Diecast Update: Week of 5/25/2026

It has been a week of unprecedented sadness in the Nascar world. The sudden and tragic loss of Nascar great, Kyle Busch has left the racing world reeling. The sport that brings so many, so much joy, turned into a nightmare when it was announced on Thursday, May 21st, that Busch had passed away at age 41. Kyle leaves behind a family and the racing community far better off than what he found it, and a legacy that will last forever. We will carry on this week as always, but of course mindfully of what's been lost. 

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Raced Version: (Charlotte)

At the very end of a rainy an emotional week at Charlotte, it wasn't any one of the JGR or 23XL Camrys that dominated all night that won the 67th running of the Coke 600. In anticipation of rain, Ryan Sparks made a call from on top of the Spire No. 7 team pit box to take just two tires instead of four. Suarez was the only one to do so, and in beating the competition off of pit road, put himself in position to take and keep with lead before rain eventually ended the night. 

While the O'Reilly series has been an absolute rip this year, the first stinker occurred last weekend on the lead uptown the Coke 600. The race started on time after morning and afternoon rain, but after just 30 laps, the rain retuned and sent the race into a four hour red flag. Things picked up again way after dark, and before the rain returned, ending the day entirely, Ross Chastain took advantage of a poor pit strategy by the No. 7 team. This is Chastain's first win in a JRM Chevy. 

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Standard Versions (Cup)

Chevrolet:

As we mentioned last week, there would be plenty of new diecast offerings focused on the many special liveries for the Coke 600. This one, the Jockey Folds of Honor car was cleverly designed to look like a tank and also incorporates other patriotic themes. The car honors U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Johnathan B. McCain who earned two purple hearts and other awards during his service. The car also features a bit of his artwork on the deck lid. 

Another special Coke 600 livery is shown here. The Ally No. 48 Chevy was driven by Alex Bowman to a decent 17th place finished during the rain shortened event. This is a nice paint scheme for the 48. I'd put this one up there close the the Ally scheme Jimmie Johnson drove in 2020. This is the fourth 1/64 offering for Bowman this year, and I've got this one ranked second best to the standard Ally scheme. I know the dragon was popular, but this is better.

Taking a quick break from patriotic schemes, a fourth standard 1/64 for Carson Hocevar has been announced. This is the Chili's 'Marg Machine' that raced at Darlington back in March. Hocevar drove this Dale Earnhardt throwback to  an impressive 4th place finish at a track that is truly renowned as place the exposes real driving talent. I've got this car situated in first place out of the four Hocevar cars we've been offered so far. 

The last standard Chevy this week is the special Superfile Trackhouse camo car that SVG manage to pilot effectivly all night at Charlotte Motor Speedway during the Coke 600. The car's black, gray, and neon green pixelated camo style gave the car a very unique look, one that i'm not overly impressed with. This is standard scheme number 6 for van Gisbergen, and I've got this one ranked in 5th, by being just a bit more interesting than that special Trackhouse scheme run during the clash. 

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Ford:

Ribbiot is a new and interesting entrant into the Nascar world. The company specializes in business operations, and they will bring their branding to Noah Gragson's For Mustang at Michigan next month. Gragson continues to be Front Row's most marketable driver, and this is his fifth 1/64 standard scheme of 2026. While this is a fun looking car, the design itself is a bit on the simplistic side, and can't compete with any of the other Gragson schemes so far. There's nothing wrong with it, but it is fifth best. 

The rest of the Ford this week are patriotic from here, and the first of the bunch is Brad Keselowski's Build Submarines Mustang. While the design is clean, it's also kind of bare. The long sponsor titles, even when shifted don't solve the issue of space usage along the door panel of the car. It's not the best patriotic scheme by a long way, but also not the worst one. This is Brad's fifth 1/64 of 2026, and certainly the fifth best. 

One of the worst patriotic designs of the year has to be this chaotic car that Chris Buescher drove during the Coke 600 last weekend. A good day went bad when the No. 17 car was caught up in a crash with Chase Briscoe, and teammate Ryan Preece. Preece went spinning into turn three, after collecting the car he as able to finish 30th. Even a good finish couldn't salvage how bad this car looks however. The orange titles on a red, white, blue and black car.

On a much better note, Zane Smith's Aaron's patriotic 'Dream Machine' looked amazing as it lead several laps, the most of Smith's career, during the Coke 600 on Sunday. Aaron's has taken a slightly bigger step back into Nascar. They've already picked up seven races in 2026 which equals the amount of races they sponsored in all of 2025 for Smith. This is the third 1/64 of the year for Zane, and I think it's the second best ranked just below Zane's Speedy Cash Mustang. 

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Toyota:

Finally moving down into Toyota territory, we're leading off with one of five patriotic Camrys that raced during the Coke 600. Bass Pro, one of the most dedicated sponsors in the world of Nascar always makes sure to theme their cars to promote the national holidays. This one looked incredible under the lights at Charlotte, and looked to be an early favorite. Briscoe led 34 laps, but eventually was forced into an early retirement after getting involved in a crash on lap 328. Great car, but a poor 34th place result.

Another Joe Gibbs Toyota that looked fast enough to win the Coke 600 was Christopher Bell's white and gray camouflage themed Interstate Batteries car. This one looked especially sharp, and Bell had a strong night at Charlotte leading 34 laps and collecting stage points. Bell may have had the winning car if he had taken 2 tires instead of four. This is the sixth standard 1/64 of the year for Bell, and I've got this once ranked at fourth best.

While the Legacy M.C. garage is still continuing to struggle to find their cars top 10 speed on a regular basis, they almost always look good while running mid-field. The first of the pair is this Dollar Tree Camry that features a blocky, yet attractive paint scheme. I'm not sure why LMC has gone away from using a gold b-post, but I feel like that would have helped this car. John Hunter had a relatively quiet night and finished the race 26th, this is his fifth 1/64 thus far. 

The other Legacy Camry of the bunch is the slightly better looking Advent Health No. 43 Toyota that Erik Jones drove to a much better 13th place finish during the Coke 600. This is the second Advent Health livery for Jones, and the fourth 1/64 of the year for the driver of the LMC Camry. While I think this design is better looking than John Hunter Nemechek's, it's still not as strong as the other three designs that are being offered to represent Jones in the scale and so I've got this one ranked last. May be a bad take.

The last patriotic car this week is from the 23XL stables. This is the only truly patriotic car from 23XL that's been offered in 1/64 scale this year so far. This mashup scheme combines sponsorship from both Mobile 1 and O'Reilly Autoparts. The flourish of green on the side of the car with the red white and blue are somewhat of a mismatch. Reddick brought this car home to a 4th place finish at Charlotte. I've got this one ranked 6th out of 9 cars thus far.

Offering software to manage large groups of vehicles, Fleetio is a natural Nascar sponsor that now joins 23XL Racing as part of the growing portfolio of companies that are getting in line to launch Corey Heim into superstardom. Heim drive this car at Charlotte during the 2026 Coke-Cola 600. Heim had nice night driving his 23XL Camry to a 19th place finish. This was Heim's first Coke 600, and first Cup race at Charlotte. This is the 3rd 1/64 of 2026 for Heim. 

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Standard Versions (O.A.P.S.)

Mark McFarland was hired by JRM in 2006 to drive the company's No. 88 Chevy Monte Carlo SS in the then titled Busch series. McFarland ended up driving the car in 21 races for JRM until an injury sustained at the Milwaukee Mile ended his 2006 campaign. In a very timely collaboration, Hendrickcars.com will sponsor Rajah Caruth during the O'Reilly race in San Diego. This throwback scheme to the U.S. Navy car the McFarland drove in 2006. This is the third 1/64 for Caruth in the 88 Chevy.

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Standard Version (Trucks)

The game of musical chairs at the No. 25 Kaulig Ram full time entry continue as the 2026 season carries on. This past week at Charlotte, long time Nascar dabbler, Travis Pastrana rode to a 21st place finish in this awesome looking Rumble Bee paint scheme. This was actually Pastrana's second race in the Truck series this year. Out of all of the drivers to take the 25 out on track this season, this is probably the best looking Ram scheme yet. 

Tyler Reif has been steadily building his Nascar resumé, and with the assistance of Niece Motorsports, he's made five starts in the Truck series this year. It hasn't gone great with two crashes in those five starts, but a top 15 finish at Watkins in a bright sport. This Precision Chevy Silverado is the second 1/64 for Reif so far this year. It's not as sharp looking as his other offering, the DSQ Chevy. It's still great to see the up and comer getting some spotlight. This truck has appeared in two races so far. 

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HMS Coke 600 Pack:

One of the best groups of HMS Chevy's that we've had in a while for the Coke 600 are now available for preoder. Lionel has done a nice job through the years by identifying marketable packs of cars. I do lament that these four packs always come with an up-charge, but they do make unique collector's items. I think the only questionable detail here pertains to the fact the HMS decided not to make a special patriotic livery for William Byron and instead went with his standard 2026 Raptor scheme. 

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DNP Report

In a very unsurprising move, Lionel has made the decision to withdraw the following products from their preorder catalogue. Both products featured the Spire No. 7 Chevy Silverado that Kyle Busch was scheduled to drive. While it's disappointing to lose out on these great looking products, it's more than understandable that they will never be made. 

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Conclusion:
While the objective of this blog is to keep track of, and compare all the interesting 1/64 scale Nascar releases that occur, at the heart of the hobby is they very important people who make this awesome sport possible. The loss of the generational talent in Kyle Busch has cast a somber reminder that life can be painfully short, and that every day, and more so, every day at the races, and that we get to enjoy Nascar is a good and special day. It's painful to think that we will never cover another Kyle Busch 1/64 here, but there's a whole legacy worth of history to cover in the years ahead as we remember all of the greatness that likely won't ever be repeated. 

At the end of this week, there are still some awesome looking cars that should command some attention. My favorite picks have to be the Carson Hocevar 'Marg Machine,' the two patriotic Camrys from Legacy Motor Club, and the camouflage JGR Interstate Batteries car the Christopher Bell nearly drove to a win in in the Coke 600. The Daniel Suarez race version of his patriotic Chevy is not to be missed by Suarez fans, and raced version fans alike. That's all for this week's edition of the Diecast Update! See you back here next week for all the latest in the world of 1/64 scale Nascar diecast.

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