Three big questions ahead of the Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway

The Daytona 500 is in the rearview mirror, and the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season is officially underway. 

The second race of the season at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, will provide a similar style of superspeedway racing to Daytona, but with more of an emphasis on the handling and speed in each car. 

Here are three big questions ahead of Autotrader 400.

Will Mother Nature throw NASCAR another curveball?

Impending rain could throw more of a wrench into the Friday and Saturday plans of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series than the Cup Series. 

However, there is an 84 percent chance of rain on Sunday in Hampton, per AccuWeather, and while there's little threat of weather affecting Sunday's race, it could impact qualifying and force the starting lineup to be set by the NASCAR rulebook. The rulebook uses a formula of a driver's finish in the previous race, a driver's fastest lap in the previous race and their points position. 

Given how jumbled up the results of the Daytona 500 and the subsequent season-opening standings were, Sunday's starting lineup may look eccentric. 

Will drivers be less aggressive due to new format?

EchoPark Speedway is a drafting track like Daytona and Talladega, but the racing looks much different. Cars and packs are more spread out, and drivers can briefly make moves without the help of a drafting partner. 

In order to win at the 1.5-mile speedway, you have to be aggressive. But NASCAR's new Chase format rewards consistency at a higher level, and Kyle Busch already proved at Daytona that aimlessly charging into the pack in desperation to win a superspeedway race is no longer a viable strategy. 

Only the closing laps of Sunday's race will determine whether or not driver's mindsets have changed, but it wouldn't be shocking if the field decides to be more cautious than usual. 

How jumbled up will the Chase standings be? 

For the first time since 2013, it feels like there is true meaning to teams, fans and everyone else in the NASCAR industry counting points from the outset of the season at Daytona. 

The top-16 drivers in the points standings after the first 26 races will make the Chase. There is no automatic postseason berth for a race winner. 

After the opening race of the 2026 campaign, the standings look like something out of a NASCAR video game. William Byron is out of the Chase picture by two spots, while defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson is only in by three points. 

Of course, after one race, there's no stock to be taken in the current standings, or even those after what will be another chaotic drafting race on Sunday. But if the likes of Byron, Larson and the four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers are still mired in the standings after Sunday, it will be an early-season nugget to take note of.