Three-Peat King, a Returning Legend, and a Field on the Rise

dnqseries
Jan 11
4 min read

2026 ONE ZEE TEE’S DASH SERIES PREVIEW

Three-Peat King, a Returning Legend, and a Field on the Rise

The 2026 ONE Zee Tee’s DNQ Dash Series might be the most volatile championship battle in the DNQ universe — and that’s saying something.

For three straight seasons, Zac “The Nightmare” Campilonga has owned the Dash series. He’s the defending champion three years in a row, he added the Knupp Cup to his trophy pile, and every trend line from 2025 shows the same thing: when the green comes out, the 5c finds the front more often than not.

But this year, the story isn’t just whether Campilonga can four-peat. It’s who’s closing, who’s climbing, and who might knock him off the hill — including a very familiar name rumored to be joining the party full time.

Campilonga: The Standard Until Someone Beats Him

On paper, Campilonga is still the clear favorite. He's racked up wins, dominated stretches of the season, and when things don’t explode or fall off, he usually controls the pace of Dash races. The points arc from last year tells a familiar story: a hot start, a mid-season stretch of “manage the damage,” and a strong close to seal another title.What’s changed is the gap. In previous years, Zac had margin for error. In 2025, that cushion started to shrink. The rest of the top five didn’t just survive; they started landing punches. If that trend continues, the 5c can’t assume this will be another “show up, win a few, and manage the rest” type season.

The Wild Card: Showalter Rumored to Go Full-Time Dash

The biggest potential shift? Robert Showalter is rumored to be jumping into the Dash Series full time. Showalter already sits atop most of the DNQ record books, and whenever he’s dipped into Dash before, he hasn’t exactly looked lost. Plug a driver with his race IQ into a Dash format and you get exactly what the rest of the garage didn’t want, another elite operator who almost never beats himself.

If the full-time rumors hold, the championship math changes overnight:

Campilonga vs. Showalter becomes an instant, must-watch heavyweight fight.
Any mistake by Zac or a bad stretch of races will have immediate consequences.
Wins that used to look “inevitable” get a lot harder to come by.

For fans, it’s a dream. For everyone chasing both of them? It’s a headache.

Tautges: Momentum and a President’s Cup

If you’re looking at late-season form, Steve Tautges is the clearest arrow pointing up. He spent most of 2025 tightening the gap to Campilonga, and by the end of the year, the trend line had him firmly in “weekly threat” territory. He didn’t just hang around the front — he won the President’s Cup, proving he could close on big nights, not just ride along in the top five. Tautges has the speed, the racecraft, and now the confidence from knowing he can finish the job. If he unloads strong early in 2026, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the 26 (and his camp) as the primary challenger to Campilonga’s streak. And he won’t be doing it alone.

Sokol & the Two-Car Threat

Another name to circle: Steve Sokol, Tautges’ teammate.

Sokol’s raw results don’t fully show the potential sitting there. With shared information, similar setups, and the ability to lean on Tautges’ notebook, he’s a prime candidate to jump from “solid” to “spoiler” — and maybe more.

In a series where track position and restarts decide so much, having two cars in the same camp that can qualify up front is a major advantage. If Sokol takes a step forward, the Tautges camp won’t just be chasing a title — they’ll be shaping how every Dash race plays out.

Diebold: First Win, Clements Cup, and a Breakout Coming?

If there’s a “circle this guy now” candidate, it’s Roger Diebold.

Last season, he checked two big boxes:

Scored his first Dash Series win
Captured the Clements Cup

Those aren’t fluke achievements. They’re signs of a program that’s finally coming together. The late-season curve on Diebold’s results points up — better qualifying, better track position, and fewer self-inflicted wounds. If that carries into 2026, the 38 could easily move from “occasional winner” to “regular podium piece” and sneak into the title picture if the heavyweights stumble.

Farlow: ROTY with Room to Grow

Joel Farlow comes into 2026 as the reigning Rookie of the Year, and his trajectory looks exactly like what you want in a second-year Dash driver.

He learned the hard lessons, survived the chaos, and still put together a strong enough body of work to earn ROTY honors. As the season went on, his results stabilized and he started racing like he belonged at the front instead of just trying to hang on. If he takes a typical sophomore step — cleaning up restarts, managing the first half of the year with more composure, and leaning on what he learned in traffic — Farlow could easily join the “every week threat” group alongside Tautges and Diebold.

Meyer & Hutchins: The Consistency Question

Two drivers the garage consistently points to as “better than the stat line”: Kasey Meyer and David Hutchins.

Both have shown real speed. Both have had races where they looked fully capable of winning. And both have had nights where small mistakes or bad timing erased good runs.

Meyer “just needs to be more consistent,” and everyone in the pits knows it.
Hutchins is in the exact same reality — flashes of front-running pace, but too many missed opportunities.

If either of them can smooth out the rough edges, they instantly become a problem for the front-pack regulars. In a series where one or two bad nights can swing the points, that matters.

The Big Picture for 2026

When you step back and look at the Dash Series heading into 2026, it shapes up like this:

Campilonga and the 5c go for a fourth straight title and bring the Knupp Cup momentum with them.
Showalter is rumored to jump in full time and could change the entire balance of power on his own.
Tautges and teammate Sokol look poised to make the biggest organizational leap.
Diebold and Farlow are clearly moving forward, with results and trophies to back it up.
Meyer and Hutchins sit one consistent stretch away from becoming weekly factors instead of occasional flashes.

The trend lines say the gap at the top is shrinking. Whether that’s enough to dethrone the king, or whether Campilonga and a full-time Showalter simply raise the bar again, is exactly what will make the 2026 ONE Zee Tee’s Dash Series worth watching from the very first green flag.

2026 ONE ZEE TEE’S DASH SERIES PREVIEW

Three-Peat King, a Returning Legend, and a Field on the Rise

The 2026 ONE Zee Tee’s DNQ Dash Series might be the most volatile championship battle in the DNQ universe — and that’s saying something.

But this year, the story isn’t just whether Campilonga can four-peat. It’s who’s closing, who’s climbing, and who might knock him off the hill — including a very familiar name rumored to be joining the party full time.

Campilonga: The Standard Until Someone Beats Him

The Wild Card: Showalter Rumored to Go Full-Time Dash

If the full-time rumors hold, the championship math changes overnight:

Campilonga vs. Showalter becomes an instant, must-watch heavyweight fight.

Any mistake by Zac or a bad stretch of races will have immediate consequences.

Wins that used to look “inevitable” get a lot harder to come by.

For fans, it’s a dream. For everyone chasing both of them? It’s a headache.

Tautges: Momentum and a President’s Cup

Sokol & the Two-Car Threat

Another name to circle: Steve Sokol, Tautges’ teammate.

Sokol’s raw results don’t fully show the potential sitting there. With shared information, similar setups, and the ability to lean on Tautges’ notebook, he’s a prime candidate to jump from “solid” to “spoiler” — and maybe more.

In a series where track position and restarts decide so much, having two cars in the same camp that can qualify up front is a major advantage. If Sokol takes a step forward, the Tautges camp won’t just be chasing a title — they’ll be shaping how every Dash race plays out.

Diebold: First Win, Clements Cup, and a Breakout Coming?

If there’s a “circle this guy now” candidate, it’s Roger Diebold.

Last season, he checked two big boxes:

Scored his first Dash Series win

Captured the Clements Cup

Farlow: ROTY with Room to Grow

Joel Farlow comes into 2026 as the reigning Rookie of the Year, and his trajectory looks exactly like what you want in a second-year Dash driver.

Meyer & Hutchins: The Consistency Question

Two drivers the garage consistently points to as “better than the stat line”: Kasey Meyer and David Hutchins.

Both have shown real speed. Both have had races where they looked fully capable of winning. And both have had nights where small mistakes or bad timing erased good runs.

Meyer “just needs to be more consistent,” and everyone in the pits knows it.

Hutchins is in the exact same reality — flashes of front-running pace, but too many missed opportunities.

If either of them can smooth out the rough edges, they instantly become a problem for the front-pack regulars. In a series where one or two bad nights can swing the points, that matters.

The Big Picture for 2026

When you step back and look at the Dash Series heading into 2026, it shapes up like this:

Campilonga and the 5c go for a fourth straight title and bring the Knupp Cup momentum with them.

Showalter is rumored to jump in full time and could change the entire balance of power on his own.

Tautges and teammate Sokol look poised to make the biggest organizational leap.

Diebold and Farlow are clearly moving forward, with results and trophies to back it up.

Meyer and Hutchins sit one consistent stretch away from becoming weekly factors instead of occasional flashes.

The trend lines say the gap at the top is shrinking. Whether that’s enough to dethrone the king, or whether Campilonga and a full-time Showalter simply raise the bar again, is exactly what will make the 2026 ONE Zee Tee’s Dash Series worth watching from the very first green flag.

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