NASCAR certainly ended its 2025 season on a sour note, with fans and the so-called experts decrying their current playoff system and how the feel-good story of Denny Hamlin’s championship didn’t come to pass.
Meanwhile, NASCAR, no matter what how it determines their future champions, needs to prepare for the days when Hamlin, as well as Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and others, will no longer be willing or able to climb behind the wheel of a race car. The new ruling by NASCAR to allow Cup drivers to compete in up to 10 races a year in the O’Reilly Auto Club Series (almost said Xfinity Series) and the Craftsman Truck Series will be another setback to the development of the drivers.
However, there’s been enough negativity surrounding the sport of NASCAR over the past week. Instead, let’s take stock of what NASCAR has going for it, and who might be on the horizon to help lead NASCAR over the course of the next few years.
I’m going to list six drivers that I feel could become superstars of the future in NASCAR’s Cup Series by 2030. As with any such speculative list of these types, there are bound to be names on here that you disagree with, and names you feel should be here. I would definitely be open to hear your suggestions.
Before we get underway, a couple of caveats.
(1) I’m not including Corey Heim or Connor Zilisch because, while I question Heim’s future, it’s too darn easy to pick two guys who reached double digit in win totals in their respective series this past year.
(2) All of this is contingent on these drivers getting decent Cup rides. A couple of years ago, I would have sworn that Zane Smith, to say nothing of Noah Gragson, had what it took to be a major Cup player. Turns out they didn’t have what it took, namely a top-tier ride.
Jesse Love: In perhaps the most unpopular championship win in NASCAR history, Jesse Love took Richard Childress Racing, the team that fields “sh***y equipment,” and became the last Xfinity Series Championship in NASCAR history. This is in addition to winning the 2023 ARCA Series championship while under the Joe Gibbs Racing banner. Since he was driving JGR equipment in one of the lower series, how much of it was him and how much of it was the equipment might be a little suspect. But when you see Love, especially in marketing images, he just has that determined look, like he’s ready to take whatever equipment he is in and get the best results he can. A NASCAR team, at any level, could definitely benefit from the bulldog mentality, and Love would definitely benefit from having a solid ride under him.
Corey Day: I have to be honest. I did not have Day on my radar when I first started brainstorming this list. Then came the announcement that he had secured a full-time O’Reilly Auto Parts Series ride with no less than Hendrick Motorsports. No, not JR Motorsports, which has often been seen as a training ground for Hendrick drivers. Hendrick Motorsports will field their first full-time O’Reilly Series ride since 2006, and Corey Day will be in that seat. (No matter how Day ends up doing, it will be better to see that #17 Hendrick Chevrolet be a spot to develop a young driver than be another ride for Cup drivers.) Day, who split time between Xfinity and Trucks in 2025, will benefit from getting a full-time ride in 2026. If he’s going to replace Bowman, he’ll definitely be hitting Cup with one of the best rides available.
Brenden “Butterbean” Queen: A couple of years ago, late model legend Brenden Queen was the greatest stock car driver you’d never heard of. The 2025 ARCA Series champion has changed all that. He won eight times in the ARCA enroute to a championship. He’s run a handful of races in the Trucks and Xfinity Series over the last couple of years, with a best finish of 4th at North Wilkesboro, driving for Tricon Garage, in 2024. Next year, he’ll be driving the new Dodge Rams for Kaulig Racing. While there are some growing pains to be expected for Kaulig, Dodge and Queen competing in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2026, success should come sooner than later for Queen as long as Kaulig hasn’t stretched themselves too thin. Meanwhile, the Virginia-born Queen, coming up from late models and short tracks, seems like the throwback that NASCAR’s long-time fan base could get behind.
Chris Beuscher: Yes, I know, I know. 2026 will be the 11th full-time Cup season for Beuscher. He’s run over 350 races in the series. He’s won six races (which kinda surprised me) in Cup. So what’s he doing on a list of future stars? I think the best is yet to come for Beuscher. While future success may come to Love, Day, and the rest by 2030, the future is now for Chris Beuscher. 2025 may have been a bit of an off year for RFK, but with Brad Keselowski at the helm, I think they may be the surprise team of 2026. If that’s the case, I think Beuscher is going to be driver to lead that team’s charge to a successful run.
Layne Riggs: What Kaulig Racing was to the former Xfinity Series, Layne Riggs is to the Craftsman Truck Series. He just seemed to come out of nowhere. In a way, he did. In 2022, he drove part-time for Halmar Friesen Racing and, a year later, split time between Tricon Garage, Young’s Motorsports, and Spire Motorsports. In all, however, he’d had six Truck starts in his first two years. He moved to Front Row Motorsports and has won five times in two years. While Riggs strikes me as another Matt Crafton type who may make the Truck Series his permanent home (he did race three times in the then-Xfinity Series in 2023), there is a pipeline through Front Row to the Cup Series. While Front Row may not have the success that Gibbs, Penske or Hendrick does, it would get him more notice on a larger stage.
Taylor Gray: A few years back, my Dad and I noticed this young driver that my Dad thought “looked weird.” As it turned out, that driver was NHRA champion-turned-NASCAR hopeful Tanner Gray. Since we have relatives named Gray, I started referring to him as Cousin Tanner. If I had put one of these lists together a couple of years ago, I might have stuck Tanner on there. Turns out, however, that Tanner has a brother named Taylor. After moving through the late model ranks, ARCA and the Trucks, Taylor Gray got a full-time ride in the Xfinity Series with no less than Joe Gibbs Racing. During the 2025 season, Gray made the playoffs and scored his first win at Martinsville. The drawback to Gray’s career trajectory is that, while running for JGR, he’ll have to play second fiddle to whatever Cup guy (Aric Almirola in 2025, for example) Gibbs wants to put in to chase the Owner’s Championship. However, he should do well enough to gain the attention of someone who could put him in decent Cup equipment.
Six drivers. There are certainly more that it could be argued could be on the list. I struggled with the likes of Ben Rhodes (is he another Truck lifer?) and Cletus McFarland (entertaining for sure, but is he talented enough to make it to Cup?), and Ty Majeski (another truck lifer?). The fact that I was able to create a list of a half-dozen drivers gives me optimism for the future of NASCAR, even if it is tempered with the fear that many of these drivers will be overlooked in favour of those deemed more marketable or those with better connections.
But the future is unwritten and we must move forward to see what lies down the path….or some such philosophical final sentence.
johnmilner.ca 