TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
Darlington Raceway
March 20-22, 2026
After back-to-back idle weekends, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be back in action to join the O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series for a tripleheader weekend at one of the sport’s most iconic venues – Darlington Raceway.
Three days of action at the ‘Track Too Tough To Tame’ will kick-off with the Truck Series under the lights Friday evening, where Team Chevy’s Ross Chastain – the event’s 2024 winner – will begin his quest towards a triple-duty sweep. As the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series takes center stage on Saturday, the Bowtie brand will have the opportunity to reach a record-setting undefeated season of six-straight victories. Earning a pair of podium results in the new Camaro ZL1’s first outing on an intermediate oval, the Chevrolet will look to build onto that momentum Sunday with its first trip to victory lane of the season in NASCAR’s top division.
Leading at the ‘Lady in Black’:
Sunday’s Goodyear 400 will mark the NASCAR Cup Series 130th appearance at Darlington Raceway. Chevrolet’s storied history at the South Carolina circuit dates back to the 1955 Southern 500 when NASCAR Hall of Famer, Herb Thomas, drove the manufacturer to its first of a series-leading 44 all-time victories at the track. Among those triumphs includes three in eight races held during the Next Gen era, including a pair of Southern 500 victories (Erik Jones – Sept. 2022; Kyle Larson – Sept. 2023) and William Byron’s victory during the 2023 spring date.
STACKING STRONG POINTS DAYS
The NASCAR Cup Series’ first appearance on an intermediate oval saw Team Chevy’s Chase Elliott and William Byron net their season-best results – bringing home a pair of podium results at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The duo, along with their Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson, were among a short list of drivers that put together a strong points day. Among the four-highest point-earners in Sunday’s race, Larson and Byron were able to make a big gain in the points standings to give Chevrolet three drivers in the top-eight heading into the Darlington race weekend.
TRIPLE-DUTY ON DECK
Team Chevy’s Ross Chastain will look to conquer the ‘Track Too Tough To Tame’ and achieve one of the sport’s most difficult feats – a tripleheader sweep. In addition to his full-time ride with Trackhouse Racing in NASCAR’s top division, Chastain will rejoin Niece Motorsports and JR Motorsports to pilot a Chevrolet-powered machine in all three events this weekend. The Alva, Florida, native has already proven he knows how to find victory lane at Darlington Raceway, with the Team Chevy driver earning the manufacturer its most recent Truck Series win at the track in 2024. While it will be his first Truck Series appearance of the season, Chastain already has two O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts under his belt with Jordan Anderson Racing – both of which ended with a top-10 finish. This weekend, the Team Chevy driver will compete under the JR Motorsports banner in the second-level series, with the organization riding the wave of three-straight trips to victory lane.
The only driver in NASCAR history to successfully complete a tripleheader weekend sweep is one of the sport’s most decorated drivers – Team Chevy’s Kyle Busch. The two-time Cup Series Champion was able to accomplish the feat twice in his career (2010 and 2017) – both of which took place at Bristol Motor Speedway.
A HISTORY-MAKING WIN ON THE HORIZON
Chevrolet’s unstoppable season in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series continued at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend. Taking his turn behind the wheel of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Kyle Larson became the fifth different Team Chevy driver to make his way to victory lane to keep the Bowtie brand undefeated in the second-level series. Heading back to the east coast, Chevrolet is on the brink of making history this weekend. A win in Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 would mark its sixth-straight season-opening victory, which would surpass the record that Chevrolet previously set back in 1994.
It’s not just the wins category that Chevrolet has commanded this season. With five races complete, the manufacturer also remains undefeated in stage wins and has sat on the pole in all but one event. In addition, the top-10 of the points standings sees a Team Chevy takeover with the manufacturer’s past-two champions, Justin Allgaier and Jesse Love, leading a contingency of drivers that represent six different Chevrolet organizations.
JRM Streak Continues into South Carolina:
Coming off a record season, JR Motorsports is quickly picking up right where they left off. In his first appearance in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series of the season, Kyle Larson turned an uphill battle into a trip to victory lane – driving the No. 88 Chevrolet entry to the organization’s third-straight, and 108th all-time, victory in the division. With Darlington Raceway on deck, JR Motorsports carries a lot of confidence to keep that streak alive. The organization is a seven-time winner at the track, with three coming alongside veteran driver, Justin Allgaier. The organization will field five entries in Saturday’s event, including Team Chevy Cup Series regulars, Larson and Ross Chastain.
Day Tallying Top-10s:
In his first full-time campaign in the NASCAR national ranks, Hendrick Motorsports’ Corey Day is already making impressive gains. The 20-year-old Clovis, California, native closed the chapter of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series west coast swing with his fourth-straight top-nine result – a string of performances that dates back to his career-best fourth-place finish that came in the second race of the season at EchoPark Speedway. Leading his first-ever laps in the division and a points-earning effort in both stages, Day left Las Vegas Motor Speedway with yet another gain in the points standings with the rookie contender ranked seventh heading into his first Darlington appearance.
ECKES EYES OPPORTUNITY AT DARLINGTON
While it’s been a rocky start to his return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the culmination of a two-week break and his return to a statistically-strong track is just what McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Christian Eckes needs to turn his season around. The 25-year-old Middletown, New York, native is one of just four past Truck Series winners at Darlington Raceway. In his two career starts at the track under the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing banner, Eckes has finished no worse than fourth, including a trip to victory lane in May 2023.
BOWTIE BULLETS:
· Active Chevrolet drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win at Darlington Raceway:
Kyle Larson – one win (2023 Southern 500)
William Byron – one win (May 2023)
Kyle Busch – one win (2008 Southern 500)
· In 129 NASCAR Cup Series races at Darlington Raceway, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 44 victories. In eight events in the series’ Next Gen era, Chevrolet has earned three victories – recorded in consecutive events by Erik Jones (Sept. 2022), William Byron (May 2023) and Kyle Larson (Sept. 2023).
· With Kyle Larson and JR Motorsports win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Chevrolet remains undefeated this season with five-straight wins – matching the series’ record for a season-opening streak by a single manufacturer, which Chevrolet previously set during the 1994 season.
· In 149 points-paying races in the NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 67 victories – a winning percentage of 44.9%.
· Chevrolet is coming off its 29th all-time sweep of the NASCAR Cup Series championship titles – capturing its 34th driver championship and 44th, and fifth consecutive, manufacturer championship in 2025.
· With its 44 NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer championships, 34 NASCAR Cup Series driver championships, and 881 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.
TUNE-IN:
NASCAR Cup Series
Goodyear 400
Sunday, Mar. 22, at 3 p.m. ET
FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series
Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200
Saturday, Mar. 21, at 5:30 p.m. ET
CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Buckle Up South Carolina 200
Friday, Mar. 20, at 7:30 p.m. ET
FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
What do you think the recipe for success Sunday will look like?
“Darlington Raceway is a place where tires wear out really fast so being good on the long run definitely matters. You’ve got to be able to have a car that keeps going forward on the long run and be able to make passes at the beginning of a run more often than not. We’ve got to do a good job of trying to calculate the additional horsepower and less downforce at Darlington. I think it’s going to be a different race than last year’s race because of that.”
What is the physical toll of racing at Darlington?
“You’re dancing the whole time on the edge of what it takes to be good at Darlington. It takes a lot of precision. You really have to stay on your game because one slip can knock you out of the race and put you in a bad position.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
What are your thoughts heading into Darlington?
“Darlington is going to be a very interesting race. It will be very low grip with a low downforce package and high horsepower. It’s going to be a challenge for everyone – one I’m looking forward to. Hopefully, we can continue to have good speed and have a good race in the No. 7 NationsGuard Chevrolet.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
How do you manage Darlington as a driver?
“Darlington Raceway is tough. It’s definitely one of the hardest tracks on the schedule with the way the asphalt is worn out. You’ve got to run right next to the wall at Darlington. Obviously, the place is famous for the ‘Darlington Stripe’ for a reason. One lap, you feel really good. The next lap, you’re out of control, sideways, spinning out. You just never know. A lot of times you go through a lot of changes at that track. Starting out the track is always loose. It gets really tight during the middle part of the race and then starts to free up back up at the end. You’re always chasing it with the car.”
Does moving Darlington earlier in the schedule create any effect on track conditions?
“Just the weather a little bit. Hopefully, it will be a little bit nicer for the drivers behind the wheel. Hopefully, we’ll have no rain and we can have a good clean weekend.”
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
What are your thoughts on Darlington Raceway?
“Darlington is always a racetrack where I’m trying to get more and more comfortable. Last year’s Southern 500 was really good for us. So that gives me a little more confidence going back there. But every year is a new year.”
What is different this time?
“There will be more horsepower, so that changes the way you drive it just a little bit. I’ll keep studying and trying to get better at it. Over the last couple of years though, I’ve definitely gotten more comfortable there and a little more confident. Hopefully, we can unload well, have a good practice and set ourselves up to have a decent 400 miles around that place.”
Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet
“Darlington is going to be a fun one, as we’re going to have a lot less downforce with the new rules package, and more motor than last year. So it is going to be a lot of slipping and sliding around, and it’s going to be a curveball for all of the teams to figure out, and it is going to be exciting to see who can put it all together this weekend. I know my guys on the HaasTooling.com Chevrolet Team are up for the challenge.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
“Having Jack Link’s back with us at Darlington is really cool. They bring a lot of energy to the team, and it’s always fun representing a brand that fans recognize so well. We’re looking forward to giving them a strong run this weekend.”
Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
“They call it the track ‘Too Tough to Tame’ for a reason. The way that place is built, it’s just tough, no matter how many times you’ve been there. There’s never a time where you unload off the trailer and fire off for practice and qualifying that you feel comfortable. Even if you have speed and you’re competitive, you’re still on edge. And when your car isn’t where you want it handling-wise, you’re even more on edge. You’re always white-knuckling it, sawing at the wheel, manhandling the racecar every lap.
This year, for sure, is going to be more about racing the track and racing the tire. We have more horsepower, less downforce, and the tires are going to wear out faster. It’s going to make for a wild Sunday afternoon.
Just focusing on what we need to manage our tires, where we have as little tire degradation and lap-time falloff as we can throughout a run, that’s going to be the key to having a successful day at Darlington. And, of course, being smart when you’re up against that wall, and also navigating restarts. Turn two is always a pretty tricky place, and getting through those first couple of laps on the start and on restarts is going to be very important to having a good day.”
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
There is a lot of conversation about the tires and fall off in Darlington, what are you expecting?”
“I try not to predict what it is going to be like. It’s not that I don’t prepare—we had no downforce in 2014, so you’re slipping and sliding around, and you get used to what that feels like. After that, you had low horsepower and high downforce. We’ve had everything. So, I try not to predict too much because a lot of the time we think that it’s going to be huge and then oversell it. Then you have other times where you think the changes won’t make that much of a difference, and it’s a big deal. I don’t know where it will fall. It is a difficult track already, so if you take away downforce, I think it will make it more difficult, which is pretty obvious, but when you take away downforce, you won’t be able to utilize that power as much either. It will be interesting to see. I think Darlington will be a fun weekend. On top of that, the weather is going to play a part; it could be 60 degrees, or it could be 80, but I am excited to see what the new package is going to be like. It will be fun.”
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
What do you think about your paint scheme heading into Alumni Weekend?
“It’s cool that Chili’s, a huge consumer-facing brand, had the idea to honor Dale Earnhardt on Alumni Weekend with a really cool scheme. They basically changed all their brand guidelines to replicate the original car as much as possible for this specific race. Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to watch him race, but I watch a ton of old races and have great respect and admiration for those who have come before me. It will be really cool to honor him this weekend.”
How does Darlington fit your driving style?
“I’ve always been comfortable at Darlington. There’s just not a lot of grip and you have to save your stuff as much as possible. We’re always fast in qualifying at Darlington but I’ve gotten caught up in incidents that keep us from getting the finishes. This weekend is a little bit of an unknown with more horsepower and our new Camaro body, so the pressure will be on the crew chiefs and engineers. I know Luke (Lambert) and the No. 77 guys will bring us a really good car and we will have the opportunity to run well.”
Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
What are your thoughts entering Darlington this weekend?
“I’m excited to go back to Darlington this weekend. I’ve only been there once in the O’Reilly Series and we finished sixth there last year and I’m looking forward to building on that in the Cup car. We’ve got a really unique package this year that’s going to bring a lot of question marks. The Trackhouse team has been working really hard to make sure that we show up on the right side of it. It’s going to be a chaotic race with low downforce, high horsepower, and soft tire package. I’m excited to see what that’s like. Darlington is a historic track. There’s a lot of lanes to run in Turns 3 and 4 and it’s unique with the amount of tire falloff. Looking forward to getting there in a Cup car for the first time and trying to figure it out.”
Managing tire wear is always a challenge at Darlington. How do you learn tire management?
“You never want to be spinning the tires. It’s always a bad thing when you’re spinning the tires. You’re not going any faster and you’re only making your issues worse. Whether it was go-kart racing or late model racing, that’s something that I’ve learned along the way. The concepts apply no matter what race car you’re in. I’ve been fortunate to drive a lot of race cars through my career and been able to learn that along the way.”
Shane Van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
You’ve mentioned Darlington is a crazy track. Do you have more confidence heading there this weekend?
“Yeah, it will be my fourth race there. Just with more experience, I’ve gotten more comfortable. Darlington qualifying is one of the craziest experiences you’ll feel. You finish practice and will be four seconds slower, than what you are going to do in qualifying. It’s a crazy track, but I enjoy it. It’s probably one of my favorite ovals we go to.”
How are you feeling on the ovals? It looks like from the outside you are getting more comfortable and finding more speed.
“It’s been good. I think last year we had that trend; it was really getting better. I feel like we’re an eighth to 15th place car most weeks, which probably doesn’t sound like a lot. But we started at tracks running 30th, so it’s been a huge improvement. I’m pretty stoked about that, but still a long way to go.”
Bubba (Wallace), said he expects you to win on an oval. What are your thoughts on that?
“I’m a long way from that, But I certainly feel and can see it now. I know every week will come with learning more things and I feel a big improvement still. I know what’s going on, rather than deer in headlights (laughs). That’s a pretty cool compliment, but I know I’m still a little bit away from an oval win.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturer Championships:
Total (1949-2025): 44
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)
Most recent: 2025
Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Driver Championships:
Total (1949-2025): 34
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)
Most recent: Kyle Larson (2025)
Driver and Manufacturer Championship Sweeps: 29
Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2025
Event Victories:
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)
2026 STATISTICS:
Wins: 0
Poles: 1
Laps Led: 233
Top-Fives: 10
Top-10s: 17
Stage Wins: 2
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 881 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 767
Laps led to date: 256,967
Top-fives to date: 4,446
Top-10s to date: 9,168
Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:
General Motors: 1,215
Chevrolet: 881
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 848
Ford: 748
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 207
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.
