Diecast Update: Week of 7/27/26

One of the best evolutions that Nascar has undergone in the past few years has been the return to running the Brickyard 400. Looking back, the decision to abandon that race in favor if the Indi road course was misguided. While the discussion this week will inevitably be, why can't cars pass at Indianapolis, the recognition should center around the stunning accomplishments and skill of the fourth 23XI team with Corey Heim at the helm. The preorders are open for Heim's Field and Stream Camry, but there's also other 1/64 offerings to look at this week, and one big surprise. Read on.

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Raced Version: (Indianapolis)

What a dominant performance from Corey Heim. The up and coming 2027 rookie is already sending shockwaves through the Nascar Cup garage after wrestling two trophies away from the rest of the Cup field in 2026. Heim ran a consistent race on Sunday, and as the pack leading Spire Chevys began to fade at the midpoint of the race, the JGR and 23XI Camrys took over and not even a surging Logano could find what he needed to catch Corey Heim. 

As many long time race fans will tell you, sometimes the longer that first win evades a driver, the bigger that first win ends up being when it finally comes. On his 64th start, after numerous top 10 and top 5 finishes, and in a pivotal second full time season in the top equipment at JRM, Kvapil, the son of former driver, Travis claimed his first career win after holding off his teammate and O'Reilly series great, Justin Allgaier. 

Raced Version: (Pocono)

I certainly didn't see this one coming. It was quite apparent that after Denny Hamlin claimed his fourth regulation win of the 2026 season, (his third in a row, and his 64th career win) that the diecast representing that would not be produced as a result of the licensing issues around Universal Studio's Minions being on the car. This car should serve as a reminder to never say never, and the Lionel Racing has a hard working and dedicated team of people who were willing to do what it took to offer this car. 

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Standard Versions (Cup)

Ford:

We have just one standard Cup level 1/64 scale offering this week in standard colors. This patriotic Hunt Brothers Pizza Mustang the Joey Logano raced to a 9th place finish during one of the most exciting races of the year so far. This car is arguably one of the best looking cars that Logano has had this year, I've got this one ranked 4th best looking, one notch below his patriotic Shell/Pennzoil car. This design certainly beats the standard H.B.P. scheme. 

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Standard Version (Trucks)

One detail about the 2026 Craftsman Truck series 1/64 scale offerings this year that I did not or could not have predicted was the Frankie Muniz would be the series leader with three different paint schemes now available for preorder. The Black Cat Ford first made it's appearance this past weekend at the Lucas Oil Raceway Park. Frankie put in a typical, but not great effort to finish 29th in the Black Cat truck. Despite the poor finish, I think this design looks really cool, and I've got this one ranked second just behind his Panini Truck.

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Drop Preview Report

A huge new wave of 1/64 race cars have made their way to retailers across the country. Now appearing at retail stores, track side merch haulers, and online dealers are the 1/64s show below. There's a bunch of Toyotas that have arrived, three from 23XI, and the very nice looking Pye Barker Legacy Camry, each of these cars looks good. I'm not overly impressed by the Robinhood Camry, but the rest seem quite nice! Also appearing this week were some Chevy's the HP for William Byron, and the First Choice for Ross Chastain. I think the First Choice Chevy is good, but misses the mark some due to the omission of the Busch Light logo.

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Conclusion:
As the month of July comes to a close, we are now well past the mid point of the 2026 season, and the majority of the 1/64 scale race cars that will be announced and made for the year have come and gone. As it stands, there have been roughly 211 cars representing 39 Cup drivers that have been announced, and 39 of those cars have already been produced. There have been 15 standard finish Chevys, 13 standard finish Fords, and 11 standard finish Camrys. This is a very accurate reflection of the general make up of the field. The production rates for the other series are far lower. 

I personally have taken delivery of four cars from the season in the scale so far, two Red Bull Trackhouse Chevys, the JRM Traveller Whiskey Chevy, and the Haas Tooling Chevy. Each of these cars have come on the new Chevy casting for the year, and each of these cars demonstrates an obvious improvement to the overall product that Lionel racing is offering. This week's sparse announcements are an expected slowdown to the tremendous offerings that have been made available this year. I do think that the pair of raced win Camrys from 23XL are where it's at for the end of July. 

That's it for this week's edition of The Decast Update. It continues to be a blast tracking, ranking, and discussing the many exiting products that are being offered to race fans this year. Which cars have your attention? We'll see you back here next week and, keep on collecting! 

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