2 full-time NASCAR Cup drivers post 0 Top-10 finishes in 2026
2 full-time competitors in the NASCAR Cup Series failed top post a Top-10 finish in the series in 2026.
Ty Dillon and Cody Ware, who finished 34th and 35th in points respectively, were the lone drivers who started every race without a Top-10 result.
Dillon’s highest finish was 12th at Nashville in May.
The Kaulig Racing driver opened the season a 14th in the Daytona 500 after leading three laps. He followed up Daytona with back-to-back 16th-place finishes at Atlanta and Austin.
2026 is Dillon’s third year in Cup where he started every race but didn’t post a Top-10 (2017 and 2023).
Across his career, Dillon has made 317 Cup Series starts with 2 Top-5 finishes, 8 Top-10 finishes, and 109 laps led. His career-high finish was 3rd at Talladega in 2020.
Dillon’s last Top-10 finish came at Atlanta in June 2025. His highest finish in overall points is 24th, twice (2017 and 2019).
The 34-year-old Dillon will return to Kaulig in 2027.
“I want to thank everyone at Kaulig Racing for working hard this year,” Dillon said in a team press release. “I’m looking forward to next season with Kaulig Racing and Dodge.”
Ware started the season with a 17th-place finish in the Daytona 500 after leading two laps.
Ware’s highest finish was 16th at Talladega in October, where he started 11th and led nine laps.
2026 is Ware’s second consecutive season without a Top-10 after competing in every points-awarding race.
“I feel like we’ve got something to build on going into the offseason,” Ware said in a team press release post-Homestead.
Across his career, Ware has 178 starts with 1 Top-5 finish, 2 Top-10 finishes and 60 laps led. The Rick Ware Racing driver’s highest position in points was 2022 (32nd).
Ware’s last Top-10 was his fourth-place finish at Daytona in August 2024, which was also his career-best finish to date.
SOURCES
Kaulig Racing, Racing-Reference.info, Rick Ware Racing
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.