Ranking Top 20 NASCAR Prospects: Who’s Got Next?

Two years ago, Kyle Larson said that Jade Avedisian had a long runway in her transition to asphalt racing. Avedisian is learning that things on the runway don’t always run smoothly. Now 19, Avedisian enters her third year of asphalt racing (and just her second on ovals) since making her name with a national midget title and a Chili Bowl main event appearance in 2023. Like many prospects, Avedisian is trying to learn — and win. She became the first woman to win a CARS Tour pro late model race when she won last year at Coastal Plains (N.C.) Raceway. That was a big victory, as was the one she earned Saturday night at New Smyrna Speedway when she captured the super late model feature win in a stout short-track field. The victory followed a dustup with Spencer Davis the previous night. “It was a perfect time for me to win the race,” Avedisian told me. “From the incident the night before, I felt like that was a great way just to go out there and clear my mind and ultimately win the race.” The style of racing is so much different, as Avedisian has gone from the hammer-down-for-30-laps features in sprint cars to the beating and banging of longer races in stock cars. Dirt tracks can also change nightly as far as where is the best line to run, while asphalt tracks typically have one or two best racing lines that rarely change. “The nights I excelled in the dirt world was because I always felt like, no matter what race it was, you have 30 laps and whoever can drive the hardest and be the smartest throughout the 20 minutes of the race is usually going to win the race,” Avedisian said. “Now … the style of racing is definitely a lot different.” Avedisian is driving a higher-horsepower late model this year at New Smyrna, where she also raced last year during the February speedweeks. She likes the additional horsepower and said the experience of racing the track a year ago is helping her now. Experience is what she feels she lacks. As a Toyota Racing Development driver, she knows there is a plan and she has at least some time to learn. They put her with the strong Wilson Motorsports team in late models and Nitro Motorsports in ARCA. “I obviously hope that, or wish that I could have won 10 races last year, right?” Avedisian said. “But it sometimes just doesn’t work like that. And I learned a lot last year, so I think that’s also the reason I kind of got up to speed a little bit quicker this year. … I was pretty confident walking into it. “I knew if I just kind of did my job, throughout this kind of long week, we’d have opportunities to win.” With all this in mind, Avedisian is a driver who remains on my list of top-20 Cup prospects based on performance and potential. While marketing, sponsorship opportunities and funding are not primary factors, they do factor into this list because they can impact if these drivers will make it to Cup. Some parameters: No driver who has had a season in Cup — or is about to have a full season in Cup (i.e. Connor Zilisch) — is on this list and a driver must be younger than 28 years old to get a nod here (sorry Butterbean Queen): 1. Corey Heim Age: 23Previous ranking: 2 The winner of 12 truck races last year and the series title, Heim should have a full-time Cup ride this year. But all 23XI Racing seats were already filled with driver-sponsorship pairings for 2026, so Heim will do 12 Cup races in a fourth car for the team, as well as be its reserve and test driver. Expect Heim, who also could do some truck races this year, to be full time in Cup in 2027. 2. Jesse Love Age: 21Previous ranking: 4 Love won the season opener and the season finale to capture the Xfinity Series title last season (now known as O’Reilly). The Richard Childress Racing driver is back to defend his crown this year and will look to finish more consistently in the top five (he had nine top-five finishes last year). 3. Brent CrewsAge: 17Previous ranking: 3 Crews won four ARCA national races and a couple more ARCA regional series events last year. He made 10 truck starts with two top-five finishes. The 2023 TA2 champion in TransAm, Crews will vie for the O’Reilly Series title this year. But the Joe Gibbs Racing driver will miss four races early in the season, as he doesn’t turn 18 until March 30 and can’t race early-season events at Daytona, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Darlington. 4. Corey DayAge: 20Previous ranking: 7 Day is a driver that Hendrick Motorsports is hoping will follow the Kyle Larson path to stardom, coming from sprint-car racing on dirt tracks to NASCAR. Day won on both the High Limit and World of Outlaws circuits last year. He had one top five and two top 10s in 11 Xfinity starts last season. He will run full time in the O’Reilly Series this year for Hendrick. 5. Layne Riggs Age 23Previous ranking: 8 Riggs ranked second in the truck series with three victories last year and finished fifth in the overall standings. He is back for a third season at Front Row Motorsports, and if he can have a season with several wins, his stock will continue to rise. 6. Kaden Honeycutt Age: 22Previous ranking: 10 Honeycutt finished third in the truck standings, as he raced in the playoffs for Halmar Friesen Racing as the replacement for the injured Stewart Friesen. That move from Niece was precipitated by what he planned on for 2026. He’s replacing Heim at Tricon. Honeycutt’s success isn’t a huge surprise — he is the 2024 CARS Tour pro late model champion. 7. Carson Kvapil Age: 22Previous ranking: 9 Kvapil enters his second year of racing for JR Motorsports, after a rookie season where he finished third in the standings after he posted seven top fives and 14 top 10s. Being paired with veteran crew chief Rodney Childers for much of this season (he’ll run a couple of different cars during the year) could be the recipe for a breakout year. 8. Taylor GrayAge: 20Previous ranking: 11 Gray hopes he had his breakthrough win with a victory in the Xfinity Series race at Martinsville late in the year. He finished seventh in the standings and is back for another season at JGR in 2026. 9. Sam MayerAge: 22Previous ranking: 6 Mayer had a disappointing finish to 2025, as he didn’t compete in the final race as he served a one-race suspension for wrecking Jeb Burton on the cool-down lap at Martinsville. But he did have a respectable Xfinity season with one win and 13 top fives for Haas. He has eight wins in the series and this will be a pivotal year, if he can show more maturity and the ability to win regularly, proving he belongs in Cup. 10. Rajah Caruth Age: 23Previous ranking: 13 Caruth won a truck race at Nashville to make the playoffs at Spire. He’ll move to JR Motorsports and an O’Reilly ride this season for 23 races and then do the other 10 for Jordan Anderson Racing. Caruth is going to need to run well; he’s stepping into the car that Connor Zilisch ran well in last year. He’s moving up this ranking because he has a great opportunity if he can take advantage of it. 11. Christian EckesAge: 25Previous ranking: 14 Eckes returns to the trucks after a frustrating year at Kaulig, which didn’t have a good Xfinity year, as Eckes finished 13th in the standings with six top fives and 15 top 10s. He has nine career truck wins and will be expected to vie for the title driving for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. 12. Keelan HarvickAge: 13Previous ranking: 17 Harvick has continued to shine in the late models as he won four times and had six top fives in 10 CARS pro late model starts last year. He most recently became the youngest winner of the Icebreaker late model stock race at Florence (S.C.) Speedway. Harvick, the son of former Cup champion and current FOX analyst Kevin Harvick, has a mix of CARS Tour and ASA events, as well as some TransAm races on his schedule this year. 13. Chandler SmithAge: 23Previous ranking: 12 Smith won two races and finished eighth in the truck standings but expected more than just five top fives driving for Front Row Motorsports — even for a program put together just before the start of the season. Smith will need to contend for the title this year if he wants a shot at Cup. He will attempt to make the Daytona 500 in a fourth FRM car. 14. Tristan McKeeAge: 15Previous ranking: 15 McKee is one of the top talents in the Chevrolet development program. At 12 years old, he became the youngest winner in the CARS Tour pro late model division in 2023 and then became the second-youngest ARCA winner by winning his debut at Watkins Glen last year. He has had his share of ruffling feathers, but he’s young. He’s signed by Spire Motorsports to a developmental contract and will run a variety of ARCA and ASA races this year. 15. Gio Ruggiero Age: 19Previous ranking: 20 Ruggiero won in his rookie truck season, as he captured the victory at Talladega and finished 11th in the truck standings — the top spot for drivers who did not make the playoffs. He should be a threat this year, as he returns racing for Tricon. The Toyota Racing Development driver will also do some O’Reilly races for Joe Gibbs Racing. 16. Jade Avedisian Age: 19Previous ranking: 18 Avedisian became the first woman to win a CARS Pro Late Model race, as she captured a win last year at Costal Plains. Avedisian won a super late model race this week at New Smyrna Speedway, where many of the best short-track asphalt racers compete during Speedweeks. She has a mix of late model and ARCA races on her schedule this year, as she continues under the Toyota development banner. 17. Nick SanchezAge: 24Previous ranking: 5 Sanchez would be higher on this list but he didn’t solidify a full-time ride for 2026 until this week after his plans fell through to return to Big Machine Racing. He had one win and seven top-five finishes in the O’Reilly Series last year for the organization. He will continue in the series this year for AM Racing, which had a sale of the team fall through in the last month. 18. Lanie Buice Age: 19Previous ranking: Not Ranked Buice is part of the Chevrolet development program and she had two top 10s in four ARCA starts last year. She had two top fives in CARS Tour late model stock events. Buice has a robust schedule in 2026 of a mix of ARCA and late model races. 19. William Sawalich Age: 19Previous ranking: Not Ranked Sawalich dropped off my list last summer but then had two Xfinity runner-up finishes and seven finishes of 12th or better in the final eight events. After earning stage points in just five stages of the first 19 races, he earned stage points 13 times in the final 14 races. This year will be pivotal for Sawalich in another season at Joe Gibbs Racing. 20. Isabella Robusto Age: 21Previous ranking: 16 Robusto averaged an 11th-place finish last year, running the full ARCA season, as she finished fourth in the standings. She had nine top-five finishes, which was certainly respectable. But there was a feeling that there was hope for a little bit more. Still, Toyota loves her potential and her work ethic. 25 others to watch: Tyler Ankrum Luke Baldwin, Austin Beers, Carson Brown, Mike Christopher, Daniel Dye, Luke Fenhaus, Jake Finch, Jake Garcia, Tanner Gray, Conner Jones, Isaac Kitzmiller, Caden Kvapil, Treyten Lapcevich, Landen Lewis, Ben Maier, Helio Meza, Andres Perez de Lara, George Phillips, Tyler Reif, Taylor Reimer, Lavar Scott, Sammy Smith. Dawson Sutton, Mini Tyrrell.
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