(Find Lionel racing on the brand website and on Ebay here)
Anyone who knows me or indeed follows my socials will know I’ve gone a bit doe-eyed recently for NASCAR and its various sub-series. A trip to Las Vegas Speedway for last year’s South Point 400 was enough for me to fall head over heels, and whilst there I saw various Lionel Racing products for sale at the team merchandise trailers, taking two home with me: the Kubota liveried Camaro of Trackhouse Racing star Ross Chastain, and the Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse of Penske driver (and 2023 Cup Series Champion) Ryan Blaney. And they both became firm favourites in my collection, despite being almost totally at odds with everything else in it. My love of NASCAR is only getting stronger, and being the brand of NASCAR diecast, my love for Lionel Racing is growing too. The Blaney Mustang even made my 2025 Top 10 I love it that much.
Lionel Racing have been the official diecast brand of NASCAR since 2010, producing diecast replicas of the premier Cup series cars and those of its feeder series, primarily Craftsman Trucks and O’Reilly Auto Parts (formerly Xfinity) Series, though one can also find a number of Late Model racers, ARCA Menards cars even Sprint Cars in their catalogue too.
The 1/64 cars have followed the same formula for a while now, with diecast bodies and plastic utilised for the chassis and wheels. But aside from some occasional slightly fuzzy printing on the wheels, this is a process that works very well. So why change it? Well, like NASCAR itself Lionel Racing has a dedicated and vocal fanbase, with collectors very clear on what they want from the brand’s future releases. Two of the most popular suggestions have been a switch to metal for the base/chassis and to use rubber tyres. And with the updates to the Cup Series Core line cars, that’s exactly what Lionel have done.
The first three I’ve got my hands on are the Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE, Denny Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing Camry and the JR Motorsports Camaro ZL1 of Justin Allgaier. And I have to say I’m mightily impressed.
The Bubba Wallace car replicates the Chumba Casino scheme his car wore at the 2025 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, a race where he fought off a late charge from Kyle Larson to finish victorious, earning his third career win.
The Chumba livery is brilliant on its own but Lionel have chose to add all the rubber build up, rub marks, and battle scars the car had when it came to rest in victory row. “Race worn” diecast is nothing new even in 1/64, but it can be hard to properly execute in such a small scale. Tiny mistakes or errors on decals may not be too obvious on a 1/18 scale car, spoiling a panel line or badge perhaps. But blemishes and bad printing in 1/64 can ruin an entire casting. Thankfully Lionel are very good at doing their homework, taking endless close-up photographs of the cars post race in order to nail every detail. And it’s paid off here with scuffs and scratches clearly visible (and right where they were on the real car!) as well as a healthy build up of exhaust muck burned onto the sill. Dirt has never looked this good!
Non race-worn but no less desirable is the King’s Hawaiian livery of the Denny Hamlin Toyota Camry. The famous bakery chain partnered with Joe Gibbs racing for 2025, and Hamlin ran four unique colour schemes through the season, with this orange and white livery running at the Quaker State 400 at Echo Park Speedway in June. The race was a disaster for Denny, with a huge wreck during Stage 2 taking out him and 22 other drivers.
I’m probably a bit biased because orange is my favourite colour, but this is a killer looking livery even in miniature. The paint and decals are top notch and every detail of the livery is easily legible, even down to the “FUELED BY ROLLS” stamp on the side.
Another special scheme is the Traveller Whiskey livery worn by the JR Motorsports Camaro ZL1 of Justin Allgaier, the car in which JR made their Cup Series debut at the 2025 Daytona 500. Allgaier sustained front end damage during the race but managed to battle through to a 9th place finish.
The Traveller scheme looks superb even in small scale, and I’m not even bothered I can’t remove it off the base yet (it uses an IXO-esque, 1.2mm triangular screw head) as I’m very content just looking at it! The matt paint finish is perfect.
All three cars are very neatly put together and they feel solid, with a pleasing weight in the palm of your hand. I’m sure a lot of collectors would agree that a lot of pleasure is drawn from how a diecast feels to hold. The more tactile and weighty the better, and anyone who’s ever held a Schuco Piccolo will know exactly what I mean. The added weight of the metal base has given these cars that extra something over the plastic chassis cars, and combined with the rubber tyres means they’re incredibly satisfying to roll around.
They instantly evoke memories of the Hot Wheels Racing NASCARs of the 90s and early 2000s, which I had a handful of as a child thanks to their random appearances in UK discount stores. They too were solid, chunky diecast with great detail inside and out and the Lionel cars are no different.
There may only be one brand producing NASCAR diecast, but they’re the best brand for the job, and I’m eagerly awaiting the release of the Camry that I witnessed Denny Hamlin drive to victory in Las Vegas, scheduled for late July release. Rest assured there’s more Lionel content incoming on Lamley!
Instagram: @alex_the_hoarder
Facebook: facebook.com/alexthehoarder
YouTube: @Alex_the_Hoarder
Reddit: u/alexthehoarder