Two races into the season, and NASCAR fans have already jumped in with both feet. The Daytona 500 pulled in 7.489 million viewers, an 11% bump from 2025, and even touched 9.15 million as the checkered flag came into view. Atlanta followed the same script. While the official TV numbers for the 2026 Autotrader 400 are still under wraps from FOX Sports and Nielsen, a former crew chief from Hendrick Motorsports believes the sport is rolling out its finest hand right now.
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After the fireworks at Daytona, where a last-corner wreck flipped the script and handed Tyler Reddick the win, and at Atlanta, where Bubba Wallace’s final-lap move opened the door for Reddick once again, fans were left gripping the edge of their seats. Veterans like Kyle Petty and Steve Letarte feel the season has roared off the line with two races that hit the ground running.
Talking it over on the Inside the Race podcast alongside Alex Weaver and Petty, Letarte said, “I think you’re seeing the best version of there’s gonna be there’s gonna be races this year that aren’t.
“There’s gonna be some that be like, ‘Man, if you were a first-time race fan, that’s probably not the one to hook you on the sport.’ That’s how sports are. They’re not movie scripts. You don’t get to write them all to be awesome.”
Letarte then tipped his cap to races put on by all three national series, saying, “But I think that from Friday, Saturday, Sunday in Daytona, Friday, Saturday, Sunday at Atlanta, from the thrilling finish that I thought Austin Hill was going to win again, and then he didn’t.”
“And we got to see a brand new winner in the Xfinity series, to Tyler Reddick’s repeating. I think the story lines are there. The action is to match. So I think you’re getting the best version of the sport right here in the first two weeks,” he continued.
The Daytona 500 played out before a packed house of 150,000 fans. Then the 1.54-mile drafting track at Atlanta served up chaos, featuring 24 lead changes. Across the first two races alone, there have been 122 lead changes, the most through two Cup races in any season.
One major spark behind the buzz has been the return of a reworked Chase format, replacing the elimination-style playoffs and aiming to reward consistency. On top of that, Cup engines have been bumped up to 750 horsepower for short tracks and road courses, finally answering a long-standing fan demand for cars that bite back a little harder.
