race, down seven cars from those entered in the Daytona 500 for the first short field of 2026. All cars will qualify.
MISSING: #36-Front Row Motorsports
MISSING: #40-JR Motorsports
MISSING: #62-Beard Motorsports
MISSING: #67-23XI Racing
MISSING: #84-Legacy Motor Club
MISSING: #99-RFK Racing
Six teams entered in the Daytona 500 were not entered this week, including three teams that made the race and three that did not. Missing from the Atlanta race will be 28th-place finisher Corey Heim (#67), who will instead run the Truck Series race (see above), 29th-place Jimmie Johnson (#84), and 38th-place finisher Justin Allgaier (#40). The DNQs from Daytona not running this week are Chandler Smith (#36), who is full-time in the Truck Series, Anthony Alfredo (#62), full-time in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and Corey LaJoie (#99), who is not racing this week after two particularly bitter DNQs in the Clash’s Last Chance Qualifier and Duel Race 1.
WITHDREW: #66-Garage 66
After Casey Mears’ daring charge into the Daytona 500 field, Carl Long and team pieced their damaged Ford together using parts from what was going to be the car they were going to race this weekend in Atlanta. Following a 32nd-place finish in the 500 itself, both Mears and the #66 team have withdrawn.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (February 20, 1983): Benny Parsons picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career in the Daytona 500 when his #55 Skoal Buick broke a push rod after 8 laps.
