Diecast Update: Week of 11/16/25

In light of the championship weekend winding down and the end of the season resulting in a flood of new announcements, it's taken a few weeks to get everything sorted out. The announcements from Lionel Racing have however largely shifted to the 2026 season, so it seemed like a good time to publish the final Diecast Update for the 2025 season. If any more 2025 diecast are announced at this point we'll be sure to mention them in the December 1st edition. For all the latest on all that the last few weeks of the season offered, read on...

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Raced Versions: (Talladega)

The best race at Talladega that the speedway has produced in quite a while resulted in a monumental Chase Briscoe victory. It was the fifth win of Briscoe's career, and it also locked the 19 team into the final round of the 2025 Nascar playoffs. The win was an exclamation point on how good the JGR 19 team really could be. Winning on a super speedway takes the conversation around Briscoe to a new level.

Talladega has a knack for generating first time winners in any series thanks to the pack style racing that happens there. But that's not meant to take anything away from what Giovanni Ruggiero accomplished in 2025. Ruggiero has quietly had a strong season. He accumulated 7 top 5's and 11 top 10's. He was bound to find the winner's circle at some point, but it had to be difficult to break through, especially with a teammate like Corey Heim. A great first win!

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Raced Versions: (Martinsville)

In search of his first championship, William Byron punched his ticket to the final four with a major win at Martinsville Speedway on October 26th, 2025 during the Xfinity 500. The victory marked the 16th win of Byron's career and it also came behind the wheel of the rare Cincinnati Inc. Chevy. The company only made two appearances on the No. 24 car this year, but Byron made it count. He lead an impressive 304 laps in a dominating performance. 

You can now add Taylor Gray to the list of winners in the Xfinity series. I was actually there in person to see this race, and Gray certainly had a good race car that day. It's been quite some time since the No. 54 Supra has taken the checkered flag. You can read a little more about the race weekend by checking out the race report on the Adventures in Racing Blog. This was vindication for Gray who lost the spring race at the hands of Sammy Smith. 

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Raced Versions: (Phoenix)

Kyle Larson is officially a 2x Nascar Cup series champion. Larson claimed his second championship on Sunday, November 2nd at Phoenix Raceway after not leading a single lap. A last minute flat tire that sent teammate William Byron into the turn 4 wall was enough to prompt a late yellow which then resulted in a GWC. Denny Hamlin, who had dominated the day elected to take four tires on the last pitstop of the afternoon. Larson took two, and the rest is history. 

The shock of the championship weekend didn't end there however. With three out of the four cars in the final round belonging to JRM, it was feeling like a long shot that the lone RCR driver, Jesse Love, would be able to out race the three other Camaro's that were fighting for the Xfinity Championship. But Love did just that. He muscled his way to the front and never looked back claiming both his third career win and his first Xfinity championship.

Corey Heim winning the Truck race and the Craftsman Truck Series championship was one of the only predictable things that happened during the Phoenix race weekend. After putting together a legendary season, Tricon Garage and Corey Heim now hold the record for the winningest Truck season of all time, and they have the Championship to back it up. This was Heim's 12th win of the season and the 23rd Truck in of his career, 6th all-time, one place below Johnny Sauter, one above Todd Bodine.

A final footnote on the weekend was when Ryan Blaney quietly crossed the finish line ahead of each of the four Cup championship contenders. In a 'what could have been' moment, Blaney captured his 17th win, and his first career four-win season. Blaney winning the race truly faded into background of the day compared to the dramatic race ending that kept Denny Hamlin from winning his first title. For a team that battled through a lot of misfortune this year, going out on a win mattered. 

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Standard Versions (Cup)

Chevy:
Likely the final Hyack Motorsports 1/64 offering this year comes in the form of the meat patterned No. 47 Jack Links Jerky livery that was used a few times during the back half of the 2025 season. Stenhouse Jr. drove the car to a best finish at Martisville (27th). The 'non-vegan' titles are hilarious, and while this one isn't for me, I appreciate the creativity. 

Spire Motorsports ended the season with some really strong paint schemes. As the organization continues to attract new and exciting partners it empowers the team to create more interesting and engaging liveries. Is it really a proper Nascar race without a Tide car? During the last race of the season, at Phoenix, Michael McDowell drove the Tide car to a strong 8th place finish. I'll be putting this in the A-tier to preorder.

Alongside his Spire teammate, Carson Hocevar also brought on Modo Casino late in the 2025 season. Unlike McDowell's one-off with Tide, Modo Casino joined Spire for four of the last ten races of the year. This neon electric looking paint scheme has to be one of the best on the year for Spire, and could arguably make a case for a top ten livery of the year. I'll also be placing this in the A-tire for preordering. This is a partner I truly hope Spire is able to retain into the next season.

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Toyota:
Not to be forgotten, 23XL racing also brought some eye popping liveries to end the year. There are two Tyler Reddick cars that have shown up on the preorder forms in the past few weeks, the first of them, this 10 year celebration scheme highlighting the brand's Wings Initiative. The movement works to amplify youth voices and providing opportunities for the next generation. This car finished 10th at the Charlotte Roval after starting on the pole. 

Better yet is the stunning Jordan Brand Desert Sun livery. The pink and purple flames that adorn the No. 45 Camry are meant to highlight the release of the Las Vegas inspired AJXI Mojave basketball shoe. Reddick raced this car at Las Vegas in the fall of 2025, and he drove the car to a commendable 5th place finish. I've got this car ranked as the top livery for the No. 45 this year and this is another A-tier livery on my preorder priority list. 

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Standard Version (Trucks)

Casey Mears has been steadily appearing more frequently on the Nascar circuit as he's been chasing his 600th start in a Nascar sanctioned event. He finally accomplished the feat during his first ever Truck start behind the wheel of this No. 69 F-150. MBM Motorsports owned by Carl Long provided the opportunity for this occasion along with support from Pit Stop diecast and racing memorbilia. Mears was able to complete all but two of the laps of the Slim Jim 200.

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Historic/Raced: (Martinsville)

One of the more surprising preorder offerings from October was the 'raced version' of Chase Elliott's Cup debut in the HMS part time No. 25 Chevy SS. It's hard to imagine that it's been ten years since that date, and it's also hard to imagine that it's taken this long for Lionel to make a raced version of Chase Elliott's Cup debut in 1/64 scale. There's a market for just about everything these days, but I don't see this car getting many preorders for better or worse.

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Championship Diecast

It is customary each season for Lionel to release special championship diecast for each of the winning teams These are different from the raced versions that are typically made after the race that show things like confetti and race damage. The liveries are always the clear versions of the ones the drivers drove in the last race of the season, and each one has the series logo on the roof. These aren't my cup of tea, but they may be yours. 

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Conclusion:
As the 2025 season has come to an end, the year end offerings have been both interesting and exciting. This has been perhaps one of the best years ever for 1/64 collectors. There have been many engaging and unique liveries, and there has been more diversity, and more teams that have been offered than ever before. Many of the less popular, and lesser known teams have gotten a look, and many of these cars are set to be produced. With Lionel changing the MOQ for 1/64s, I expect the excitement to continue next year. 

This will be the final edition of the Diecast Update dedicated to the 2025 season. Next week, we'll shift gears to being focusing on what's to come in 2026. In the meantime, we're building a page dedicated to tracking the 1/64s that are set to be produced, so be sure to check that page out, here. That's it for this week, we'll see you back here next time for all the latest in the world of 1/64 Nascar.

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