AREA Season 8 Comes to a Close: Three Champions Crowned After Another Unforgettable Season
August 8th, 2026 —
After nearly five months of racing, hundreds of drivers taking the green flag and three championship battles that stretched all the way to Auto Club Speedway, Season 8 of the Allstar Racing Esports Association is officially in the books.
And what a season it was.
Season 8 began at Daytona in March and took AREA across superspeedways, short tracks, road courses and some of the most iconic venues in American motorsports before culminating with Championship Week at Auto Club Speedway.
When the final checkered flag fell, three drivers stood above the rest.
Jake Nichols — AREA Cup Series presented by The Studio Temporary Champion
Cole Cabre — AREA Truck Series Champion
John Hall — Florida Estate Builders Pro Series Champion
Three champions. Three very different paths to the title. And another chapter added to AREA history.
JAKE NICHOLS MAKES HISTORY — AGAIN
There are AREA champions, and then there is Jake Nichols.
Nichols entered the Season 8 finale at Auto Club Speedway with rookie Sebastian Marin and rookie Van Drugmand still within striking distance of the championship.
By the end of the night, there was no question.
Nichols won the race and the championship.
The victory secured an incredible fifth AREA Cup Series championship, extending his record as the most decorated Cup Series champion in league history.
It wasn't necessarily a season dominated by Nichols from beginning to end.
Season 8 produced one of the deepest fields of Cup Series winners AREA has seen. Van Drugmand immediately announced himself by winning Daytona in his first Cup Series start and continued winning throughout the year. Sebastian Marin emerged as one of the strongest cars in the series and remained within 12 points of Nichols entering the finale.
James Scioly finally captured the Southern 500 at Darlington. Dylan Ault won on the Daytona Road Course. Josh Caudle's Talladega victory propelled him into the Chase as a wildcard.
But as the championship approached, Nichols was there.
He picked up his first victory of the season at Kansas and entered Championship Week with the points lead.
Then, when everything was on the line at Auto Club, he delivered.
Race win.
Championship.
Number five.
2026 AREA Cup Series presented by The Studio Temporary Champion: Jake Nichols
COLE CABRE BREAKS THROUGH IN THE TRUCK SERIES
The AREA Truck Series championship came down to Cole Cabre and defending champion Garrett Konrath.
Cabre entered Auto Club with a 15-point advantage over Konrath, giving him control of his own destiny but little room for error.
The Truck Series had been unpredictable throughout Season 8.
Trevor Edwards earned his first Truck Series victory at Homestead. Jonathan Evans became a multiple-time winner. Garrett Konrath put together a late-season charge that included wins at Darlington, Milwaukee and Charlotte. Alex McCollum broke through for his first Truck victory at Dover. Ryan Andrew won an incredible .010-second finish at Kansas. Brad Slaughter Jr. returned to Victory Lane at Talladega for the first time in more than two years.
Even the margins became part of the story.
Konrath beat McCollum by just .013 at Milwaukee. Ryan Andrew's Kansas victory came by .010. And at North Wilkesboro, Jacob Harberts won another thriller as the championship picture tightened behind him.
Through all of it, Cabre accumulated the points necessary to put himself in the driver's seat entering Auto Club.
Jacob Harberts ultimately captured the Season 8 finale, but the championship belonged to Cabre.
For the first time in his debut AREA season, Cole Cabre is an AREA champion.
2026 AREA Truck Series Champion: Cole Cabre
JOHN HALL SURVIVES A THREE-WAY PRO SERIES SHOWDOWN
No Season 8 championship battle entered the finale tighter than the Florida Estate Builders Pro Series.
John Hall arrived at Auto Club holding just a four-point advantage over Peyton Howell.
Brian Mercurio was only 16 points behind Hall.
Three drivers.
One race.
One championship.
Hall's road to the championship included victories at Las Vegas, Darlington, Chicagoland and Charlotte as he established himself as the championship favorite.
But Howell refused to go away.
His Iowa victory helped establish him as a legitimate title threat, while Mercurio's late-season surge turned what appeared to be a two-driver championship into a three-way fight. Mercurio won at Dover and then captured North Wilkesboro, cutting Hall's championship advantage to just 16 points entering the finale.
The Pro Series also featured victories from some of AREA's most accomplished names.
James Scioly earned wins at Portland and the Daytona Road Course. Zak Kerr scored his first career Pro Series victory at Indianapolis. Sebastian Marin won a caution-free race at Kansas. Jake Nichols won Talladega. JT Poole earned his first career AREA Pro Series victory at Bristol.
Then came Auto Club.
Sebastian Marin won the final race of the season, but behind him the championship was decided.
When the points were finalized, John Hall had done enough.
After years of racing at the front of AREA fields, Hall finally added the biggest accomplishment yet to his résumé.
2026 Florida Estate Builders Pro Series Champion: John Hall
SEASON 8 TEAM CHAMPIONS
Season 8 wasn't only about individual championships.
AREA's team championships continued to reward organizations capable of putting multiple drivers at the front of the field throughout an entire season — and Season 8 featured one familiar champion alongside two organizations celebrating team titles for the first time.
CUP SERIES — SOLAR FLARE RACING
Solar Flare Racing captured its sixth AREA Cup Series Team Championship, continuing an incredible run as one of the most successful organizations in AREA history.
The championship effort was led by five-time Cup Series champion Jake Nichols, with Seth Noell and James Scioly also finishing inside the Top 5 in the final standings. Tyler Nichols rounded out the Solar Flare lineup.
For an organization that has been a fixture at the front of AREA fields for years, Season 8 added yet another trophy to the collection.
Season 8 Cup Series Team Champion: Solar Flare Racing — 6th Team Championship
TRUCK SERIES — LOW$ RACING
Season 8 delivered a breakthrough for Low$ Racing, which captured its first-ever AREA Truck Series Team Championship.
Low$ put together one of the deepest lineups in the Truck Series, placing three drivers inside the Top 4 in the final standings.
Garrett Konrath finished runner-up in the championship, Alex Chilcutt finished third and Travis Beckner finished fourth, while Brad Slaughter Jr. finished seventh.
That consistency throughout the entire lineup was enough to deliver a milestone first championship for the organization.
Season 8 Truck Series Team Champion: Low$ Racing — 1st Team Championship
PRO SERIES — LVV RACING
LVV Racing also celebrated its first-ever AREA Pro Series Team Championship, completing a season that saw the organization occupy both of the top two positions in the final driver standings.
John Hall led the way by capturing his first Pro Series championship, edging teammate Peyton Howell by just three points. Justin Oplinger finished seventh in the standings, while Zak Kerr contributed his first career Pro Series victory at Indianapolis.
With Hall and Howell finishing 1-2 in the championship, LVV capped an outstanding Season 8 with both the individual and team titles.
Season 8 Pro Series Team Champion: LVV Racing — 1st Team Championship
For Solar Flare, it was championship number six.
For Low$ Racing and LVV Racing, it was championship number one.
Those titles represent months of preparation, teamwork, strategy and consistency from every driver and member of each organization.
A SEASON OF FIRSTS
Season 8 may ultimately be remembered for its champions, but the depth of competition underneath them was equally impressive.
Several drivers broke through for major career milestones.
Van Drugmand won Daytona in his first AREA Cup Series start and went on to become one of the biggest stories of the season.
Trevor Edwards earned his first Truck Series victory.
Alex McCollum earned his first Truck Series victory.
Zak Kerr earned his first Pro Series victory.
JT Poole earned his first Pro Series victory.
Josh Caudle earned his first career AREA victory in perhaps the most important moment possible, winning the Cup regular-season finale at Talladega and racing his way into the Chase.
And Jonathan Evans added his name to one of AREA's marquee events by winning the Season 8 All-Star Race at Charlotte.
THE FINISHES WERE MEASURED IN THOUSANDTHS
Some of Season 8's best moments weren't decided by points.
They were decided by inches.
Milwaukee saw Garrett Konrath defeat Alex McCollum by .013 seconds.
Kansas followed with Ryan Andrew winning by .010 seconds.
Then Bristol somehow raised the bar again.
Jake Nichols defeated Adam Cabot by just .004 seconds in the Cup Series — one of the closest finishes of the season.
And North Wilkesboro produced another memorable battle before Championship Week.
Season 8 repeatedly demonstrated exactly what AREA was built around: extremely competitive racing where simply making the field doesn't guarantee anything.
FROM DAYTONA TO AUTO CLUB
The story began at Daytona.
Van Drugmand shocked the Cup Series by winning his debut. From there came Homestead, Las Vegas, Michigan, Rockingham, Indianapolis, Dover, Darlington and the rest of a schedule designed to test drivers across nearly every discipline of oval racing.
Throwback Week returned at Darlington.
James Scioly finally captured the Southern 500.
The All-Star Race brought the Gen 4 cars back to Charlotte with no points and all glory on the line, ending with Jonathan Evans as an AREA All-Star Race winner.
Talladega decided the final Chase fields.
Then came the five-race Chase.
Chicagoland opened the postseason with Van Drugmand, Jeremy Miller and John Hall winning across AREA's three series.
Bristol produced a .004-second Cup finish.
Charlotte and North Wilkesboro reshaped championship battles.
And finally, everything came down to Auto Club.
FIVE-TIME. FIRST-TIME. FINALLY.
In many ways, AREA's three Season 8 champions couldn't have told more different stories.
For Jake Nichols, it was another championship that further separated him from everyone else in AREA Cup Series history.
Five-time.
For Cole Cabre, it was an incredible introduction to AREA.
In his first season competing in AREA, Cabre immediately established himself as a championship contender and finished the job by winning the Truck Series title.
First-time.
And for John Hall, after being one of AREA's most recognizable front-runners and winning races across multiple seasons, the championship finally came.
Finally.
Different paths.
Same title.
AREA Champion.
MORE THAN THE RESULTS
Season 8 will also be remembered for something much larger than racing.
During Championship Week, AREA lost one of the people who had been part of this community from nearly the very beginning.
Dwayne Dunn.
Dwayne committed to AREA before there had ever been an AREA race. He competed in 18 AREA events, including the very first Truck Series race in 2021, but his impact went far beyond his own starts.
For years, Dwayne served as the crew chief and spotter for Garrett Grant, who has made more AREA starts than any driver in league history.
During the Pro Series finale at Auto Club, Garrett carried Dwayne's #39 to the front of the field as AREA held a missing-man silent pace lap in his honor.
Beginning with Season 8, the AREA Crew Chief of the Year Award will carry his name permanently:
The Dwayne Dunn Crew Chief of the Year Award.
AREA would not be what it is today without the people who believed in it before there was anything to believe in.
Dwayne was one of those people.
He will forever be part of AREA.
THAT'S SEASON 8.
From Daytona in March to Auto Club in August, Season 8 produced another chapter of the competition and community that have defined AREA since its beginning in 2021.
To every driver who entered a race.
Every team owner and teammate who put in the work during the week.
Every spotter and crew chief who spent their nights on the radio.
Every broadcaster who told the story.
Every sponsor and partner who helped make the season possible.
And every fan who watched, commented, shared a post or simply followed along:
Thank you.
Congratulations to Jake Nichols, Cole Cabre and John Hall.
Congratulations to our Season 8 team champions.
And congratulations to everyone who made Season 8 possible.
Eight seasons down.
The story isn't finished yet.
See you in Season 9.