Charlotte Motor Speedway
Sunday, Oct. 11
1.5-Mile Quad-Oval
3 p.m. ET
Location: Concord, North Carolina
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (Race 32 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM
5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 34 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Race: 2nd (Las Vegas)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 1st
No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
- Last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team started sixth on the grid. An ill-handling race car and a lengthy green-flag pit stop for adjustments early in the race dropped the team outside the top 30, one lap down. The team stayed focused and battled back to contention and Larson drove to a runner-up finish, extending his top-five streak to five races. He extended his points lead to 40 markers over second place.
- Larson is the only driver to finish in the top five in all five 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase races. No other driver has recorded a top-10 finish in all five races.
- Kyle Larson’s 2.2 average finish through the first five races of The Chase is the best through the first five races of any postseason since The Chase was introduced in 2004. He’s averaged 54.6 points per race in that span, nearly doubling his regular-season average.
- Larson has led 2,192 laps on 1.5-mile tracks in the Next Gen car, more than double the next-closest driver.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 30 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last Race: 7th (Las Vegas)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 13th
No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet
- Chase Elliott heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway 13th in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase standings.
- Elliott is riding a streak of two consecutive top-10 finishes, both of which were on 1.5-mile tracks. That brings the 30-year-old’s total to five top-10 results in seven races on mile-and-a-half tracks this season, including his victory at Texas Motor Speedway. His average finish across those seven races is 10.57, tied for fifth best.
- The 2020 Cup Series champion is tied for fourth-most wins on 1.5-mile tracks in the Next Gen era (three).
- Elliott has one Cup Series win at Charlotte, which he earned in a Thursday night 208-lap COVID-19 makeup race in May of 2020. He also won a NASCAR O’Reilly Series race at the track in May of 2024.
- In his last nine premier series starts at Charlotte, Elliott has six finishes of seventh or better, including four top fives.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 28 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Race: 6th (Las Vegas)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 12th
No. 24 Valvoline Blood Cancer United Chevrolet
- William Byron collected his fourth consecutive top 10 with a sixth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend, putting him 12th in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase standings.
- In the Next Gen era on 1.5-mile tracks, Byron has an average finish of 9.1, best of all drivers. He has also led the third-most laps (1,006) on this track style in that span.
- In the last 10 races on mile-and-a-half tracks, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has nine top-10 finishes including being the only driver who has finished in the top 10 in all seven 1.5-mile races this season. Byron has the second most stage wins of any driver on this track type this season with three, and the second-best average finish of 6.29.
- In 10 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Byron has one pole award, four top-five finishes and six top 10s with 485 laps led. He has two runner-up results, both in the Coca-Cola 600 (2023 and 2025).
- All four of Byron’s top-five finishes at the Charlotte oval have come in the last six events while his run of four straight top 10s is the longest active streak in the field. His 485 laps led are a personal best at a non-short track.
- This weekend, Byron’s No. 24 scheme will have a special look thanks to Palmer Goforth, a 12-year-old blood cancer survivor. In collaboration with Valvoline and Blood Cancer United, he created the Charlotte livery including his signature logo, a beach scene and a soccer ball – his biggest loves in life – to draw attention to Blood Cancer Awareness month.
48 ALEX BOWMAN
Age: 33 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Race: 11th (Las Vegas)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 26th
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
- At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Ally team started 15th and nearly scored a top-10 finish, coming home 11th. With the result, Bowman moved up to a season-high 26th in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings.
- On 1.5-mile tracks during the 2026 season, the Tucson, Arizona, native has an average finish of 12th, which ranks eighth among all drivers.
- The 33-year-old has five top-10 finishes in 15 Cup Series starts at Charlotte, with a best finish of fifth. All five of his top 10s at Charlotte have come in his last 10 races.
- Bowman scored a NASCAR O’Reilly Series victory at Charlotte in 2017.
17 COREY DAY
Age: 20 (November 28, 2005)
Hometown: Clovis, California
Last Race: 1st (Las Vegas)
Crew Chief: Adam Wall
Standings: 5th
- Last Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Corey Day and the No. 17 HendrickCars.com team earned their second pole and their third NASCAR O’Reilly Series win of 2026. The victory made Day the third driver to win three or more NOAPS races this season. He led six times for a career-high 136 laps.
- The Clovis, California, native sits fifth in The Chase standings, 41 points behind the leader.
- In eight NOAPS career starts on 1.5-mile tracks, the 20-year-old driver has earned one win, three top-five finishes and four top-10 finishes.
- Weather delayed and shortened the spring race at Charlotte Motor Speedway to half its scheduled distance. With qualifying canceled, Day started second based on the metric and finished fifth.
Hendrick Motorsports
*Most
**Tied for most
- The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend for the sixth race of The Chase. Hendrick Motorsports is the all-time leader in wins (21), top fives (73), top 10s (120), stage wins (13) and laps led (6,410) at the 1.5-mile quad-oval.
- Among the 10 tracks in The Chase, Hendrick Motorsports has piled up 136 victories including 21 in the Next Gen era. The organization leads the field in postseason wins (64) and has won at least one race in The Chase/Playoffs in 23 of 24 seasons. That includes multiple victories in each of the last seven years.
- The Hendrick Motorsports engine department enters the weekend with 583 victories across all three national NASCAR touring series including 22 of 28 events in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series this season.
- Hendrick Motorsports remains the Cup Series’ all-time standard bearer in wins (324), poles (259), top-five finishes (1,351), top 10s (2,311), laps led (86,979) and championships (15).
QUOTABLE
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on leading The Chase points standings with five races left: “Do what we’ve been doing – keep fighting. Yeah, [the remaining Chase tracks] are all good tracks for us. Yes, I am surprised we got two wins and five top fives, but I also believe that we could run well. It’s gone way better than I thought it would. There are still five more races, but you can see how many points have been gained in five races – it could easily switch in the next five. No, I’m not comfortable with a 40-point lead, but we’ve got to keep advancing and distancing ourselves from the field. That would be great. Just need to make the most out of each day, fight through them, go to Charlotte next and not look too far ahead of ourselves. Just stay focused.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on the fall race returning to the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval: “I’m glad we’re back on the oval. I think it fits. I think it’s produced better racing with this car. While the ROVAL put on some good racing, particularly with the last gen car, I don’t think it was as good since we’ve had this car. So, I can appreciate the recognition of the reality of that. I think the Coca-Cola 600 has been a great race on our calendar the last two or three years, so why would you not want to have one more of those on our calendar? Particularly, having it fall in the last 10, I think is super healthy. So, I’m happy about all of that.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend: “I mean, I’m optimistic about this weekend for sure. We have a great notebook for Charlotte [Motor Speedway] and we’ve shown that as an organization, we’ve improved our intermediate program. We just need a little bit more, I feel like, to be consistently in the front five, but I know we can get there. And what better place than at home?”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on heading to Charlotte Motor Speedway: “Headed to Charlotte, we don’t have a great notebook to go off from our Ally 48 group. I’ve spent time in the simulator this week so even if we aren’t able to get practice in with the possible weather, I’m optimistic about what we’ll have for the race.”
Corey Day, driver of the No. 17 Chevrolet, on heading to Charlotte Motor Speedway after a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: “Winning [at Las] Vegas [Motor Speedway] last weekend was exactly what our No. 17 HendrickCars.com team needed heading into these final five races. Hopefully, we can carry that momentum into Charlotte and have another strong weekend. Charlotte [Motor Speedway] was my first time on the oval back in the spring, and I felt like we had a really good Chevrolet. It was disappointing to have the race cut short because I thought we had a shot at a really good finish at the track. I’m looking forward to getting back there and, hopefully, getting to run the whole race this time.”
