NASCAR Cup Series
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bass Pro Shops Night Race
Team Chevy Post-Race Report
September 19, 2026
Larson Earns the Points Lead After Runner-Up Finish at Bristol Motor Speedway
In his quest for the championship title, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team came just short of making back-to-back trips to victory lane. With a late-race pit call by crew chief, Cliff Daniels, to stay out, prime track position put the California native back in race-winning contention before coming home with a runner-up finish in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The result, Larson’s ninth top-five finish in his past nine starts at the famed half-mile, was enough to put the Team Chevy driver at the top of the Chase standings with an one-point lead over Denny Hamlin. Three Team Chevy Chase contenders earned top-10 results, with Carson Hocevar earning his career-best Bristol finish of third, with William Byron coming home with a ninth-place finish.
RACE RECAP:
Stage One:
Sitting on the pole position, last week’s winner, Kyle Larson, led the NASCAR Cup Series to the green flag for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. With weather forcing the cancellation of the series’ on-track action on Friday, the field was racing to a competition caution that was set to fly around the 40-lap marker. For a caution-free run to start the race, it was the No. 5 Chevrolet that paced way – making quick work around the famed half-mile to reach lap traffic in just 20 laps. Under the competition caution, five cars opted to stay out, with Larson ultimately exiting pit road as the first car on a four-tire strategy with a spot in the sixth position for the restart. The second run proved the importance of track position as those that opted to stay out were able to maintain their track position. Settled in the fifth position for much of the run, the first natural caution of the day flew with 30 laps to go in the stage for a spinning Erik Jones. With a split pit strategy among the leaders, Larson was among those that opted to stay out to restart third. The reigning champion quickly went to work on the lead, finding the second position and keeping then race leader, Joey Logano, just within reach as they approached the first green-white checkered flag. Larson collected nine points, leading Chevrolet to three top-10 finishers in the opening stage.
Stage Two:
The stage break opened up the opportunity for varying pit strategies once again. While on a four-tire strategy, the No. 5 pit crew got their driver off pit road first but landed in the 15th position for the start of Stage Two. On the opposite strategy than his teammate, William Byron and the Rudy Fugle-led team cycled up into the second position to lead the Bowtie brigade to the green flag after choosing to forgo a trip to pit road. Within early laps of the stage, Byron reported that he was battling a loose-handling car in both entry and exit of the corner. Despite the ill-handling conditions, the North Carolina native held on to a running position within the top-eight throughout entirety of the stage. Fellow Chase contender, Carson Hocevar, was the second-highest mover in the stage, driving his No. 77 Chevrolet to a 16-position gain to earn a seventh-place finish and lead Team Chevy to the end of Stage Two.
Final Stage:
With a four-tire call by crew chief Luke Lambert under the stage break, an one-position gain in the race off pit road put Hocevar in the sixth position to take the green flag for 239 laps to go in the race. The opening lap of the final stage saw Hocevar already make an appearance back in the top-five, settling into the position as the race entered another long green flag run. While quickly having to start maneuvering through lap traffic, Hocevar was able to maintain the fifth position and sat at an eight-second margin to the leader as a green flag pit cycle got underway with 120 laps to go. Hocevar made his way up into the second position during the cycle and just as Lambert called Hocevar to pit road, a caution for Riley Herbst saw Hocevar and then race leader, Ryan Blaney, as the only lead lap cars that had yet to make their stops. With Blaney facing a commitment line violation for his attempt to hit pit road as the caution flew, it was Hocevar that inherited the lead for the first time of the evening. While in a tight battle for the lead with Ty Gibbs, a three-wide move in lap traffic saw the caution fall with 69 laps to go. While Gibbs opted not to pit, Lambert called his driver to pit road for a pair of right-side tires. The fresh tires paid early dividends as the Michigan native quickly made his way back up into the second position to challenge for the lead. But it was a call by Daniels to stay out that put Larson back in race winning contention once again, with the No. 5 team making the pass for second on the final lap to lead Team Chevy to the checkered flag.
Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 Results
Pos. Driver
2nd – Kyle Larson
3rd – Carson Hocevar
9th – William Byron
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 29 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 7
Poles: 6
Top-Fives: 50
Top 10s: 98
Stage Wins: 19
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase will continue at Kansas Speedway with the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday, September 27, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 17th
“Long night for the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Patriotic Chevrolet team at Bristol Motor Speedway. We started ninth and we held our own to start the race but ultimately struggled with handling issues. We worked on the balance of the car throughout the race, but couldn’t get it right. I couldn’t run the top and just lacked grip overall, and our Chevrolet just landed bad. We started tight then swung sideways loose. We’ll take what we can from this one and turn our focus to Kansas.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 2nd
“It was just a good fight all around for the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet team. I don’t think we were a top-five car, but we did a great night executing tonight and that’s what it takes. We didn’t have the best car tonight, but we still came home with a top-two finish. We weren’t too hot there in the second stage, and really the majority of the final stage, but I’m proud of the pit call and the fight we had to hang on there. We got good stage points early, so we’ll take it and try to have more days like today. I’m happy with the effort, and we’ll go to Kansas (Speedway) and continue to go to work.”
Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 29th
“Not a great night for our Rebel Bourbon team. Our Chevrolet was really tight rolling across the center and couldn’t get pointed for the exit. As the race went on, the whole car was light on entry and not in the track. It felt like the car wasn’t connected in all three sections of the corner – entry, center and exit. The car would snap loose on exit which stopped me from throttling down hard. We pitted every time we could to try and learn something from the race. Onto Kansas next week.”
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 3rd
From your perspective, was there anything you needed to do differently on that move on the race track?
“No, I didn’t think so. I thought we were racing fine. I went to cross them over just to try to get to the bottom, and I thought it was going to work out fine. You just can’t turn left. I mean, I was full on the brakes, but you can’t really stop with that big of steam.”
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