Category: 2026

Diecast Update: Week of 3/2/26

3/2/2026

The more things change, the more they remain the same. The addition of COTA (Circuit of the Americas) to the Nascar schedule has been a stroke of genius by the racing league’s game makers. The Next Gen stock cars look great on the track meant for F1 cars, and the racing has matured into something really great. What no one could have seen coming was Nascar history being made in Tyler Reddick's third straight win, the only time a driver has claimed the first three races of a season, ever. There's that and so much more from another week of 1/64 preorders. For all the latest, read on...

Raced Version: (COTA)

Nascar history. After an unthinkable drive and after starting from the pole position, Tyler Reddick defended the lead all day long. Even after a Stage 2 caution that re-racked the field, Reddick was able to fend off Shane van Gisbergen. This is something no one has been able to figure out for months. Reddick beat SVG comfortably at COTA ending SVG's road course streak and winning his third race of the year, and third on the season. Incredible.

While Shane van Gisbergen didn't get get the results he was looking for in the Cup series, he still walked away from COTA with a trophy on Saturday. Behind the wheel of his JRM powered Chevy Camaro, SVG brought the Safety Culture Chevy home in first place without much fuss. This certainly won't be the last trophy SVG will look to collect on road courses this year. The Safety Culture paint scheme got a nice upgrade for 2026, and SVG is now 1/1 with the car.

Raced Version: (St. Petersburg)

The first ever meetup between the Nascar Craftsman Truck series and the NTT Indycar series resulted in a thrilling street course showdown that saw Layne Riggs net his first win of 2026. Both the FRM Ford F-150s were strong last weekend and Riggs and Chandler Smith took turns fighting for the lead. Ultimately, it was Layne Riggs who prevailed. This is the first raced 1/64 being offered for Layne Riggs in 2026.

Raced Version: (Bowman Gray)

This was unexpected. In fact, I’m not sure that this will work out well for Lionel or Ryan Preece fans but I at least applaud the effort that is being made. The entire livery of this car was designed around the Coca Cola logo. But Coke has not given permission to Lionel to replicate its logo in years, and the same is true now. Lionel will attempt to make the car anyway. I think there's very little chance that this gets made in any scale, but we will certainly see. Regardless, this was a big moment for Ryan Preece.

Standard Versions (Cup)

Chevy:

Busch beer has infused a ton of character into their paint schemes over the past few seasons. They often try to highlight some local themes into each design. What says ‘Texas’ more than some long horns across the front fender of Chastain’s Chevy? Add in some stars and the Busch mountains, plus some foil numbers, and this car looks super cool Unfortunately, Ross Chastain had a brutal afternoon at COTA and this car finished 35th. I have this car ranked as the third best Chastain car of the year so far.

I'm surprised we had to wait this long for the first Carson Hocevar 164 of the 2026 season. Zeigler has been a central part of the support Carson has relied on to make it to this point in his racing career. The No. 77 Zeigler Chevy gets a nice refresh in 2026. The car looks more refined with the new paint scheme and indent, it looks quicker too. The addition of Spectrum on the car is pretty cool. Spire did a nice job on this one! As this is the first Carson car this year, it's ranked number 1!

Ford:

The first Ford of the week in standard colors is Brad K's Body Guard Fastenal Mustang. This is the second standard Brad K. scheme this year and it's probably my favorite. The orange foil numbers are an upgrade from the Body Guard paint scheme in previous years, and as I've said many times in the past, orange and black almost always look good on a race car. We'll see this design on track during several races in 2026.

Trimble was an interesting addition to the RFK portfolio last year, but it's clear they have gone all in on Nascar in 2026. This is the fourth Trimble paint scheme we've seen this including Corey Lajoie's that wasn't able to see actual racing action as he failed to make the 41 car field at Daytona. This is an awesome livery, and I think the overall look is as good as the Fastenal Body Guard paint scheme. This is the 3rd Brad livery, and second best. This is a tier 2 for me.

Fifth Third Bank is another stalwart RFK racing partner. The bank has brought its brand to RFK since 2012, and is usually good for at least five or six races per each season. It's interesting that Fifth Third only ever shows up on Chris Buescher's Ford. This car is may favorite RFK scheme for several years running. (Yes, even better than the Cinnamon Toast Crunch car). I think this will be a pickup for me. I haven't added a version of this car in the new Mustang.

Fastenal has all but abandoned the traditional blue and white colors they've used for years. Now, Fastenal sits in the background of their Body Guard brand that is presented with black orange and white. We've already seen the version of this paint scheme that is on Chris Buescher's car, now this week we get Brad's version, and Ryan's. This is the second standard release for Ryan Preece, and it's also second best as I believe the Trimble car is better.

Toyota:

The third Chase Briscoe 1/64 offering of the year is this blue and white Columbia Bank Camry that the No. 19 JGR team brought to COTA this past weekend. Unfortantly, Brsicoe was forced to retire the car early during the Duramax GP due to a broken transaxle. This would relegate him to a 37th place finish on a bad day. Columbia Bank will appear twice more in the 2026 season. This is the third best looking Briscoe 1/64 car for now. It's a clean scheme, but lakes any real excitement.

SAIA returns to JGR in 2026 to sponsor Ty Gibbs for the second straight year. This is the first 1/64 diecast of the year for Ty. The paint scheme just gets a bit of a refresh. The top red layer gets extended to encompass the entire rear window and runs the entire length of the c post. the phrase, 'It's a Yes.' replaces 'Est. 1924.' from last year. This is a nice livery, it's simple, but as is always the case, the lack of the Monster logo is a significant detractor.

Standard Version (Trucks)

Landen Lewis, a zMax Cars Tour champion, will now get his chance in the Nascar Craftsman Truck series. Sponsored by J.F. Electric, Lewis will drive his No. 45 Niece Motorsports Silverado in several races in 2026. Landen went 80 for 80 this past weekend in his first race of the year at St. Petersburg. He brought his truck home 6th, a fantastic first showing. This truck looks really cool. The dark blue foil numbers are sharp!

In a true surprise, Dario Franchitti made a very interesting return to racing this past weekend at the joint Indycar Craftsman Truck series meetup at the St. Petersburg street course. Jimmie Johnson was the well positioned ambassador that gave Franchitti all the encouragement he needed. He was able to muster the support from Dollar Tree, and bridged the Toyota gap with Triton Garage. Dario ran 79/80 laps and came home 27th. This truck looks awesome.

Adam Andretti will be a name race fans will hear regularly in 2026. Andretti will be behind the wheel of the No. 5 Tricon Tundra for several races this year. Andretti has been on track twice this year with the support of Top Liner, (a truck bread protective coating if you must know). Andretti has an average start of 9th and an average finish of 17th through two races this year. Tricon has done a nice job with their paint scheme this year, and this is another example.

Kaden Honeycutt has taken over the Tricon Garage flagship in the No. 11 Toyota Tundra. Safelite has remained with the team as the primary sponsor of their No. 11 program. Kaden raced with Niece Motorsports last year for a full season. He had an average finish of 12th. He's running about the same this year after three races. The Safelite Tundra gets just a minor refresh here compared to last year's paint scheme, and I think I like this version better.

Gio Ruggiero is off to a good start in 2026, his second full time season in the Craftsman Truck series. Ruggiero continues to carry the banner for long time Truck series regular, JBL speakers. Ruggiero represented JBL last year as well. Like all of the other Tricon Garage Trucks, the JBL Tundra features a white base coat with orange and black secondary colors. If all of these Tundras get produced, this will be a really cool set.

LMSC/CARS Tour

Caden Kvapil will have primary driving duties of the JRM No. 88 LMSC in 2026. The emerging jerky brand, Jerky Boys. Jerky Boys beef jerky is commonly referred to by Dale Jr, and he has announced a personal stake in the company. Dale Jr. is now helping to bring this brad to the racing circuit by putting the name on his LMSC. Caden Kvapil, younger brother to Carson, has been a dynamic up and coming in the Cars Tour. This is likely to be a very popular offering!

Conclusion:
This was another stacked week for 1/64 scale Nascar collectors. There are a lot of potential 2026 grails in this group. Having so many RFK Fords and Tricon Garage Tundras in this group is going to force fans to make some hard choices. The 1/64 scale market is really going to thrive in 2026 with so many options, but on the contrary, lower model counts is making some 1/64s very hard to find.

With three weeks of the Nascar season already behind us, the majority of the standard paint schemes for 2026 have been announced. I hope for my own sake that this upcoming week has a few fewer offerings because it has been hard to keep up with Lionel! That's it for this week's edition of the Diecast Update! What cars will you be preordering?

Raced Version: (COTA)

Raced Version: (St. Petersburg)

Raced Version: (Bowman Gray)

Standard Versions (Cup)

Standard Version (Trucks)

LMSC/CARS Tour

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