Bristol Motor Speedway
Sunday, April 12
0.533-Mile Oval
3 p.m. ET
Location: Bristol, Tennessee
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series race (8 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM
5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 33 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Race: 9th (Martinsville)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: T-8th
No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet
- Prior to the NASCAR Cup Series off weekend, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM team finished ninth at Martinsville Speedway, securing their fourth top-10 finish of the season.
- The 33-year-old enters Bristol Motor Speedway as the event’s defending winner and has won two of the last three races at the 0.533-mile short track. In victories in the fall 2024 and spring 2025 races, Larson led a combined 873 out of 1,000 laps and swept all stages.
- Larson leads all drivers with seven stage wins at Bristol. His most stage wins at a single track is eight at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
- The Elk Grove, California, native has led 946 laps at Bristol in the Next Gen car, more than double that of his nearest competitor.
- The defending Cup Series champion has an average finish of 7.67 at “The Last Great Colosseum” in the Next Gen car, which ranks second best.
- Larson will be back behind the wheel of the No. 88 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Series race at Bristol.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 30 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last Race: 1st (Martinsville)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 4th
No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
- Chase Elliott heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend as the most recent NASCAR Cup Series winner, having captured the victory at Martinsville Speedway two weeks ago.
- Elliott led 84 laps en route to his Martinsville win, which put him over the threshold of 6,000 career laps led in the Cup Series (6,083).
- The 30-year-old’s average finish of ninth is his best through seven events since 2017 (eighth). He’s one of only four drivers to finish on the lead lap in every race this season.
- Elliott has four finishes of eighth or better in the last six Bristol Cup Series races including two runner-up results.
- His 444 laps led in points-paying races at “The Last Great Colosseum” are his most at a track without a win.
- At Bristol in the Next Gen era, Elliott has the sixth-best average finish (12th) among active drivers with multiple starts.
- Elliott has one non-points-paying victory at the Tennessee short track, winning the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race in the only time it was held there.
- In the last 14 Cup Series short track events, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native has 10 top-10 finishes, including his triumph at Martinsville.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 28 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Race: 5th (Martinsville)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 5th
No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet
- Before the NASCAR Cup Series off weekend, William Byron qualified second at Martinsville Speedway, ultimately collecting a fifth-place finish.
- Byron is on a streak of four consecutive top-10 finishes in the 2026 season, second longest in the field.
- Through seven races, the 28-year-old has run the most laps in the top 10 (1,431) and collected the fourth-most stage points (55). He has also finished better than 13th in all but one event giving him the fifth-best average finish at 10.9.
- In the Next Gen era on short tracks, Byron has four wins, tied for the second most. In the last five such races, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has two wins (Iowa Speedway and Martinsville 2025) and three top-five finishes.
- Byron has 13 starts at Bristol Motor Speedway with two top-five finishes and five top 10s. He has a career-best finish of third, coming in back-to-back fall races (2021 and 2022).
48 ALEX BOWMAN
Age: 32 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Race: 36th (COTA)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 36th
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
- Alex Bowman will return as driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend after missing the last four NASCAR Cup Series events while recovering from vertigo.
- The Tucson, Arizona, native is scheduled to make his 365th series start on Sunday.
- At Bristol Motor Speedway, Bowman has earned two pole awards (2024 and 2025), three top fives and six top-10 finishes. He has led 81 laps at the track and has a career-best finish of fourth.
- On short tracks, Bowman has earned two wins in the Cup Series (Martinsville and Richmond 2021), accomplishing both with Hendrick Motorsports.
17 COREY DAY
Age: 20 (November 28, 2005)
Hometown: Clovis, California
Last Race: 10th (Rockingham)
Crew Chief: Adam Wall
Standings: 5th
- Last week, Corey Day extended his NASCAR O’Reilly Series top-10 streak to seven races with a 10th-place finish at Rockingham Speedway. It remains the longest active streak in the series.
- Over Rockingham weekend, Day earned his first career NOAPS pole, led 118 laps and swept both stages.
- The driver of the No. 17 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet will make his second NOAPS start at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend after recording a 17th-place finish in his debut there last fall.
- Last spring, Hendrick Motorsports captured a NOAPS victory at Bristol with Kyle Larson driving the No. 17.
- Hendrick Motorsports enters this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway as the facility’s all-time leader in top fives (72), top 10s (127) and laps led (7,382). The team’s drivers have won two of the last three poles (both by Alex Bowman), two of the last three races (both by Kyle Larson) and four of the last six stages (all by Larson) at the historic 0.533-mile oval.
- The organization has combined to win four of the last six races at short tracks including Chase Elliott’s victory at Martinsville Speedway two weeks ago.
- The Hendrick Motorsports engine department enters the weekend with 561 victories across all three national NASCAR touring series including six of eight events in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series this year.
- Hendrick Motorsports remains the premier series’ all-time standard bearer in wins (321), poles (259), top-five finishes (1,328), top 10s (2,272), laps led (85,641) and championships (15).
- QUOTABLE /
- Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on returning to Bristol Motor Speedway: “I think it [Bristol] suits my driving style. It’s a fast-paced corner, and you don’t have to slow down much. You catch traffic quickly, and I feel like I’ve gotten good at maneuvering through it there. When you lead laps and get comfortable navigating, you just keep learning and improving. I’ve had a lot of experience leading laps, so I think that has helped me maintain the lead and avoid getting stuck in traffic. I look forward to this weekend. I love Bristol and get excited to go there. Hopefully, it’s a good weekend, and we can get our season pointed in the right direction and maintain that momentum.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on Bristol Motor Speedway: “I look forward to going [to Bristol]. It’s been a good track, and we’ve had some good runs throughout the course of time. No points wins. We won the All-Star Race up there the year they had it. Outside of that, I feel like it’s just been a lot of close calls, a lot of seconds and a lot of thirds, it seems like. Some really solid races but nothing that’s really been dominate where we’ve gotten over that hump throughout the entire 500 laps. So, I hope this trip is a little different. I think we’ve learned a lot of good stuff throughout the course of this season that we can apply there.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on Bristol Motor Speedway: “It’s just really fast paced. The way you kind of load up into the banking with the concrete is very unique and just really hurts the tires if you’re a little bit off. So, I think just finding a good rhythm there, where you can make speed but not damage your tires. It really depends on the weather on how much tire wear we’re going to have. So, if it’s 70 degrees and sunny, it’s no big deal, you’re going to be able to run the top of the racetrack. If it’s 60 degrees or below and cloudy, it’s probably going to be a high-tire wear race.”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on returning to the track this week at Bristol Motor Speedway: “I’m excited to be back at the track with my No. 48 team. We’re headed into the weekend focused on building consistency and continuing to move forward with the season as a group. Bristol has been a good track for us in the past and we’re ready to get to work in the Ally Chevrolet.”
Corey Day, driver of the No. 17 Chevrolet, on Bristol Motor Speedway: “I love Bristol, it’s a lot of fun for sure. For a dirt guy, I really enjoy how high pace the race is and how much the track changes. It’s one that’s closer to what I’m used to. Definitely looking forward to heading back this weekend, especially after getting more lap time in my No. 17 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet this season.”
