Diecast Update: Week of 6/22/26

This week was supposed to be a big one for Nascar. An incredible amount of effort was put into designing, creating, and promoting the San Diego street course that was situated on the Coronado U.S. Navy base in San Diego. In almost every metric, the event was a huge success that both met and exceeded expectations. Not only that, it resulted in some amazing racing moments ins history that can now be commemorated with some great deicast race cars. From Corey Heim's first win, to the absolute carnage of Austin Hill's O'Reilly victory, there's a ton to take a look at, for more read on...

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Raced Version: (San Diego)

What seemed like another schooling of the entire Cup field at the hands of both Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch turned into a bit of a free-for-all after both the Trackhouse Red Bulls were knocked out of the race early on following a massive miscalculation by Austin Hill on a full course restart. Corey Heim who raced with Tyler Reddick though the last laps of the race prevailed after a flat tire on the 45 to claim his first ever Cup win.  

While Austin Hill left Sunday's race with a marred reputation, the day before looked much different. Even after being involved in a huge stack up, RCR was able to repair Hill's Pack-Rat Chevy well enough that Austin was able to race his was to the front of the O'Reilly field. The emotional win for RCR comes on Austin Hill's 168th start in the O'Reilly series. This is the 16th win of Austin Hill's career, and may be one of the most historic. 

Layne van Riggsbergen is what Layen declared as he celebrated his time in the San Diego road course victory lane. With Mattermost on the side of his FRM F-150, Riggs fought hard all day with one of the fastest trucks. Layne was able to lead 21 of the 53 laps to win his 9th Truck win in 67 attempts. Riggs is now part of the conversation around who the next upcoming talent wave in Nascar will be comprised of. He's a great personality, and this will be a great 1/64.

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Standard Versions (Cup)

Chevy:

Among the many patriotic schemes that appeared on track at the San Diego road course will be Ross Chastain’s special Kubota scheme that resembles the T-45 Goshawk, a U.S. Navy training jet that is designed to scale pilots up to aircraft carrier flight operations. This car looks quite exceptional, the way the designer was able to create a three dimensional appearance of the T-45’s iconic, nearly fuselage mounted engines is impressive. ​Chastain brought this car home in 7th place, a team best at San Diego.

Another really impressive looking Chevy that raced at Coronado was this RCR Boot Barn specially designed race car that Austin Dillon drove. While several other race cars will sport iron-clad styled liveries, this one stays with that theme, but the design team here went with a worn and weatherbeaten look. I think this one turned out really well, and I’ve got this ranked as the third best A.D. 1/64 of the year. ​Dillon raced this car to a 24th place finish at Coronado.

Austin Hill has done as good a job as anyone in trying to help the second RCR team carry on after the loss of Kyle Busch. The team has remained committed to putting a car on track each week, and Cheddar's, which has been a long-time RCR sponsor has always committed their brand to both a standard look, and a patriotic look This patriotic Cheddar's Chevy has taken to the track twice so far in 2026, once and Charlotte, and once at San Diego. 

One of the most contested releases that Lionel has announced this week is this Go Fas Racing, Champion Container Chevy the Daniel Dye has driven in a number of events so far in 2026 with more on the docket. Daniel has had a number of off track issues that have certainly impacted the way he is perceived by race fans, but if the young driver can mature, and improve, he could have a lengthy racing career. This 78 Chevy is his Cup debut car, I think it looks pretty good. We don't get No. 78 cars very often. 

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Ford:

Joey Logano has had a nice spread of schemes and sponsors so far in 2026. One of his best though, the patriotic themed Pennzoil Ford which first appeared at the Coke 600, drove on track again this weekend at San Diego. There haven’t been many schemes on the 22 car that warrant a preorder, but this one may meet that benchmark. The scheme flows nicely while still showcasing the brand. Logano has driven this car to an 8th, and an 18th place finish respectively. 

It’s always an exciting day when a new Zane Smith diecast is announced. Vermeer, a leading heavy equipment provider will bring their brand to Front Row Motorsports at Chicagoland in a few weeks. This is the fourth 1/64 of the season for Zane, it joins two different Aaron’s cars, and Zane’s Speedy Cash Mustang as well. I think this is easily the best looking of the bunch, and I’ve got it situated at the top of my list of Zane Smith cars. ​I think it looks very clean, great design!

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Toyota:

The first Toyota of the week is a likely one-off car for Denny Hamlin. The Bob's scheme remains largely intact on this patriotic themes car that subtly includes stars and stripes. For now, this car has only approved at the San Diego road course where Denny drove to a very respectable 14th place finish on a chaotic day. The Bob's scheme is absolutely unique, and while the design isn't aggressive, it is memorable and I think better looking than the standard version. 

Christopher Bell and JGR brought this specially designed Craftsman Racing for a Miracle Camry to the San Diego street course last week. This car is designed in the same vein as Chase Elliott's special Napa car. While the design is special, heartfelt, and eye catching, this car will perhaps be most well remembered as the first car Brent Crews drove in a Cup race. While a potential mis-shift or an engine issue ended the day early for the 20 team after Bell got out of the car early to protect his broken wrist. 

It was surprising to see 23XI, and Nascar in general lose McDonalds as a brand in 2026. It was also surprising to see Hardee’s return to the sport in such a major way, buying up much of the available ad space with the Toyota team. After initially launching with a primary paint scheme at Martinsville in 2026, Hardee’s followed up with a very cool and clean looking ‘flash back’ paint scheme. Unfortunately Bubba Wallace was collected in a crash not of his own doing at Nashville a few weeks ago.

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

Carson Kvapil is having a really solid season (currently 7th). He’s been able to maintain his high standing in the points even while having to shuffle between various JRM rides. There have been questions about what will happen for Kvapil next year if he can’t reach victory lane, but I think those questions are not warranted. This is the 6th 1/64 announcement for Kvapil this year, and I think this is his third best looking car behind the High Rock car and the Bass Pro.

Arby’s has ventured into Nascar in a bigger way in 2026. Initially partnering with Rick Ware Racing in 2025, the Inspire Brand’s owned company now has a strong partnership with JRM, and this week at San Diego we get the third, and best looking Arby’s paint scheme so far, a tattoo-style Bald Eagle flying in carrying an Arby’s Cheesesteak. This is easily the best paint scheme of the year for Smith, and a frontrunner for JRM in general. ​

SVG continues to dabble in the O’Reilly series in 2026 despite his focus on full-time driving in the Cup series for the second consecutive season. Shane has highlighted certain tracks to focus on with his limited O’Reilly schedule, he’s done two this year so far, (Austin, and Watkins). He won at COTA, but came up short at the Glenn. With the help of Superfile, SVG will roll in the O’Reilly series again at Sonoma. ​

We also got a couple of RCR patriotic paint schemes this week. One of the first cars announced this week for the O’Reilly series is this special and patriotic paint scheme for Jesse Love at the San Diego road course. Distributor Wire and Cable is one of several primary sponsors that have stepped up to get exposure during this major event. Jesse Love was able to survive a variety of carnage during the race in order to finish 6th in this car.

​Austin Hill also brought a great looking patriotic livery to San Diego. With sponsorship from Pack-Rat Moving and Storage, Hill will join his teammate, Jesse Love with two of the best looking cars of the weekend. This standard version is actually the first non-raced 1/64 for Austin Hill car of 2026.

Alpha Prime popped off their fourth 1/64 offering of the 2026 season. Both of their Camaro's got the 1/64 treatment for San Diego, this time, The Local, the renowned Sand Diego staple makes an appearance on Lavar Scott's Chevy. Lavar struggled some on Saturday and wasn't able to run al of the laps, but the car still managed to end up 29th which is certainly not the ideal afternoon, but could be considered positive progress in his first full-time season. 

DGM Racing’s Myatt Snider was announced this week as the team’s first 1/64 offering of the year. A few weeks ago, at Dover, Myatt Snider climbed behind the wheel of the number 91 DGM Camaro. With support from the Delaware state police, and in a car designed to honor Corporal Ty Snook, Snider drove his car to a 24th place finish on the lead lap. This is a great option for collectors trying to add lower O’Reilly series representation to their collections. ​

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Standard Version (Trucks)

Nascar veteran driver Brenden Gaughan made a return to the Nascar Craftsman Truck series this week, lured in by the excitement of the special event, Gaughan engineered a deal with McAnally-Hilgman Racing. Gaughan brought with him support from the family owned South Point Casino. Gaughan has made 218 starts in the Truck series now, while I don't think we'll see him again any time too soon, it's nice to see former regular drivers return for special events. This could be the last ever Gaughan diecast...

The other Truck standard scheme for the week is another Dodge Ram for the celebrity tour of the Kaulig No. 25 truck. This time, it's Jamie McMurray's turn. Jamie was pegged for driving duties at the San Diego road course in this very patriotic Ram. This will mark the 26th start in the Truck series for McMurray. While the race itself started off well for the largely retired Cup ledgend, the day ended early after McMurray was tripped up by the tricky final turn on lap 22. This could also be the last ever McMurray 1/64.

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Standard Special Diecast

This year’s Nascar Hall of Fame commemorative diecast car is now available for preorder. As is often the case, this year the car is a Ford Mustang. The car looks pretty nice, it features a nice white base with some attractive features in navy blue. The car has nice red numbers signifying the 2027 class. While I don't have more than couple of these in my collection, they are nice mementos for HOF visits. 

We don’t get too many test car paint schemes these days, but then again, Lionel continues to offer things to collectors that haven’t been offered in years. The car is decorated with all three numbers that the team competes under. This is a clean looking car, and I’d suspect it will make MOQ as the team has been buying out stock from Lionel to insure production. ​Legacy M.C. continues to make moves both on and off the track that are helping to elevate their team. 

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Drop Preview Report

A couple of freshly produced 2026 1/64 diecast have made their way on to the market this week. These photos from the Circle B Diecast Facebook page confirm the production of the first Denny Hamlin 1./4, and the first Brad Keselowski 1/64 of the 2026 season. Of the two, I'm partial to the National Debt Relief paint scheme. It's not a particularly exciting car, but the design does take a mundane sponsor and the result is a car that looks clean and iconic. 

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Conclusion:
What a week for Nascar, and what a week for 1/64 scale Nascar diecast car collectors. There's more bounty here than we've seen in several weeks, and the selection, representation, and variety are really good. It's hard to imagine many cars that fans want that haven't been offered. (Yes, we are still waiting for the Denny Hamlin Pocono win that will likely never come). But there are some awesome looking new cars that were announced this week that will be for many, a day on preorder. Personally, the Bubba Wallace Hardee's throwback, and the Zane Smith Vermeer car will be immediate preorders. A fist win for Heim is also a no-brainer. 

There's a ton of great stuff this week from Lionel Racing, and with Sonoma and Chicagoland coming up next, I'm sure there will be several other great diecast that will be announced in the coming days. Be sure to check us out every week for all of the latest. That's it for this week, we'll see you back here next time for the Diecast Update. Until then, keep on collecting!

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