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The 2027 NASCAR season schedule seems to be released in drips and drabs. North Wilkesboro doesn’t get a points race. Chicagoland does. Pocono is hosting a tripleheader weekend.
One of the key announcements that caught the attention of those of us at John Milner’s Track Talk is that the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will return to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) on September 5, 2027. This will mark the first time that a NASCAR national series has raced in Canada since prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When I first heard the news, I was excited. Unfortunately, in that moment, I completely forgot that I was ready to write an entire article that I will now whittle down to a few paragraphs.
This may be come as a shocker, but… I don’t feel NASCAR, and especially the Truck Series, deserves to come back to Canada. This has nothing to do with tariffs or trade wars. Believe it or not, unlike apparently everything else in life, this has nothing to do with Trump.
It does, however, have everything to do with the state of NASCAR TV in Canada in 2026. Let’s forget that Canadian race fans didn’t even have access to every Cup race this year, or that we have to have four or five different channels to see the Xfinity and Truck Series, most of which have nothing else to warrant having on our cable package.
In 2026, someone made the wise decision that the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series should air in Canada 24 hours (that’s right, a full day) after the start of the race. What does this mean? First, watch the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series or the Cup Series race and hope the commentators don’t make reference to the winner. Second, put your phone in a drawer and stay off social media because otherwise you’ll accidentally scroll past the results (at the very least the winner.)
Case in point: This weekend, the Truck race starts at 2 p.m. on Saturday which means it will air at 2 p.m. on Sunday. What airs on Sunday at 2 p.m.? The Cup race! So, I’ll set my PVR to record the Trucks, hope that (a) the Cup broadcast doesn’t spoil the ending and (b) there’s no great delay in the race so my PVR records the entire race. (On at least one occasion, I came to about five laps to go and the recording cut off.)
Maybe I’m just the one jerk in Canada this happens to, but if I’m not, you have to wonder what the engagement rate for the Trucks is going to be by the fall of 2027. I, for one, have about three-quarters of the season on my PVR that I’ve never watched because I found out who won the race before it even aired. It’s like any form of entertainment. You know the ending and you’re not as engaged.
If NASCAR wants to bring a national series to Canada, great, we’d love to have you. But you have to get your ducks in a row first.
Silly Season News and Views
Even as the Cup Series draws ever closer to the end of the regular season (only two races remain), NASCAR’s Silly Season continues to make just as many headlines as the on-track action. In this edition of John Milner’s Track Talk, I will focus on three of those headlines and what I feel they mean to NASCAR as a whole.
Connor Zilisch to Take Over #48 in 2028
Earlier this week, Hendrick Motorsports made the announcement, unveiling the worst-kept secret in NASCAR. Connor Zilisch, currently driving for Trackhouse Racing, will drive the #48 Chevrolet after Alex Bowman retires at the end of the 2027 season.
Of course, we can’t have nice things so the internet had to explode in outrage because Hendrick went with Zilisch instead of Corey Day, currently racing the #17 Chevrolet for Hendrick in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Even people who identified themselves as Hendrick fans claimed that the team was in the wrong to go with Zilisch instead of Day. My question is this: Where is this manufactured outrage, so typical of social media in 2026, coming from?
I think the plan was always for Zilisch to eventually come to Hendrick, the sidetrack to Trackhouse was just to give the young driver some Cup experience. While Day is certainly in the Hendrick pipeline, Zilisch, with much more O’Reilly Auto Parts Series experience and now a full season in Cup, had to have the inside track to the first open Cup ride at Hendrick.
Noah Gragson Signs Extension with Front Row Motorsports
I can’t lie! This one hurt a bit. I was hoping that the “Gragson to RCR” rumours were true. Much like Ross Chastain and Carson Hocevar, Gragson is another one of those characters that NASCAR needs. We saw snippets of it when he was in the Truck Series. When he made his way to JR Motorsports in what is now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, however, his style and showmanship really came through.
Since he’s moved up to the Cup Series, Gragson has gone from being one of the highlights in NASCAR to basically disappearing. Yeah, he’s traded fisticuffs with a few people, including Ross Chastain, but on a week-to-week basis, he’s not making headlines for being in contention to win.
Some might argue that jump to RCR would be a lateral move at best. I might argue that he’s going nowhere with Front Row Motorsports and a return to the Chevy camp would do him some good. According to Driver’s Averages, Gragson’s average finish is 24.4 in 2026, a shade better than his average of 25.2 a year ago.
Maybe Gragson knew that the rumours of going to RCR were just that, rumours. Maybe staying with the same team provides an opportunity to continue to work with the same group of guys and improve team chemistry, rather than break in somewhere new.
Still…can’t help but wonder what might have been at RCR.
Josh Berry to the #33?
Speaking of Richard Childress Racing, with Gragson no longer an option, this leaves the question of who drives the #33 next year. One would have assumed that Austin Hill, currently helming that ride and with five years in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series under his belt, would make his move to a full-time Cup ride.
But now we hear that contract talks between Hill and RCR have stalled, and a new name has entered the conversation: Josh Berry, currently driving the fabled #21 for the Wood Brothers but looking for a ride for 2027.
Berry is the all-time winningest driver in CARS Tour history. With a win at Las Vegas in March 2025 for the Wood Brothers and five wins in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for JR Motorsports, Berry has also proven that he has what it takes to compete at NASCAR’s top levels.
Berry heading to RCR would be an interesting turn of events. He reminds this writer of Paul Menard, who ironically moved to the Wood Brothers after his tenure at RCR. Before coming to Childress, Menard also drove for DEI, Dale Earnhardt, Sr.’s team, while Berry drove for JR Motorsports, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team.
Still, if I had my druthers, I’d put Austin Hill in the #33 car full-time for 2027. If, however, Hill’s contract talks turn sour, where does he go and who drives the #21 Chevrolet in the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts Series next year?
johnmilner.ca 