NASCAR News: New decals will define Chevy’s fake 2026 Cup car

Chevrolet has raced the Camaro in NASCAR’s Cup Series since 2018, when it replaced the SS, a rebadged Holden VF Commodore for the U.S. market. The Camaro has been discontinued, so Chevy has to run a fake car defined by decals in the Cup Series henceforth.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

In reality, all Cup Series cars are built to a tightly controlled “Next Gen” specification, with identical chassis, suspension, and core components across manufacturers. The Camaro’s distinct look is achieved through decals and cosmetic body panels that differentiate it from other brands’ entries, despite the underlying uniformity.

Production of the road-going sixth-generation Camaro ceased in 2024, leading Chevrolet to rebrand its NASCAR racer by swapping the “Camaro” badge on the rear bumper for “Chevrolet,” reflecting the model’s discontinuation by General Motors.

NASCAR’s vice president of competition, Elton Sawyer, recently announced that an updated appearance for Chevrolet’s stock car is in the works. “We started working with the folks at General Motors about a year ago… and then they started submitting the body parts, which then went through wind tunnel testing with all the OEMs, our original equipment manufacturers, watching the testing,” he told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

While the core spec car remains unchanged, the new Chevrolet design—primarily defined by updated decals and bodywork styling—is slated to debut at Daytona in 2026. “So all the boxes were checked, and we’re looking forward to seeing the new Chevrolet when we get to Daytona,” Sawyer said.

Currently, Chevrolet lacks an obvious replacement for the Camaro in its consumer lineup, which is dominated by trucks, SUVs, and electric crossovers, with no suitable sedan or coupe available. Chevrolet is also the only Cup Series manufacturer yet to introduce an updated fascia in recent years. NASCAR transitioned to the seventh-generation “Next Gen” car in 2022, standardizing performance across teams, with Toyota refreshing its Camry XSE and Ford updating to the Mustang Dark Horse in 2024, each using distinct decals and body panels to maintain brand identity on the same spec platform.