Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Phoenix

Phoenix Raceway
Sunday, March 8
1-Mile Oval
3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Avondale, Arizona
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series race (4 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM

5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 33 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Week: 6th (COTA)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 15th

No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet

• Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM team secured their first top-10 finish of the 2026 season with a sixth-place result at Circuit of The Americas last Sunday.
• Larson returns to Phoenix Raceway this weekend, the site of his second NASCAR Cup Series championship last fall.
• The Elk Grove, California, native was the only driver to finish inside the top five in both races at Phoenix in 2025 (a pair of third-place showings). He has also finished in the top five in each of the last three races there, the longest active streak, and along with teammate Chase Elliott, is the only competitor to finish in the top 10 in each of the last three races in the desert.
• The 33-year-old’s 11 top-five finishes and 15 top 10s at the 1-mile oval are his most at any track.
• Larson has completed 1,175 laps inside the top five in the Next Gen car at Phoenix, third-most among all drivers.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 30 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last week: 7th (COTA)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 3rd

No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet

• This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Phoenix Raceway where Chase Elliott scored a victory and the championship in 2020. His average start of 6.79 at Phoenix is his best of all active tracks.
• Elliott is riding a streak of three consecutive top-10 finishes on the desert oval, tied with teammate Kyle Larson for most in the series. He’s one of five drivers to finish in the top 10 in both Phoenix races last season.
• No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson is tied for the second-most wins at Phoenix all time with four. Each win came with a different driver (Kyle Busch, Elliott, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin).
• Through three races in 2026, Elliott’s average finish of 7.3 ranks second and is also tied for his personal best (2017) to this point in a season. His average start of 4.3 this year leads all drivers and his average running position of 10.96 ranks second.
• The 30-year-old has earned the third-most stage points (25) this season.

24 WILLIAM BYRON
 Age: 28 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Week: 13th (COTA)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 13th

No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet

• Qualifying 10th at Circuit of The Americas, William Byron ran up front for the majority of the NASCAR Cup Series race until a late caution altered pit strategy. The No. 24 team ended up with a 13th-place finish.
• Byron will pull double duty this weekend at Phoenix Raceway, climbing behind the wheel of the No. 88 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series on Saturday.
• Overall, at Phoenix, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has one Cup Series win (2023), two poles, three top fives and nine top 10s. His top-10 mark is tied for his most at any track with Martinsville Speedway and Kansas Speedway.
• Byron has scored stage points in 21 consecutive stages at the desert-based track, the longest streak at any track in Cup Series history. He also has five stage wins in the last eight races, tied for the second most in the series.
• In the Next Gen era at Phoenix, Byron leads all drivers in laps run in the top five (1,924) and in the top 10 (2,284). He’s also led 325 laps, which is the second most.
• In his last seven Cup Series starts at Phoenix, the 28-year-old driver has finished sixth or better five times.

48 ANTHONY ALFREDO
Age: 26 (March 31, 1999)
Hometown: Ridgefield, Connecticut
Last Week: N/A
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: N/A

No. 48 Ally Best Friends Chevrolet

• Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, will not compete in the March 8 NASCAR Cup Series event at Phoenix Raceway due to vertigo diagnosed this week. Anthony Alfredo will fill in.
• A native of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Alfredo has 210 NASCAR national series starts, including 43 at the Cup level with two of those coming at Phoenix. Alfredo, 26, performs extensive simulator testing for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet.
• The No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team heads to Phoenix Raceway with a special paint scheme in partnership with Ally and Best Friends Animal Society. Since 2021, the scheme for Bowman’s home track has been dedicated to a cause he is passionate about: animal welfare. This year’s scheme is designed to commemorate $1 million in donations through Ally Racing and Bowman.
• Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters and making the entire country no-kill, which means saving every healthy and treatable pet.

17 COREY DAY
Age: 20 (November 28, 2005)
Hometown: Clovis, California
Last Finish: 5th (COTA)
Crew Chief: Adam Wall
Standings: 8th

• Last week in a fifth-place run at Circuit of The Americas, Corey Day scored his third career top-five finish in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series and his second in a row. It marked his fourth top 10 and second in 2026 in just his 14th career start.
• Currently, Day has the second-best average finish among full-time Hendrick Motorsports drivers this season (12th).
• Phoenix Raceway will be the first track of the 2026 season that Day has previously run following series debuts at Daytona International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Circuit of The Americas. He finished 14th in his track debut last fall.
• Hendrick Motorsports’ last NOAPS win in Phoenix was in 2007 with Kyle Busch.

Hendrick Motorsports

• Entering this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports has won three of the last 11 events at the 1-mile oval with Kyle Larson, William Byron and Chase Elliott each winning once.
• All four of the organization’s drivers (Alex Bowman) have won a pole at Phoenix.
• Twice before, Hendrick Motorsports picked up its first win of a season at Phoenix (2008 and 2011).
• Hendrick Motorsports remains the premier series’ all-time standard bearer in wins (320), poles (250), top-five finishes (1,323), top 10s (2,263), laps led (85,436) and championships (15).

QUOTABLE /
 
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on Phoenix Raceway: “I’m excited to get to this style of track this time of year. It’s where you kind of learn where you’re at as an organization, speed-wise anyway, relative to the rest of the field. I’m even more excited this year because we have the new body style. I think everything we’ve learned about it to this point has been positive and definitely an upgrade, which it should be.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on heading to Phoenix Raceway: “I felt like we had a pretty respectable run in our last visit to Phoenix. Led some laps and may have been up there towards the end if we didn’t have that speeding penalty. It has me looking forward to going back and seeing kind of where we stack up. I feel like this will be the first true test of the work we put in during the off season.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on the next stretch of races, starting with Phoenix Raceway: “We really had a good run going at COTA (Circuit of The Americas). I hate that we couldn’t come away with a better finish to show that. The next stretch of races though are our team’s bread and butter. We have success there and I am always confident in what we unload with. Hopefully that’s the case again. I’m sure we’ll have a little to sort through getting adjusted to the new Chevrolet body, but I still think we’ll be in a good place.”

Anthony Alfredo, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on filling in for Alex Bowman at Phoenix Raceway: “First and foremost, I hate it for Alex (Bowman). No race car driver wants be in the position where they have to give up their seat for a weekend to someone else. His health is definitely the most important thing and I hope he gets back to the track soon. I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Blake (Harris, crew chief) and the No. 48 team for this race. It’s a group I’m already familiar with due to my relationship with Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet. The goal is to have a solid weekend at Phoenix (Raceway) and help get the team some good notes for future races.”

Corey Day, driver of the No. 17 Chevrolet, on returning to Phoenix Raceway: “I’ve been learning a lot the last couple of weeks, it’s been rough getting on new tracks and still adjusting to the car, so I’m excited to head back to Phoenix. It’ll be my third time racing there so it’s always good to go back to a track I’ve raced before. I’m definitely more comfortable there than the first time I went in the NOAPS car. Excited for more laps at a track I’ve already been to in a really fast car that the team has been working really hard to get ready.”