Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Daytona

Daytona International Speedway
Sunday, Feb. 15
2.5-Mile Tri-Oval
2:30 p.m. ET
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series race (1 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM

5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 33 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Week: 16th (Clash at Bowman Gray)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: N/A

No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet

• Kyle Larson, from Elk Grove, California, opens the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season as the defending champion. If Larson can repeat, he would be the first driver to do so since Jimmie Johnson in 2009 and 2010.
• Last week at the preseason exhibition Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet team earned the pole and led 67 laps.
• Larson will make his 13th attempt in the DAYTONA 500 this weekend. He has a best finish of seventh place (2016 and 2019).
• Larson can become the fifth driver all-time to complete the grand slam of crown jewel events with a win in the DAYTONA 500. In doing so, he would be the first defending champion to win the Great American Race since Dale Jarrett in 2000.
• The 33-year-old ranked second in points earned on drafting tracks in 2025, just two points shy of the top spot.
• Over his last seven drafting-track starts, Larson has posted an average finish of 11.14 while leading 25 laps.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 30 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last week: 17th (Clash at Bowman Gray)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: N/A

 No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
 

• This Sunday will mark Chase Elliott’s 11th DAYTONA 500 start. The 30-year-old has come close to visiting victory lane in the prestigious event, finishing runner-up to Michael McDowell in 2021 and running out of gas as the leader on lap 198 of 200 in 2017. 
• The Dawsonville, Georgia, native is the youngest DAYTONA 500 pole winner, earning the top qualifying position in 2016 at 20 years, 2 months and 17 days. He followed that up with a second pole award the next year. 
• While he has yet to win a NASCAR Cup Series points-paying race on Daytona International Speedway’s oval, Elliott won on the road course in 2020. He has two Duel at Daytona victories (2017 and 2018).
• Elliott has four Cup Series wins on drafting tracks, most recently capturing the checkered flag at Atlanta Motor Speedway in June of last season. It marked his second win at the track, with the other coming in 2022. He’s also won twice at Talladega Superspeedway (2019 and 2022).
• On drafting tracks last season, the 2020 Cup Series champion earned the third-most points (174). Elliott finished in the top 10 in three of the last four drafting track races, including his triumph at Atlanta.
• Ormond Beach, Florida, native Alan Gustafson is tied with Leonard Wood and Waddell Wilson for the most DAYTONA 500 poles for a crew chief with four. 

24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 28 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Week: 2nd (Clash at Bowman Gray)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: N/A

 No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet

• Last year, William Byron scored his second consecutive DAYTONA 500 win, becoming the youngest ever and one of only five drivers to accomplish that feat. This year, Byron has the opportunity to become the only driver to win the Harley J. Earl Trophy three times in a row.
• At Daytona International Speedway, Byron has three Cup Series wins, his most at a single track. It’s also the site of his first Cup Series win (August 2020) and he is the only repeat winner in the last 13 races at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
• In 40 starts on drafting-style tracks, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has five wins – three at Daytona and two at Atlanta Motor Speedway. That’s tied for the second-most all time at Hendrick Motorsports with Jimmie Johnson and behind only vice chairman and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon (12).
• Byron is the only repeat winner in the last 12 events at drafting tracks.
• Crew chief Rudy Fugle enters his sixth Cup Series season with Byron. The duo has 175 starts together and 15 wins making them the third-longest active pairing in the series.

48 ALEX BOWMAN
Age: 32 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Week: 10th (Clash at Bowman Gray)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: N/A

No. 48 Ally Chevrolet

• Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team head to Daytona International Speedway for the DAYTONA 500, the season opener of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
• Bowman has earned six front row starts in the Great American Race (most all time), including three pole awards. He is one away from tying the record for most poles in the event, held by Bill Elliott, Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough.
• The Tucson, Arizona, native holds the longest active top-10 streak in the DAYTONA 500 after earning a top-10 finish in the last three events with crew chief Blake Harris.
• In 2024, Bowman earned a runner-up finish in the season opener behind teammate William Byron.
• Bowman and the No. 48 team closed out the 2025 season 13th in driver points with six top fives and 16 top-10 finishes. Bowman earned the final playoff spot on points, to make his second consecutive appearance, his fifth overall.

17 COREY DAY
Age: 20 (November 28, 2005)
Hometown: Clovis, California
Last Finish: N/A
Crew Chief: Adam Wall

Standings: N/A

• Corey Day and the No. 17 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet team begin their first full-time season in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series at Daytona International Speedway.
• This will mark Hendrick Motorsports’ first full season in the NOAPS since 2006.
• During the 2025 season, Day ran 11 races in the NOAPS, delivering two top-10 finishes. His career best showing came in a fourth-place run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• Day’s first visit to Daytona came in 2025 as he drove the No. 77 Spire Motorsports ARCA Series car, finishing 22nd.
• During the offseason, Day ran multiple sprint car races, notably securing back-to-back victories at the USAC Turkey Night Grand Prix at Ventura Raceway.

Hendrick Motorsports

• Hendrick Motorsports enters the 2026 season coming off its NASCAR Cup Series record 15th championship. It is also the all-time leader in wins (320), poles (259), top fives (1,322), top 10s (2,260) and laps led (85,367).
• Last year, William Byron notched the organization’s 10th DAYTONA 500 win, moving it into sole possession of the most ever. Hendrick Motorsports is the only organization to win the Great American Race in five decades (80s, 90s, 00s, 10s and 20s). Six drivers have gone to victory lane for Hendrick Motorsports in the event, also the most ever (Geoff Bodine, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Byron).
• In addition to 10 victories, Hendrick Motorsports’ 16 poles are the most in the event by 10 over any other team.
• Four times in event history, Hendrick Motorsports has finished 1-2 in the DAYTONA 500, the most all time.

 QUOTABLE /
 
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on the DAYTONA 500: “For me, the mindset is the same as it is at any superspeedway, executing as a team. Not just as a specific team, but as an organization, focusing on how you execute throughout the race: fuel mileage and fuel saving, executing green-flag stops, positioning yourself after the cycle, and then making good decisions from there. I feel like we understand the recipe to run well at superspeedways, and I think we’ve done a good job over the last three or four years. Last year, we finally got rewarded for being up front, so it was great to see the checkered flag at every superspeedway, which was something really unique for me. Hopefully this year is even better, and we can get that first superspeedway win, especially starting off at Daytona. I’d love that. It’s great to begin the season with the biggest race of the year, and it would be amazing to cap off last year by turning that momentum into a win in the DAYTONA 500.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on this year’s DAYTONA 500: “We’ve had some really close opportunities to win, that we didn’t capitalize on for one reason or another, but a lot of things have to go your way in that race to ultimately change that narrative. From my perspective, just to have another opportunity with a great team, and to know going in, ‘hey, we’re going to have a car capable of winning,’ you know, that’s really all you can ask for from where I sit. So, I’ve been fortunate to have that feeling every time I’ve been with Hendrick Motorsports over the years.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on the meaning of winning a third straight DAYTONA 500: “I don’t know yet. I think it’d be huge. It would just be something that you’re proud of that you were able to every year find, kind of a new way to do it because there’s been two of them so far and both of them were really different and I think the third one, if that happened, would take a different form. Figuring out how to reinvent yourself within that race, I think that would be the biggest thing that sticks with you, probably. Sort of what it means to everyone on the team too. I think the team guys take a lot of pride in bringing a really good car and all the preparation that goes into that.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on the DAYTONA 500: “There’s a lot of excitement around Daytona; we’ve had a lot of good runs there the last couple of years. Being a crown jewel event, the one that kicks off our season, it’s a big deal. At the same time, it is just another race and having a solid run would be a great way to kick off the season. We have a lot of new faces on the 48 team, most of them have worked together in the past and I’m excited to get to work with everyone.”

Corey Day, driver of the No. 17 Chevrolet, on Daytona: “Daytona will be my first superspeedway in the (NOAPS) car and that’s kind of my last new discipline of stock car racing. I’m super excited and a little anxious for what’s to come and what’s going to happen. It’s hard to control a lot of things on superspeedways so I’ll try and control what I can, and we’ll see how it goes. I think we have a really good car and it’ll be a fun experience to start the season.”