Diecast Update: Week of 6/1/26

It's finally been a down week here in the 1/64 world of Nascar collecting. For several weeks, the car count has been at or around 15-20 cars, and things have finally slowed down a bit. That may be a bit of a disappointment for you, but this blogger could use the slowdown. Either way, it's been an interesting week for Nascar, and the main story is that Denny Hamlin continues on with his climb up the all time wins list. Justin Allgaier and Layne Riggs also add to their trophy collection and a trio of primary colored cars head off this week's edition with other standard schemes and more.

---

Raced Version: (Nashville)

On top of the fact that the Toyota's have been noticeable dominant in recent weeks, Denny Hamlin is debatably in his absolute prime. Having the opportunity to witness a driver climb to the top of the all time wins list in this way is a treat that many fans may or may not recognize. This late night win for Hamlin is number 62 of his Cup career, and while he remains 10th, he's now one win away from the late, great, Kyle Busch. This is Hamlin's second win of the year.

A similar conversation could be had after Justin Allgaier claimed his 32nd win in the O'Reilly series placing him alone in sixth place all time. Allgaier managed the race well and brought home another trophy, or guitar rather, for JRM. Early in 2026, it was believed that this would be Justin's last full time season in Nascar. Yet after the race on Saturday, Justin was anything but confident that this would be his swan song. The magic continues for the Chevy powered No. 7 team, and I'm glad to be here for it. 

Last year, the perpetual match up seemed to be Layne Riggs vs. Corey Heim. With Heim now on his way to being a full time Cup driver, Riggs seems to be the new top dog. There are certainly other challengers who are getting in line, but the second win of the year for Layne, and the third for the Front Row Motorsports organization is a notable detail. This is Layne's 65th start in the Truck series, and this is his 8th win. This gives him an impressive 12.8 average finish stat. The guy is solid, so is this 1/64.

---

Standard Versions (Cup)

Chevrolet:

We've got a couple of Chevy's this week, the first is Ross Chastain's league leading 11th 1/64 scale diecast offering in the Cup series. Only Connor Zilisch has more 2026 diecast offerings, and this new Busch Light Country scheme is a pretty nice one. Busch usually rolls out something unique for Nashville. This year's livery is dialed down, but has all the features of a great and memorable primary. Ross had to retire this car early after a blown caliper. P. 37. 

The other bowtie of the week is this more subtle  Three Finger Jack themed Chevy from Hyak Motorsports. This subtly patriotic wine-themed race car took to the track at Charlotte last month for the Coke 600. In what turned out to be one of the better raced for the independent team, Stenhouse was able to bring this car home in the 12th position. It's not the best Stenhouse scheme of the year, I think that recognition still goes to the Jack Links car, but this one has some nice style is certainly unique. 

---

Ford:

There's one Ford this week, and it's another car from the Coke 600. The Kroger featured product series continues at RFK, and this time SToK Coffee gets the primary treatment. I think this one turned out pretty nicely for Ryan Preece and the No. 60 RFK team. I don't typically go for cars with pictures of the product on the side, but this one has a cool color scheme, and the overall design is good! This car was running well in the Coke 600 before getting involved in an unfortunate wreck on lap 328. Finished P. 33.

---

Toyota:

In a very unusual move, we had a Corey Heim diecast announced, and then pulled in the same week. According to Lionel Racing, Chief's (music star, Eric Church's bar) decided shortly after giving permission to Lionel for production, to reverse course and pull the diecast preorder. I've got this car ranked as the best looking of the three Heim cars we've been offered so far, but this one quickly shiffted into the DNP category. This is super unfortunate, almost as unfortunate as the 25th place finish for Heim at Nashville. 

---

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

The year started quite well for the Haas Factory team. A nice win for Cole Custer during the second race of the season at Atlanta seemed to be an indicator that HFT would be a significant player, but the team hasn't won a race since then, and Sam Mayer is entirely winless himself. The bright spot if there is one is this great looking Andy's Frozen Custard scheme. Andy's has remained a loyal long-term partner of HFT, and while we're used to seeing Cole Custer drive this car, Sam Mayer drove it at Texas.

---

Standard Version (Trucks)

Team Reaume has issued their permission to Lionel in order to offer another 1/64 representing Frankie Muniz's Lakeside Construction F-150 that he drove at Nashville speedway last weekend. Muniz has finished 24th in the last three straight races, and has an average finish if 25th. While the numbers aren't great, they still represent progress for the actor turned driver. This is the second 1/64 preorder for Muniz this year, and while not the best looking, it's still interesting, and perhaps worth the preorder.

---

Drop Preview Report

More 2026 diecast have recently started to pop up at retailers this week. From what I've been able to keep track of, we're now seeing Rajah Caruth's JRM Hendrickcars, William Byron's Valvoline scheme, and John Hunter Nemechek's Rexel Legacy Camry. Each of these cars look particularly good with the edge going easily to the Cup cars. The new diecast chasis has been a game changer.

Above: Recent 1/64 Nascar diecast on display. (Photographs courtesy of CircleBdiecast.com)

---

Conclusion:
The much quieter week has been appreciated as there have been so many diecast cars that have been put up for preorder, I can't remember a time with so much selection. The sheer number of cars being offered for drivers like Connor Zilisch, Ross Chastain and William Byron is unusual, but it's providing a feast of options for the 1/64 fans.

I think the highlights this week are coming out of the raced category. Years from now, the true appreciation for what Denny Hamlin is accomplishing, especially in a time of so much parody in the cars, will come in spades. Having some diecast to commemorate that will be a happy thing for many Nascar and Hamlin fans alike. The same could be said for Justin Allgaier. It's a real bummer that Corey Heim's Chiefs car couldn't survive whatever decision making was behind the car getting announced and then subsequently withdrawn.

​That's all for this week! Nascar faces a couple of big weekends coming up with Michigan happening in a few days, and the San Diego road course the week after that. As I'm finishing up this week's edition, there's lots of hints across social media indicating several new schemes in the coming days which will surly impact 1/64 scale. See you back here next week for all the latest!

---