Week 22 NASCAR RPF Roundup
Week of May 24 through May 30 (aka Coca-Cola 600 week!)
you can't help but become the sun, by @loverofracecars, Alex Bowman/William Byron. Rated G, posted 5/24/26.
having a highly anticipated return go disastrous wasn’t helping Alex.
head for the future, run from the past, by @rosewater-motorsport, Chase Elliott/Carson Hocevar. Rated E, posted 5/26/26.
Like he's done every week since their duel at Daytona, Carson scribbles "Chase Elliott" into the box on the winner's room selection form that he fills out on Saturday after qualifying.
i can feel my reflection already looking, by @loverofracecars, Ryan Blaney/Tyler Reddick/Bubba Wallace. Rated G, posted 5/26/26.
Recent events had hit Bubba hard.
Concord Nights, by ashytwig on AO3, Ross Chastain/Daniel Suarez. Rated E, posted 5/28/26.
After the Charlotte race, Ross Chastain decided it was high time to make up with the race winner.
“You look good in it,” Ross said with a dry mouth.
Daniel bantered. “I’d look better without it.”
There's No Need to Be Alone When You Find That Someone, by @emuchipmunk, Chase Elliott/Carson Hocevar. Rated G, posted 5/29/26.
The commercial shoot wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Chase had never quite enjoyed the slog of media commitments that came with the job the way some of the other guys did, but spending a few days in San Diego wasn’t a bad way to kill some time. The commercial itself seemed kind of creative compared to the usual stuff they had him doing and he wasn’t hating being the face of it. Could do without the callsign they picked for him, though.
“Heeeey, Peaches. They call you that for any specific reason, or…?”
“You know damn well why they picked it, Joey.”
“Hell yeah I do,” Joey continued with a grin on his face.
Phoenix Has No Wind, by BCAaair on AO3, Jesse Love/Connor Zilisch. Rated E, posted 5/29/26.
In 2026, Connor is suddenly sent back to the eve of the 2025 Xfinity finale. As a spectator who knows everything but can change nothing, he faces Jesse—who has not yet won the championship and is still struggling.
“On the track, they were equals who never yielded an inch. But in this small space, they shed everything and used the most primitive, clumsy, and intimate way to share the pressure threatening to explode in their veins, to shield each other from the hate, and to savor each other’s joy.”
“Glory is decided by cold rules. Love is not.”
Depth Recorder, by @htt-words-mode, Shane van Gisbergen/Connor Zilisch. Rated M, updated 5/29/26.
As the year C.Y. 318 comes to a close, 21-year-old Connor Zilisch is an ace mechanosports pilot with a bright future ahead of him. One month from now, Connor will be known to the public as the only survivor of a passenger shuttle explosion. Six months from now, Connor will disappear.
His family and friends in orbit will never see him again; only the broadcast listing the criminal charges against him, and his likely co-conspirators. The next story on the news will announce that another star pilot and his longtime technician, Max Verstappen, have been abducted by political extremists from Earth. Down on the planet's surface, flat and barren in the center of North America, a smuggling ship lands after a two-day journey...
look at the stars, look how they shine for you, by butterflyblaney on AO3, Alex Bowman/William Byron and Ryan Blaney/Chase Elliott. Rated T, posted 5/29/26.
Chase got tired of his teammates hopeless love for each other, so he takes matters into his own hands.
hysteresis, by @htt-words-mode, Shane van Gisbergen/Connor Zilisch. Rated E, posted 5/30/26.
The Shane van Gisbergen of 2021, regarding him curiously from the bed, seemed to have no idea at all. The scar from his collarbone surgery seemed all right, as familiar now to Connor as his own. But the bruising everywhere else looked awful. And he had won all three races of the SuperSprint like this?
"Do you, uh. You remember why you came in here?" Connor asked, sitting on the very edge of the bed, keeping some distance between them. "The overpayment?"
"Kinda," said Shane, closing his eyes. "Guess I nodded off."
You Spin Me Right Round, Baby, Right Round, by @blogbyfall, Carson Hocevar/Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Rated M, updated 5/30/26.
It felt great to be back in the car. No, it felt better than great. As a small shop, being able to run up front was always an accomplishment. Being able to do it with Carson right next to him was something even better.
Ricky and Carson figure out life and their relationship, one race at a time during the 2026 NASCAR Season.
