1. Who will be Tyler Reddick’s toughest competition in his bid for four wins in a row at Phoenix Raceway?
James Krause: The name that springs to mind is Ryan Blaney. Besides a 28th-place finish last spring, he hasn’t finished worse than 10th in his last 11 races at Phoenix Raceway. Plus, if Circuit of the Americas was any indication, Blaney will be the one carrying the banner for Team Penske throughout the first few months of the year as he had incredible pace compared to his teammates.
Michael Bellifemini: Tyler Reddick’s toughest competition will be Blaney and Christopher Bell, the last two Phoenix winners. Blaney and Bell have always seem to have speed there and should be battling up front. I’d also watch out for William Byron, and maybe even Joey Logano, too.
Luken Glover: Reddick’s fiercest competition might come from his own Toyota camp, but the biggest challenger could very well be the man he had to fend off for most of the race at COTA. Blaney leads active drivers in average finish in the Next Gen era at Phoenix, and he is the most recent winner there, executing a dramatic last-lap pass to win the 2025 season finale. His only finish outside of the top 10 in the last 11 Phoenix races was the result of a blown engine, but even more impressive is the fact that seven of his last eight starts in the desert have resulted in a top five.
Vito Pugliese: It’d be hard to bet against his boss Denny Hamlin at Phoenix given his performance there a few months ago. It would be cruel irony if Hamlin was able to win this weekend and not last fall, and doubly disheartening if he won and prevented the car he owns from winning four in a row, which would tie the modern record that has stood for 50 years and is shared among eight drivers.
Is 2026 the Year Performance & Potential Meet for Tyler Reddick?
2. Which NASCAR Cup Series driver has been the most pleasant surprise to start the season?
Jarrad Wakefield: We know Bubba Wallace is a frontrunner, but a 1-2 in the standings for 23XI Racing wasn’t the expectation. I’m curious to see how he stacks up the rest of the year after a strong start.
Christopher Hansen: Daniel Suarez has been the surprise driver through the first three Cup races in 2026. Sure, you can make the argument that Shane van Gisbergen sitting fifth in points after two superspeedways and one road course is a surprise; however, Suarez’s strong start is all the more impressive with his new team, Spire Motorsports. One top five and two top-10 finishes looks good on paper, but for Suarez, the real test will come in the next handful of races, beginning this weekend at Phoenix, to see whether the team’s strong start is a fluke.
Steve Sonderman: With three cars sitting in the top 10 in points, Spire has had a great start to the season. Although he sits ninth in points, two spots behind Suarez, Michael McDowell is my early-season surprise, as he was in contention late at the Daytona 500 and COTA. While it’s no surprise that McDowell performed well at a superspeedway and a road course, the interesting part is that his late-race success was not a result of pure speed but from strategic calls by crew chief Travis Peterson. In two of the three races, the No. 71 team gambled on fuel late, running long to gain track position, and both times it paid off. If the team continues to press the right buttons and put him at the front late, it will keep racking up points.
Krause: All of Spire has been hot to start the year, but Suarez and the No. 7 team, both afterthoughts last season, are exceeding all expectations. They were on pace for another top-10 finish at COTA before being caught out on strategy and finishing 25th. Now that they’ve had pace at the superspeedways and a road course, the question will be if that continues at other tracks. If previous performances from his teammates McDowell and Carson Hocevar are any indication, Suarez should be on a solid path to being consistently in the top 15 and occasionally contending for a win.
3. Which Richard Childress Racing NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver is the better Cup prospect?
Glover: Austin Hill deserves his flowers for being Richard Childress Racing’s anchor driver in the series the past few seasons, but Jesse Love might actually be the more well-rounded driver. Love has an IQ beyond his years on the track, and he has consistently made gains since he arrived on the scene at RCR. Love’s stats have been right on par with his veteran teammate, and breaking through for the series title last season made the stars shine even brighter on his ceiling.
Pugliese: While we don’t have the playoffs anymore, I would still side with Hill. Drafting tracks are a bit of an equalizer, but he still somehow finds a way to get back up front on the last lap virtually every time — not unlike another RCR driver we became accustomed to see doing it since we’re throwing Dale Earnhardt analogies around so freely these days. He would immediately give you a realistic shot at winning six races, and you don’t have to worry about him getting bullied out of the way as a rookie. He may be a bit polarizing, but some of the best drivers in the sport often are.
Wakefield: If the playoffs still existed in their previous format, there’s no doubt it’s Hill. Now? Love is more consistent and doesn’t see the red mist as often as Hill does.
Put St. Pete on the 2027 Schedule Right Now
4. Should the Truck Series return to the Streets of St. Petersburg in the future, or should it be a one-time thing?
Sonderman: The street-course model does a great job of showcasing a city and bringing NASCAR to fans in new locations. It is beneficial to move the street courses around to help grow the sport. If it decides to return to St. Petersburg, maybe it can add more stands to accommodate Truck spotters instead of having them climb trees to get a view of the track.
Bellifemini: I have seen a lot of positive reaction from the industry and fans regarding the St. Petersburg street race, so it should absolutely come back next year. There was fear of the event being a disaster, but it was a pretty clean race with some good on-track action. As long as it logistically makes sense, it should be back in 2027 for sure, and it should once again be paired with the NTT IndyCar Series.
Hansen: Absolutely. The inaugural Truck race was a major success, with Layne Riggs holding off a hard-charging Ty Majeski and Ben Rhodes for the victory. Additionally, having drivers like James Hinchcliffe and Dario Franchitti competing drew a lot more fans into watching the race. With few Truck races on road courses and with how successful the debut at St. Pete was last weekend, the track should have a guaranteed spot on the 2027 schedule.
As far as Tyler Redicks closest competition; it will be the other illegal toyotas.
Yes the trucks should definitely race at St. Pete again. The Craftsman Truck Series put on the best race of the week, bar none.