NASCAR Cup Series
Phoenix Raceway
Freeway Insurance 500
Team Chevy Post-Race Report
October 18, 2026
Elliott Leads Chevrolet with Third-Place Finish; Larson Maintains Points Lead at Phoenix Raceway
A late-race gamble by crew chief, Alan Gustafson, gave Chase Elliott prime track position for the final restart that ultimately led to a strong third-place finish in the Freeway Insurance 500 at Phoenix Raceway. The result marked the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team’s seventh top-five finish of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season and his sixth top-five finish at the desert oval.
It was a turbulent day for the reigning champions Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team, but leaning on the points cushion he carried to the west coast, Larson managed to maintain his points lead with the team heading to Talladega Superspeedway with a five-point lead.
RACE RECAP:
Stage One:
William Byron led Chevrolet’s Chase contenders in yesterday’s qualifying session at Phoenix Raceway, earning a top-10 starting position to kick off the seventh race of the NASCAR Cup Series’ title run. Taking the green flag for the opening stage, Byron hovered around ninth for what built into a 43-lap stretch en route to the first caution of the day. With a mix of pit strategy already seen down pit road, the Rudy Fugle-led team were among the group that called for a two-tire stop, ultimately gifting his driver a spot on the front row for the restart and a 10-lap run to the stage end. Byron put up a valiant fight during a three-wide battle for the lead within the first couple of laps after the restart, a stint that saw him lead his first lap of the day. Despite losing the battle to those on four fresh Goodyear tires, Byron was able to muscle his way into a solid sixth-place points-earning effort to conclude Stage One.
Stage Two:
A mix bag of strategies once again saw Byron lineup 11th, the third car on a four-tire strategy, for the start of Stage Two. On an alternate two-tire strategy, the Randall Burnett-led No. 88 team made the jump up into the top-five to lead the Bowtie brigade to the restart and the next 125-lap run. Zilisch’s teammate, Ross Chastain, had a set of four fresh Goodyear tires on his Chevrolet for the start of the stage, ultimately enabling him to drive up into the seventh position during the beginning laps of the stage. While on a tire deficit from his teammate, the rookie held his ground through much of the green flag run, staying within the top-nine to give Trackhouse Racing a solid showing en route to the first green flag pit cycle of the afternoon. The cycle kicked off on Lap 122, right at the halfway mark of the stage, with crew chief Brandon McSwain calling his driver to pit road six laps into the cycle from the sixth running position. A quick green flag pit cycle saw Chastain, along with his Team Chevy teammate, Chase Elliott, reenter and settle into the top-10 as the green flag laps continued to count down in the stage. Taking his turn in the top position for the Chevrolet camp, Elliott sat in the ninth position when a caution flew with 29 laps to go in the stage for Austin Dillon, who’s early top-15 campaign came to an early end when a flat tire led his No. 3 Chevrolet into the wall. With a four-tire and fuel call by crew chief Alan Gustafson under the caution, an one-position gain in the race off pit road put Elliott in the fourth row for a 22-lap run to the end of the stage. Overall happy with the gains in the balance of his No. 9 Chevrolet, Elliott remained as the manufacturer’s leading driver when he took the second green-white checkered flag in the 10th position.
Final Stage:
With a stellar three-position gain in the race off pit road during the stage break, Elliott found the fourth row once again to lead Chevrolet to the green flag for the final stage of the race. While a long green flag run took over much of the final stage, Elliott remained a steady fixture within the top-10. Sitting in the ninth position, a caution flew for his teammate, Kyle Larson, whose already turbulent day came to an end when he suffered a flat tire with 29 laps to go in the race. Gustafson was one of just three crew chiefs that made the gamble to stay out during the caution. The call moved Elliott back up into a spot on the front row to lead the field to the restart for the final 19 laps around the desert oval. While on a tire deficit, Elliott showed the strength of his Chevrolet as he managed to hold onto the third position to go on and lead the manufacturer to the checkered flag and claim his seventh top-five finish of the season.
Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 Results
Pos. Driver
3rd – Chase Elliott
7th – Daniel Suarez
9th – Ross Chastain
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 33 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 8
Poles: 6
Top-Fives: 53
Top 10s: 112
Stage Wins: 22
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase will continue at Talladega Superspeedway with the YellaWood 500 on Sunday, October 25, at 2 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 9th
“We put together a solid weekend at Phoenix in the Busch Light Chevrolet. We stayed towards the front in track position all day and made small adjustments. We went through the range of weather from starting overcast and cooler to the sun coming out and it really heating up. It feels good to leave Phoenix with a ninth-place finish and have a good day overall.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Sidelined by damage sustained from a tire issue during Stage Two.
Finished: 37th
“Unfortunate ending for the No. 3 Dow Arm & Hammer Chevrolet at Phoenix Raceway. We had a strong Chevrolet and I’m really proud of the work the No. 3 team put into giving us a good car this weekend. We were going forward, passing cars and having fun. We cut a right-rear tire in Stage Two and ended up in the wall. I wish I would have recognized that a tire was going down sooner, but I just thought it was rubber build up or something, and at that point, there was nothing we could do. We had too much damage to come back from. We’ll make notes and regroup before going to Talladega next weekend.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Sidelined by damage sustained from a tire issue in the final stage.
Finished: 34th
“This No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet wasn’t going to quit today. We never found the improvements we needed, so that was a bummer. I didn’t expect to be good, but I didn’t expect to be that bad either. It wasn’t a lot of fun today, but we were just trying to salvage what we could of the day. We’ll go to Talladega (Superspeedway) and try to forget about today and get back after it. We’ve done well at the superspeedway’s, so hopefully we can execute, get some points and keep ourselves in the hunt.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 7th
“We had a little bit of everything today, good and bad pit stops, and some challenges we had to overcome. We fought all day, and this No. 7 Freeway Insurance team never gave up. The guys kept working, and we were able to fight our way back and get another top 10 this season. I’m proud of this team and the effort everyone put in.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 3rd
How did you hang on there at the end?
“Honestly, I was really surprised. I thought more people would stay out. I’m curious to see if those guys had scuffs, or if they had already burnt their scuffs earlier and had stickers on. In our situation, the call was going to be two tires and they were going to be two scuffs. That didn’t really do a whole lot for me in my head at that point in time. I thought that maybe if we could get a couple rows of a buffer, we’d be okay. But I’m really proud of this No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet team for putting together a solid day. It’s been a while since we’ve had one, so that was nice. We made some legitimate improvements, I thought, which was encouraging. The No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) got me there through (turns) one and two on the restart, but to settle in and be able to hold the rest of those guys off, I thought it was solid. I’m looking forward to finishing these next three races off strong and be more prepared and ready for next year.”
Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 24th
“Our FICO Chevrolet was decent in the first two stages and we were consistently a top-20, 21st-place car. Our car fired off free on entry and exit, tight rolling in the center. We were burning the right rear tire off it but once we made an adjustment, the car reacted positively. Right after our green flag stop, I found something with a line that definitely worked better. I just needed to be tightened up in Turns 1 and 2. Unfortunately the next adjustment didn’t fix the problem and netted out negative for our balance. We flipped back and forth from loose to tight in the final stage. Glad we finished inside the top-25 when it’s all said and done, and we can learn a few things from today to help in the future.”
Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 20th
“It was a decent day at Phoenix Raceway for this No. 88 Jockey 150th Anniversary Chevrolet team. I thought we fired off the race really well. We did a good job in qualifying to get the car where we needed it to be, but it just didn’t quite keep up with the track as the race went on. It started to slip a little bit there near the end. We still recovered for a top-20 and a decent finish to look forward to Talladega (Superspeedway).”
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future.
GM Motorsports, including the Cadillac Formula 1® Team develops and proves advanced technologies in the most demanding environments, accelerating innovation in performance, safety, efficiency, and electrification for its production vehicles. Cadillac Racing is one of the leading manufacturers in the IMSA and FIA World Endurance Championships (WEC). Chevrolet competes in single seaters in the US IndyCar series, and in NASCAR with multiple team partners and drivers. Corvette customer teams compete in GT series across the globe including IMSA and WEC. Learn more at GM.com.
