Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Phoenix

Phoenix Raceway
Sunday, Oct. 18
1-Mile Dog-Legged Oval
3 p.m. ET
Location: Avondale, Arizona
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (Race 33 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM

5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 34 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Race: 6th (Charlotte)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 1st

 No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet  

• Last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson continued his impressive NASCAR Cup Series Chase run with a sixth-place finish. Larson extended his points lead to 49, giving him his largest lead of The Chase so far.
• Larson’s average finish of 2.83 through the first six races of The Chase is the best for any driver through the first six races of any postseason since the format was introduced in 2004.
• Larson is riding the season’s longest active top-10 streak at six races and has also recorded six top-five finishes in the last seven races. His six consecutive top-six results are tied for the longest such streak of his career.
• In nine starts at Phoenix Raceway during the Next Gen era, Larson has the third-best average finish at 8.56. Entering this weekend, he owns the longest active top-10 streak in the desert with four.
• According to Racing Insights, the No. 5 pit crew ranks second in the Cup Series.  

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 30 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last Race: 12th (Charlotte)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: T-11th

No. 9 Kelley Blue Book 100th Anniversary Chevrolet  

• This weekend, Chase Elliott heads to Phoenix Raceway where he won in 2020 to secure his first NASCAR Cup Series title.
• Elliott is currently tied for 11th in The Chase standings, 185 points behind the leader.
• Of the four tracks remaining in The Chase, the 30-year-old has won on three of them. In addition to his victory at Phoenix, he has two wins at Talladega Superspeedway (2019 and 2022) and two wins at Martinsville Speedway (2020 and 2026).
• According to Racing Insights, the No. 9 pit crew ranks fifth in the series this season.  

24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 28 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Race: 39th (Charlotte)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 13th

 No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet

• William Byron is 13th in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase standings with four races remaining.
• In the Next Gen era at Phoenix Raceway, Byron has run the most laps in the top five (1,963) and the top 10 (2,510) of any driver. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has the sixth-best average finish (10.67) in that span and has also led the third-most laps (326).
• Byron has one win (March 2023), three top-five finishes and 10 top 10s at Phoenix. He has finished seventh or better in six of the last eight races there.
• This weekend, Byron will climb behind the wheel of a No. 24 Axalta throwback paint scheme paying tribute to the first Axalta-branded Chevrolet that was run by Jeff Gordon in 2013. The throwback will close an unforgettable chapter with the brand before they prepare for the next step for the 2027 season.  

48 ALEX BOWMAN
Age: 33 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Race: 38th (Charlotte)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 26th

 
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet  

• Alex Bowman has earned three top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix Raceway, two coming in his last six races there. The Tucson, Arizona, native earned his best finish of sixth at the track in 2016.
• Bowman has led 196 laps at his home venue, his second-most among tracks on the Cup Series schedule.  

17 COREY DAY
Age: 20 (November 28, 2005)
Hometown: Clovis, California
Last Race: 1st (Charlotte)
Crew Chief: Adam Wall
Standings: 3rd

•  Corey Day and the No. 17 HendrickCars.com team earned their fourth NASCAR O’Reilly Series win of the season Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, advancing Day to third in The Chase standings, just seven points behind the leader.
• The 20-year-old driver’s back-to-back wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte mark the first time since 2004 that a Hendrick Motorsports driver has won consecutive NOAPS races. Kyle Busch was the first to accomplish the feat.
• The Clovis, California, native returns to Phoenix Raceway for his third NOAPS start on the 1-mile track, where he has recorded an average starting position of 11.5. He finished ninth at the track this past spring and 14th in the fall of 2025.

Hendrick Motorsports  

 
*Most
**Tied for most

• The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Phoenix Raceway this weekend for the seventh race of The Chase. Hendrick Motorsports is the all-time leader in wins (13), poles (16), top fives (61), top 10s (113) and laps led (3,736) at the 1-mile dog-legged 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 584 victories across all three national NASCAR touring series including 23 of 29 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 (87,076) and championships (15).  

QUOTABLE
 
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on finding consistency in The Chase: “Consistency wasn’t something we had throughout the regular season, but we’ve been really consistent during The Chase, and I’m proud of everyone’s effort. I think our race cars have gotten a little better, and the pit crew has been solid and consistent all year. Having a slightly faster race car has allowed me to be a bit calmer behind the wheel, which helps with consistency. Cliff [Daniels] and the engineers have also done a really good job with strategy and calling races. The combination of all those factors has been good and has translated into results.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on his outlook for the remainder of The Chase: “Catching the leaders, realistically, that’s probably out the window, I think, for us, but we can get a good ways up the road. If we could put together four really good weeks, I think we can get to seventh or sixth, you know, if we knock it out of the park. I think just getting ourselves back inside the top 10 solidly would be a really nice goal to have, and one that I think is extremely attainable for us right now. And also, an opportunity to go win, right? A win in the closing four weeks of the year would probably be a bigger deal than wherever our points position ends up being. So, yeah, just trying to put that together, and be really strong, be improving, and try and end the season on a note that gets us in a good spot going into ’27.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on Phoenix Raceway: “Last week’s race was a tough one just knowing how good of a car we had. But it’s part of racing. Phoenix [Raceway] has been tough for us, but we definitely have had some success there and a good notebook from the last three years being in the [Championship 4]. It will be different racing there and it not being the finale, but it will also be nice to really just focus on the race at hand and go for a win.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on heading to Phoenix Raceway: “It’s always fun to get back to my home track [Phoenix Raceway]. We had decent runs last season with our Ally 48 group. We’re continuing to put in work and staying focused on building momentum and putting together strong runs.”

Corey Day, driver of the No. 17 Chevrolet, on heading to Phoenix Raceway: “Phoenix [Raceway] hasn’t been my strongest track in the past, and I’ve struggled there in my last two starts, so I’ve been working on reviewing footage to make sure I’m as prepared as possible. I know my team will bring a fast No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, so the goal is to keep it clean, execute throughout the race and come away with a strong points day.”