Diecast Update: Week of 3/16/2026

This past week was relatively uneventful, but also a truly historic one in the world of Nascar. ​Two races occurred at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and two of the most likely victors walked away with the trophies. Kyle Larson went 1 for 1 on his NOAPS efforts for 2026. Larson led 47 laps and solidified his 18th win in the series. But the bigger story was Denny Hamlin's return to victory lane to claim his 61st win. Both of these raced won diecast, and many more standard paint schemes are now available for preorder in 1/64 scale. For a better look at those cars and more, read on...

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Raced Version: (Las Vegas)

The most significant take away from this past weekend has to be that Denny Hamlin just moved into 10th place on the all-time wins list. This is a truly special feat, and one we may not ever see again repeated. Denny now chases Kyle Busch (63 wins) for 9th and has a good opportunity  to catch him within the season. The race was a special one for the Hamlin family as this was their first trip to victory lane since losing Denny's father last December. 

Kyle Larson started Saturday's support race on the front row and stayed near the front all day long. After battling with Sheldon Creed, Corey Day, and Chase Briscoe all day, Larson led the last 47 laps. The margin of victory for Larson was 2.5 second over Briscoe. This ended up being Larson's 18th win in the NOAPS series tying him with Denny Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger. This should be a nice diecast complete with a cool door donut. 

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Standard Versions (Cup)

Chevy:

The second 1/64 offering of the year for Carson Hocevar is this Miner sponsored No. 77 Spire Chevy (the other being the Ziegler Chevy). Miner has been around as a lesser supporter in the Cup series for some time, but this paint scheme is a step up for 2026. I think this is a good looking design, and it should be featured on track for three races in 2026. It's first appearance was last week at Phoenix where Hocevar finished 20th. 

Jockey is one of the most important long-standing Trackhouse Racing sponsors. The company has utilized space on Connor's car at Las Vegas this week to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the global clothing brand. The gold and blue colors will look great in the desert, but this isn't a favorite scheme of mine. It sits just a bit better than the Tootsie's livery and places fourth out of the five offerings for the No. 88 team thus far. 

The other Trackhouse representative this week is the fourth 1/64 scale offering for Shane van Gisbergen. One of his long standing partners in Nascar, Safety Culture is back for another year. The easily identifiable neon and purple colors get a refresh in 2026. The lightening bolt design which first appeared on SVG's NOAPS car translates nicely onto the Next Gen Cup car. I like purple race cars almost as much as I like orange ones. This car ranks 3 out of 4 SVG cars thus far.

Ford:

The sole Mustang this week come from the RFK garage. This will be the third 1/64 for Chris Buescher on the season, and despite the wonderful primary colors, this is the least appealing of the bunch. This car showcases Artesano bread, Kraft cheese singles and Fry's grocery stores. It's a savvy mashup of different brands, but I don't love cars that have graphic pictures of food products, so for me, this one falls flat. 

Toyota:

We've got three Camrys this week, the first of which is the full-on Interstate Batteries paint scheme for Christopher Bell. This is easily one of the most eye catching liveries and has been for several years. This is the fourth 1/64 for Christopher Bell, and I've got this one ranked as the second best just beneath the Mobile 1 scheme, and above the to DeWalt schemes. Interstate Batteries has been with JGR since it began in 1992, a fitting for JGR's 35th year.

A new sponsor for Tyler Reddick this season is Supply House. Supply House is a retailer that specializes in tools and materials needed by HVAC technicians and plumbers. What to say about this livery? It sort of has those UPS vibes, but all-round, this could be the least interesting scheme of 2026 that is being released on a 1/64 scale model so far. This is model number three for Tyler Reddick, and it sits unsurprisingly as the third best in my opinion. 

ampm, the western convenience store chain debuted in Nascar with JGR last year on Denny Hamlin's Camry. The brand was actually onboard for Hamlin's 60th win. So it's a little surprising to see them move over to the No. 54 program. That being said, I really like the upgraded ampm livery. Gibbs has raced in this car once so far (Phoenix), and he brought it home to a nice top five finish. If I was buying a Ty Gibbs 1/64 in 2026, this would be the one.

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

Chevy:

While Rajah Caruth will spend the majority of his 2026 campaign at JGR, he will also spend some time in the seat at Jordan Anderson Racing. Last week at Phoenix, Caruth drove his iRacing and Nascar 25 Chevy to an 8th place finish which ties his seasonal best finish (Atlanta). I think the most noteworthy detail there is that he finished well in a Jordan Anderson Chevy. This indicates that's a team that has found some speed. They have other finishes to back that up. A nice looking car too.

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Standard Version (Trucks)

Chevy:

The only truck this week is a Spire Motorsports Chevy  Silverado that Michael McDowell drove at Daytona during the season opening race at Daytona. McDowell led the first 20 laps of that race and finished the race in 24th place. The Tibbetts Lumber Co. Silverado features a gray base coat and a burnt orange series of angled flourishes. Interestingly, this is the first 1/64 preorder offering for Spire in the Truck series. I expect more to come from the Spire garage in the coming weeks. 

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Conclusion:
Lionel Racing has put together another nice set of releases for us in the fifth week of the Nascar season. I think the best 1/64s of the week are Denny Hamlin's 61st raced version from Las Vegas, Carson Hocevar's Miner Chevy, and Ty Gibbs' ampm Camry is probably the best looking race car of the bunch. Typically, there's something here for almost any race fan.

While the year is still very young, there are some impressive numbers at this point already. There have been 37 Cup drivers represented in 1/64 scale spread across over 95 different paint schemes. Every single car and truck that has won a race this year has been offered by Lionel. Eight from the Cup series including the Clash, and the Daytona Duels. Five O'Reilly series raced versions have been made available, and all three raced versions from the Truck series have as well. That's all for now, we'll see you back here next week on the Diecast Update.

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