Listen. The CW is running the guest-analyst rotation again, and the lineup is six Cup drivers deep. Familiar territory — they did a similar setup in 2025 — but the names are good and the chairs are filled.
Denny Hamlin opens the rotation at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Connor Zilisch — the kid who put up TEN wins in The CW's inaugural season covering the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series — pulls a chair at Nashville Superspeedway. Ross Chastain takes the booth at Pocono Raceway.
The other three: AJ Allmendinger at Sonoma Raceway. Kyle Busch — currently the O'Reilly Series wins leader — at EchoPark Speedway. And Bubba Wallace at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
That's the rotation. Six races. Six drivers.
Hamlin in the Charlotte booth is going to be appointment viewing. He won't even be on the air for ten minutes before he tells you something only a current Cup driver could tell you. Same with Busch, same with Chastain — guys who race the line they're describing.
Zilisch is the interesting one. He's the driver THIS series helped build. Putting him in the booth at Nashville is The CW saying out loud what was already obvious: the O'Reilly Series is its own broadcast property now, and it's going to staff itself like one.
The CW is running this format back. About time.