Diecast Update: Week of 6/8/2026

This past week was filled with some unexpected announcements from Lionel Racing along with some very long awaited 1/64 scale releases. In our 22nd issue of 2026, there's a ton of important information to go over. This week features two new raced diecast cars, and a plethora of other interesting selections. There are new standard paint schemes from each of the top three series, and each of the major manufacturers are represented. This week we also get the return of Project 91 to mark the 38th different Cup team that's been given at least one preorder for 2026. There's all that and more in this week's article. Read on!

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Raced Version: (Michigan)

The biggest story of the week is another win for Denny Hamlin. Denny continues to hit huge Nascar milestones during a time in the sport where veteran drivers typically falter and fade. This is Denny's 63rd career win, and it ties him with the late, great, Kyle Busch. The win came at the end of a wreck filled event that saw 13 of the 37 starters crash out before the event ended. This was a special one for Hamlin.

The O'Reilly series was off last week, so the support race ended up being just the Truck feature. The Spire Silverados looked like the front runners early on, but the Toyota Tundra's prevailed at the end but not without some drama. Corey Heim wrestled the lead away from teammate Kaden Honeycutt who was quite vocal about the way he was raced. Regardless, this was Heim's (astonishing) 26th win in the Truck series.

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Standard Versions (Cup)

Chevrolet:

One of the many meaningful and positive initiatives that involve Nascar is the annual support that Napa, Hendrick Motorsports, and Chase Elliott put behind the work being done at the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta. Each year, kids have the opportunity to create designs for Chase’s car, and each year, the car is wrapped to look like what the young designers have made. ​Last year Chase was able to bring his design to victory lane. 

It's becoming more normal to see teams change up the primary paint schemes of their cars in the middle of the season. Alex Bowman's Ally Chevy will got a refresh that first appeared at Michigan last weekend. Alex was able to avoid the many crashes, and while a top-20 isn't ideal for the driver who is under mounting pressure, it's still something that could help build that positive momentum. The car looks good, and I like this scheme the most of the five we've gotten so far. 

Justin Marks has been hinting on and off for a while now at the return of the Trackhouse 91 car. The program has allowed many well known drivers make their Cup series debut behind the wheel of the spare team. With the upcoming San Diego road course coming up the organization decided that was the proper occasion to bring the 91 team back, and to hire former F1 driver, Kevin Magnussen to pilot the Qualcomm Chevy. This is a nice looking scheme, and it will be great to see on track!

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Ford:

Advance Auto Parts has been an increasingly important sponsor for Team Penske and Ryan Blaney, they haven't deployed any variable schemes really until 2026 however, and this one is a looker. The patriotic looking Mustang made its' debut at Nashville last week, and Blaney was able to bring his car back in 8th place. I think this car is stunning, and I hope to see it back on track later this season. I've got this car ranked as the best scheme for Blaney so far this year. 

The other Ford that was announced this week was this Celsius themed Kroger RFK Mustang the Ryan Preece also drive at Nashville just a couple of weeks ago. This is my favorite Kroger theme this year so far just beating out Preece's SToK Coffee car. Unfortunately, Preece was having a good night at Nashville until a piece of debris went crashing through his radiator. Still searching for his first career win, Preece continues to build momentum. 

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Toyota:

There's just one Camry this week, and it's not a regulation scheme, but rather the All Star race livery that Tyler Reddick drove at Dover a few weeks ago. The design is fairly clean in that it utilizes some great complimentary colors, the content however is more a billboard than anything else, so that car is a bit hamstrung by that detail It's not a bad scheme itself however, and I've got this car ranked as the 8th best out of a total 10 cars for Reddick on the season so far. 

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

There is certainly a close correlation between SS Greenlight Racing, and Haas Factory Team. Cole Custer's occasional dabbling in the O'Reilly series behind the wheel of the SS Greenlight No. 0 Camaro is another indicator aside from the actual number on the car. At Charlotte, during the Coke 600 weekend, Sysco came onboard Custer's Chevy along with affiliate, Canada Dry ginger ale. This decent looking race car was competitive and survived a wreck filled and rain shortened race to finish 8th. 

Jesse Love gets his second preorder announcement of the year this week with the special National Fallen Firefighters Foundation paint scheme that Love will take out on to the track when Nascar returns to Charlotte in the fall. This is a great looking tribute scheme, and one that's been produced in 1/64 scale before, but to my knowledge, only in Lionel's Nascar Authentics line. As great as this one is, I still have it ranked second, just behind the standard.

Alpha Prime is another team in the O'Reilly series that has some really fun mojo in 2026. They've got a great group of partners, and Brennan Poole has always been an underrated driver whose career was derailed as a result of the DC Solar debacle. In anticipation of what should be a really fun weekend, the Macc Dorr Systems Chevy will wear a special Navy camo scheme at San Diego. Glad to see this one represented in 1/64!

Viking Motorsports was born last year when SciAps CEO Don Sackett began a partnership with RSS Racing. From there the team has since forged a relationship with RCR and they've added a second team. Now, Anthony Alfredo, and Parker Retzlaff have both been lured to the team along with their stalwart supporters in Dude Wipes and Funkaway. What's more is that both teams have shown some great speed in recent weeks, this is a team that's on the way up. It's awesome to see both of these cars get a preorder offering in 1/64 scale. They should make a really attractive pair if they can meet MOQ.

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Standard Version (Trucks)

As the Cleetus McFarland experience rolls on, so too do the partnerships that are being developed. Two more paint schemes with a host of partnerships between Circle B, Comprehensive Logistics, DQS Solutions and Staffing, Blues Hog BBQ and more cover two Niece Motorsports Silverados that McFarland will drive in 2026. The first and more patriotic of the two has in fact already seen competition at Michigan last week. Cleetus drove that truck to a very respectable 25th place. Considering some of McFarland's diecast cars have already sold out, I'm not too concerned that these two will have trouble meeting MOQ.

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Drop Preview Report

We've been doing our best to keep up with the latest 1/64 Nascar race cars that have surpassed MOQ and made it through production and to distribution. There is a nice groups of cars that are now making their way into the market, and a few of them have turned out particularly well. William Byron's Phorm Energy initially got some doubt on my part about how the car would look, but despite a lot of blank space with a white base coat, the car pops. As expected, Justin Allgaier's Traveller Whiskey Chevy also looks very sharp. I don't think the car is as iconic or classic looking as JRM's 2025 version, but nonetheless, the 1/64 example is on it's way to me presently.

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Conclusion:
This week had the usual strong mix of 1/64 scale cars that cover almost every base for Nascar fans. The raced versions of a couple of Toyotas truly tell the story of the 2026 season in both series. As an OEM, Toyota continues to dominate in both the Cup and the Truck series.

The pick of the litter this week has to be Ryan Blaney's 2026 Advance Auto Parts Patriotic paint scheme. Team Penske normally doesn't create hits like this, but that car looks amazing, and I'm sure that that Mustang will have no trouble making MOQ, and quickly into many car collections. That's all for this week's edition of the Diecast Update. Lot's more to come in the week ahead, until then, keep on collecting!

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