2026 DNQ Pro Cup Season Preview:Can the 18 Defend, and What Will the 59 Look Like Now?

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2026 DNQ Pro Cup Season Preview:

Can the 18 Defend, and What Will the 59 Look Like Now?

The DNQ Pro Cup Series rolls into 2026 with a very clear headline and a whole lot of subplots.

At the top is Alex Kirk, driver of the No. 18, coming off a monster year where he didn’t just win the Pro Cup championship, he also grabbed the President’s Cup and Knupp Cup. By the end of 2025, the 18 group was the standard.

Chasing him is the series’ winningest driver, Dustin Dunn in the No. 59 – the all-time Pro Cup wins leader – now racing with a failed tire sample from last season hanging over his head.

Add in an improving No. 66 with Damian Jenks, a hungry No. 427 with Joe Henning, a breakout No.46 with Brad McElrath, and the steady No. 1 of KC Heschel, and you’ve got a Pro Cup field that feels loaded and unsettled in all the right ways.

The New Benchmark: Kirk, the 18, and James Edwards

The story of 2025 for the 18 was growth.

Early on, Kirk still had the familiar swings – some really good nights, some head-scratchers – but as the season went on, he and crew chief James Edwards started hitting everything just right. The kart unloaded closer, adjustments landed, and the late-race fade that used to bite them all but disappeared.

The result:

2025 Pro Cup Champion
President’s Cup winner
Kirk only has two Pro Cup wins on the all-time board, but the body of work from last season says far more than the raw total. Week after week at the end of the year, the 18 was exactly where a championship kart should be: inside the top five, out of the dumb stuff, and dangerous any time the race went long.

In 2026, if Edwards can roll that late-season notebook straight into the opener, everyone else starts their year chasing the 18.

The Question Around the 59: Talent or Tire Talk?

On history alone, Dustin Dunn’s No. 59 is the car you circle first.

He sits at the top of the Pro Cup all-time wins list with 9 victories, and he’s had nights where he made strong programs look like mid-pack efforts. When the 59 is right, it’s usually really right.

But 2025 added a different layer: a failed tire sample that brought a penalty and dragged his final points position down. That one test changed how people talk about his dominance.

Heading into 2026, the storyline is simple:

If the 59 passes every pull and still wins races, it reinforces that the speed was always real.
If the results drop off, the questions about the past are only going to get louder.

No matter which way it goes, you can’t preview this division without talking about Dunn. He’s still the yardstick for raw pace – now we find out what that looks like under a brighter spotlight.

Arrow Pointing Up: Jenks and the 66

One of the clearest “stock rising” stories in the garage is Damian Jenks in the No. 66.

He grabbed his first Pro Cup win last year and the Knupp Cup, got noticeably stronger as the season went along. With Larry Wilcox calling the shots, the 66 camp found real gains in balance, race trim, and long-run pace. Late in the year, Jenks stopped looking like a spoiler and started looking like someone you had to beat on purpose.

If that late-season form carries into 2026, the 66 becomes a real problem for the 18 and 59.

One Man Doing Almost Everything: Henning and the 427

Joe Henning in the No. 427 feels just one step away from a big leap.

He’s got the speed and race sense; you see it every time the race goes green for a long stretch. The issue is bandwidth – Henning is basically a one-man band. He’s wrenching, making strategy calls, and driving, which is a tough way to live in a series that punishes small mistakes.

Trim a couple of those “we had a top-three and turned it into a seventh” nights out of his year, and Henning is absolutely in the thick of the title picture. If he ever gets a little more help under the tent, the results sheet could change in a hurry.

Breakout Combo: McElrath & Owings in the 46

If you’re looking for the next long-term star, keep an eye on Brad McElrath in the

No. 46 and crew chief Jake Owings.

Their rookie campaign checked every important box:

Clements Cup winners
Rookie of the Year
Regularly mixing it up with established front-runners

They didn’t spend 2025 learning in the back; they took the fight straight to Kirk, Jenks, Henning, Heschel and company. A second-year jump is very much on the table. Clean up a few rookie mistakes, keep building that setup book, and the 12 could very easily be a weekly favorite by midsummer.

KC Heschel & Matt Murphy: One Click Away

KC Heschel, in the No. 1, quietly put together a strong season, got his first Pro Cup win, and finished well inside the contender group. He’s usually in the top five mix; it just feels like there’s one more level lurking.

That’s where engineer Matt Murphy comes in.

If Murphy and Heschel can squeeze a few more hundredths out of qualifying and sharpen their in-race adjustments, the 1 moves from “solid” to “frontrunner.” He doesn’t need a reset – he needs that last little bit of extra pace and execution.

The Rest of the Pack

Behind those headliners, the Pro Cup roster is full of drivers who can flip a race:

Eric Yost – multiple Pro Cup wins, always ready to pounce when the favorites step on a rake. Bubba Long is another strong contender to watch in the 2026 season.
Part-time runners and select-race specialists who’ve already shown they can run at the front when things fall their way.

On any given Monday, that group can turn a comfortable points lead into a long, quiet ride home.

The Shape of 2026

Put it all together, and the 2026 Pro Cup season looks like this:

The No. 18 of Alex Kirk, with James Edwards on the wrenches, is the reigning champion and current measuring stick.
The No. 59 of Dustin Dunn is the all-time wins leader trying to show he’s just as dangerous without any tire questions attached.
The No. 66 (Jenks), 427 (Henning), 46 (McElrath), and 1 (Heschel) all sit one good stretch away from turning the championship upside down.
Veterans and spoilers like Yost are waiting to capitalize the second any of them slip.

Pro Cup has always been the grinder’s division. In 2026, it also looks like the place where reputations either get confirmed or rewritten – and that’s exactly what should make this championship fight fun to watch.

2026 DNQ Pro Cup Season Preview:

Can the 18 Defend, and What Will the 59 Look Like Now?

The DNQ Pro Cup Series rolls into 2026 with a very clear headline and a whole lot of subplots.

At the top is Alex Kirk, driver of the No. 18, coming off a monster year where he didn’t just win the Pro Cup championship, he also grabbed the President’s Cup and Knupp Cup. By the end of 2025, the 18 group was the standard.

Chasing him is the series’ winningest driver, Dustin Dunn in the No. 59 – the all-time Pro Cup wins leader – now racing with a failed tire sample from last season hanging over his head.

Add in an improving No. 66 with Damian Jenks, a hungry No. 427 with Joe Henning, a breakout No.46 with Brad McElrath, and the steady No. 1 of KC Heschel, and you’ve got a Pro Cup field that feels loaded and unsettled in all the right ways.

The New Benchmark: Kirk, the 18, and James Edwards

The story of 2025 for the 18 was growth.

The result:

2025 Pro Cup Champion

President’s Cup winner

In 2026, if Edwards can roll that late-season notebook straight into the opener, everyone else starts their year chasing the 18.

The Question Around the 59: Talent or Tire Talk?

On history alone, Dustin Dunn’s No. 59 is the car you circle first.

He sits at the top of the Pro Cup all-time wins list with 9 victories, and he’s had nights where he made strong programs look like mid-pack efforts. When the 59 is right, it’s usually really right.

But 2025 added a different layer: a failed tire sample that brought a penalty and dragged his final points position down. That one test changed how people talk about his dominance.

Heading into 2026, the storyline is simple:

If the 59 passes every pull and still wins races, it reinforces that the speed was always real.

If the results drop off, the questions about the past are only going to get louder.

No matter which way it goes, you can’t preview this division without talking about Dunn. He’s still the yardstick for raw pace – now we find out what that looks like under a brighter spotlight.

Arrow Pointing Up: Jenks and the 66

One of the clearest “stock rising” stories in the garage is Damian Jenks in the No. 66.

If that late-season form carries into 2026, the 66 becomes a real problem for the 18 and 59.

One Man Doing Almost Everything: Henning and the 427

Joe Henning in the No. 427 feels just one step away from a big leap.

He’s got the speed and race sense; you see it every time the race goes green for a long stretch. The issue is bandwidth – Henning is basically a one-man band. He’s wrenching, making strategy calls, and driving, which is a tough way to live in a series that punishes small mistakes.

Trim a couple of those “we had a top-three and turned it into a seventh” nights out of his year, and Henning is absolutely in the thick of the title picture. If he ever gets a little more help under the tent, the results sheet could change in a hurry.

Breakout Combo: McElrath & Owings in the 46

If you’re looking for the next long-term star, keep an eye on Brad McElrath in the

No. 46 and crew chief Jake Owings.

Their rookie campaign checked every important box:

Clements Cup winners

Rookie of the Year

Regularly mixing it up with established front-runners

They didn’t spend 2025 learning in the back; they took the fight straight to Kirk, Jenks, Henning, Heschel and company. A second-year jump is very much on the table. Clean up a few rookie mistakes, keep building that setup book, and the 12 could very easily be a weekly favorite by midsummer.

KC Heschel & Matt Murphy: One Click Away

KC Heschel, in the No. 1, quietly put together a strong season, got his first Pro Cup win, and finished well inside the contender group. He’s usually in the top five mix; it just feels like there’s one more level lurking.

That’s where engineer Matt Murphy comes in.

If Murphy and Heschel can squeeze a few more hundredths out of qualifying and sharpen their in-race adjustments, the 1 moves from “solid” to “frontrunner.” He doesn’t need a reset – he needs that last little bit of extra pace and execution.

The Rest of the Pack

Behind those headliners, the Pro Cup roster is full of drivers who can flip a race:

Eric Yost – multiple Pro Cup wins, always ready to pounce when the favorites step on a rake. Bubba Long is another strong contender to watch in the 2026 season.

Part-time runners and select-race specialists who’ve already shown they can run at the front when things fall their way.

On any given Monday, that group can turn a comfortable points lead into a long, quiet ride home.

The Shape of 2026

Put it all together, and the 2026 Pro Cup season looks like this:

The No. 18 of Alex Kirk, with James Edwards on the wrenches, is the reigning champion and current measuring stick.

The No. 59 of Dustin Dunn is the all-time wins leader trying to show he’s just as dangerous without any tire questions attached.

The No. 66 (Jenks), 427 (Henning), 46 (McElrath), and 1 (Heschel) all sit one good stretch away from turning the championship upside down.

Veterans and spoilers like Yost are waiting to capitalize the second any of them slip.

Pro Cup has always been the grinder’s division. In 2026, it also looks like the place where reputations either get confirmed or rewritten – and that’s exactly what should make this championship fight fun to watch.

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