- Cope Family Racing announced Monday night that they formed a
partnership with Stanton Barrett Motorsports for the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season. Going forward, the team will be known as Stanton Barrett Motorsports with Cope Family Racing (SBM with CFR).
The team will continue to race full-time in 2026 with Chevrolets. However, the team will change numbers from No. 70 to No. 30, a number used by Barrett
when he ran his own team in the series in the mid-to-late 2000s.
"I am excited to have the opportunity to partner with CFR and continue the long history of SBM,” Barrett stated in the team's press release. "Derrike has been a staple in the racing industry and someone that I have great respect for. We collectively bring over 70 years as owners and drivers at the highest levels of
NASCAR."
"Kevin Cope and I are excited about forming this alliance with SBM,” team co-owner Derrike Cope stated. "We have made great strides acquiring the necessary race cars to be ready for Daytona and the first part of the year, including being reunited with veteran crew chief George Church."
The team has not announced any drivers or sponsors for the 2026 season. That information will be released at a later date.
- BMW M Motorsport unveiled their list of eight drivers that will drive the revised BMW M Hybrid V8 in 2026 in both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance
Championship. There are no new drivers in the group of eight individuals.
SportsCar365.com is reporting a change in the full-season
IMSA driver lineups. Effectively, Sheldon van der Linde and Philipp Eng are switching cars. Van der Linde will partner with Dries Vanthoor in the No. 24 while Eng will be in the No. 25 with Marco Wittmann.
Robin Frijns will be in the No. 24 for the endurance races, while Rene Rast will join for Daytona only. Kevin Magnussen has the endurance role in the No. 25, while
Raffaele Marciello will be joining for Daytona.
