Year Three, Driven Forward: In November 2025, Ryan Ellis was announced as Young’s Motorsports’ full-time driver in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series as the organization enters its third season of competition.
In a significant step for 2026, Young’s Motorsports will transition its flagship No. 02 — long synonymous with the organization’s success in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series — to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series full-time, underscoring the team’s continued growth at the national level.
Ellis will pilot the No. 02 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro across the full 33-race schedule, continuing with Saturday afternoon’s HyVee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway and culminating with the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Championship Race at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway in November.
● Ryan Ellis O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Iowa Speedway Stats: Saturday afternoon’s stop in the Hawkeye State will mark Ellis’ sixth career start at the 0.875-mile short track.
In his previous four Iowa Speedway starts, Ellis’s best result occurred during the 2024 edition of the HyVee Perks 250, where he earned a track-best 14th, driving for Alpha Prime Racing.
Overall, he holds an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series average finish of 27.4 at the famed Midwest facility.
In addition to his four NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts, Ellis has one NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start at Iowa Speedway in the 2015 running of the American Ethanol 200 Presented by Enogen, driving for MAKE Motorsports.
6.6 finish in series competition, including the past three seasons running full-time
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| Carson Hocevar will race Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway, his third start at “The Fastest Short Track on the Planet” in NASCAR’s premier division. Zeigler Automotive Group is one of the largest privately-owned dealer groups in the U.S. with 88 franchises across 41 locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Vehicle brands represented include all the domestic and majority of the imported manufacturers. Besides its extensive automotive portfolio, the organization owns and operates Zeigler Motorsports, an 85,000-square-foot motorsports dealership and action park, offering 19 different powersports brands, plus its own onsite restaurant: Trak Houz Bar & Grill. Additionally, Zeigler Motorsports houses the Elevate Leadership & Team Building Academy, an executive training company. The Kalamazoo-based dealer group also owns three Byrider franchises, three finance companies, several insurance firms, and a leasing firm.Through 22 races, the Portage, Mich., native sits fifth in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings and has already set career-highs in multiple categories: Season-to-date results of one win, five top fives, nine top 10s638 points scored10.4 average start14.1 average finish The 23-year-old driver has been the most improved driver on the circuit compared to 2025. The team’s average starting and finishing positions have each improved by over eight spots compared to this point in 2025. Hocevar is on pace to improve his average finish by 7.5 positions at the end of the season, while his fifth position in the series’ points is an 18-position improvement compared to the end of 2025. He leads all drivers in both categories.In two previous Iowa starts, Hocevar has collected finishes of 14th and eighth in 2024 and 2025, respectively, while collecting a seventh-place qualifying effort last season.In addition to his two Iowa Cup Series starts, Hocevar also owns a sixth-place effort in last season’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race and a fourth-place finish in the 2019 ARCA Menards Series event at the venue. |
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| WILLIAM SAWALICH RE-SIGNS WITH JOE GIBBS RACING FOR 2027Sawalich will continue to compete for JGR in the No. 18 SoundGear Toyota GR SupraHUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (August 6, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing announced today that William Sawalich has signed a contract extension to continue driving the No. 18 SoundGear Toyota GR Supra in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2027. Sawalich earned his first career O’Reilly Series win earlier this year at Rockingham Speedway. Along with his win, Sawalich has six top-five finishes, nine top-10s, and one pole award so far in 2026.Sawalich, a Minnesota-native, joined Joe Gibbs Racing in late 2022 and ran the organization’s ARCA Menards Series car in 2023 and 2024 earning two ARCA Menards East championships and amassing 20 wins. In 2024, Sawalich made his O’Reilly Series debut at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He earned his first career pole award at Phoenix Raceway that year. In 2025, Sawalich competed full-time in the O’Reilly Series earning three top-five finishes, nine top-10s, and one pole award.”I am excited to be returning to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2027,” Sawalich said. “The team has become a family to me since I first started here. We’ve been making great progress this year, so I am excited to continue that into next season.”Sawalich will continue to be sponsored by SoundGear throughout the 2027 campaign.”William has been part of our racing family at Joe Gibbs Racing for almost four years now and it’s exciting to watch his continued progress,” said Heather Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. “He earned his first win in the O’Reilly Series earlier this year at Rockingham and we expect our 18 team to build off that success for the remainder of this season and into 2027.” |
 Michael Lewis Ready to Resume Momentum inBentley Warren Classic at Plymouth Motor SpeedwayVeteran Racer Returns to Indiana Oval Looking toBuild on Strong Summer StretchPLYMOUTH, Ind. — Mother Nature may have temporarily slowed Michael Lewis’ recent momentum, but it certainly hasn’t diminished it.  After weather interrupted David Ward Racing’s schedule on multiple occasions in recent weeks, including the postponement of the America 100 at Anderson Speedway and last Friday night’s rainout at Grundy County Speedway, Lewis is eager to return to competition Thursday night in the Bentley Warren Classic at Plymouth (Ind.) Motor Speedway as part of the All-Star National Pavement Midget Series. |
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| Jason Kitzmiller Opens ARCA’s August Stretch at Iowa Speedway |
 The break between Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and Iowa Speedway allowed Kitzmiller and the A.L.L. Construction Racing — CR7 Motorsports team valuable time to prepare for a busy three-race stretch during the month of August. The run begins this weekend at Iowa Speedway with the penultimate combination event between the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East, part of a marquee tripleheader weekend alongside the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Cup Series. |
| Isaac Kitzmiller Carries ARCA Menards Series EastChampionship Momentum to Iowa Speedway |
| NEWTON, Iowa — An impressive third-place finish at Flat Rock (Mich.) Speedway last weekend has kept reigning ARCA Menards Series East champion Isaac Kitzmiller squarely in the championship fight entering Friday night’s JR&CO 150 at Iowa Speedway, the penultimate race of the season. |
 Last Saturday night’s showdown at Flat Rock Speedway nearly resulted in Kitzmiller’s first ARCA Menards Series East victory of the season. After racing door-to-door with championship rivals Max Reaves and Tristan McKee in the closing stages, Kitzmiller settled for a hard-fought third-place finish. The podium effort gave Kitzmiller back-to-back top-five finishes and his fifth of the season, providing valuable momentum as the championship battle shifts to Iowa Speedway for Friday night’s ARCA combination race. “Flat Rock was a big confidence boost for everyone on this team,” said Kitzmiller. “We had a fast race car, put ourselves in position to race for the win and proved we can compete with the best in the series. |
