NASCAR Stock Report: Latest on Drivers Trending Up, Down after Autotrader 400

The first two points races of the 2026 NASCAR season are in the books and there have been quite a few surprises already. While we don’t want to overreact too much to a small sample size, The Chase playoff format and scoring system makes performances in these races more important than before.

Let’s dive into our latest NASCAR stock report after the Autotrader 400, looking at NASCAR Cup Series drivers whose stock is on the rise or falling.

Stock Up: Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick

It’s only right to group the faces of 23XI Racing together. Tyler Reddick became just sixth driver in Cup Series history to win the first two points races of the season, while Bubba Wallace leads NASCAR in stage wins (two) and laps led (86). Plus, Reddick and Wallace are two of the only three drivers who have a pair of top-10 finishes this season. No one is suggesting that 23XI has reached the competition level of Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske or Joe Gibbs Racing. What’s evident, though, is that Michael Jordan’s team has two drivers it can build around with both Wallace and Reddick now seemingly playoff locks who could have even more wins coming.

Stock Down: Alex Bowman

There’s always pressure on the fourth-best driver at Hendrick Motorsports, with fans always wondering if there’s a better option available. Alex Bowman came into 2026 in a contract year and seemingly would be a beneficiary of the new playoff format. Instead, his finishes in the No. 48 car through two races have only amplified the pressure moving forward. Coming off a 40th-place finish thanks to an early DNF in the Daytona 500, Bowman needed a good points day in Atlanta. He was already put in a hole because qualifying got rained out, resulting in him starting 36th in the Autotrader 400. Bowman finished Sunday 23rd, failing to grab a stage point and never really sniffing the top 10. He heads to COTA ranked 32nd in points, 107 points behind Tyler Reddick and 27 points back of the final playoff spot. Bowman’s margin for error is all but gone now.

Stock Up: Shane van Gisbergen

We predicted entering the season that Shane van Gisbergen would make the NASCAR playoffs under the new format, and that feeling looks even better now. In the Daytona 500, he started 13th and moved toward the front of the field before a wreck damaged his car and resulted in a 30th-place finish (7 points). SVG faced another challenge at a superspeedway in Atlanta. Starting 28th, he worked his way into the top 10 toward the end of Stage 2, and if not for Kyle Larson’s reckless move on the final lap, SVG probably fares even better than 10th (1 point in that stage). He still rebounded, avoiding further wrecks to finish sixth at EchoPark. Through the first two points races in 2025, SVG had 18 points; he already has 45 this season and now he’s headed to COTA. He knows how to race on ovals now, and that should worry the rest of the field.

Stock Down: Ricky Stenhouse Jr

The arrow seemed to be pointing up for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. following a second-place finish (35 points) in the Daytona 500. He had a chance to build off that momentum at another superspeedway, starting third on the grid. Instead, the No. 47 car got caught up in the Ty Gibbs wreck right in front of him early in Stage 2. Stenhouse finished 36th and gained just a single point. He’s now 22nd on the leaderboard heading to COTA, where he has an abysmal 22.4 average finishing position.

Stock Up: Daniel Suarez

Daniel Suárez faces a pivotal 2026 NASCAR season after Trackhouse Racing let him go, forcing him to sign a one-year deal with Spire Motorsports. It was immediately clear he’d be on the chopping block, and failing to meet expectations could make him one-and-done, potentially out of the Cup Series for good as a full-time driver. He’s handled the pressure with remarkable poise, finishing seventh in Duel 1 at Daytona (4 points), 13th in the Daytona 500 (31 points) and now fifth in the Autotrader 400. Already at 67 points on the season, it took Suárez five races to reach that total last year with Trackhouse.

Stock Down: Kyle Busch

It’s becoming impossible to ignore that the partnership between Kyle Busch and Richard Childress Racing isn’t working. Just a day after he won the Truck Series race at EchoPark, Busch finished 34th on Sunday in the No. 8 car for RCR. Now, the wreck he was involved in should fall primarily on the shoulders of the 40-year-old driver, but he obviously pointed fingers elsewhere in his post-crash interview. Busch’s winless streak in the Cup Series is quickly approaching 100 races, and his frustration with RCR in a contract year—which is evident on the radio—makes a split this offseason feel inevitable.

Stock Up: Zane Smith

Zane Smith is off to a much better start than he was a year ago. The driver of the No. 38 car sits fifth in points right now, ahead of Cup Series champions like Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson. He’s also the only driver outside of 23XI Racing to have top-10 finishes in both points races this season. To his credit, Smith is even tied with Brad Keselowski in laps led (10) and ahead of Blaney (eight) in that category. It might still be a long shot for the 26-year-old to make the playoffs, but he’s demonstrating why he should be kept around in the Cup Series for years to come.

Stock Down: Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin certainly isn’t panicking right now about where he’s sitting points-wise. That moment won’t come until a few more races into the regular season. Unfortunately, just months after losing the Cup Series championship in heartbreaking fashion, the 45-year-old’s hopes of winning his first-ever title are already fading this season. It’s, in part, thanks to a change to the playoff format that he wanted. The top three finishers in the regular season have a massive points advantage over the rest of the field. Heading into March, Hamlin is 93 points back of first place and 49 points behind third. He basically can’t afford a DNF moving forward, and there are still 34 races left in the season (including the 10-race Chase).

By Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson is Senior Editor of NFL and College Football for Sportsnaut. His work, including weekly NFL and college ... More about Matt Johnson

Tap Here To Add Sportsnaut As A Trusted Source on Google