Darlington Raceway
Sunday, March 22
1.366-Mile Egg-Shaped Oval
3 p.m. ET
Location: Darlington, South Carolina
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series race (6 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM
5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 33 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Week: 7th (Las Vegas)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: T-7
No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet
- Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM team led 62 laps en route to a seventh-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last Sunday. The result marked their third consecutive top-10 finish of the season.
- Larson has finished in the top three in six of his 16 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington Raceway, including a win in the fall of 2023. He has led laps in all but four of those races and has led 394 of the 1,050 total laps run at Darlington in the Next Gen car, most of any driver.
- The defending Cup Series champion has won six stages at Darlington, second most among all drivers.
- Larson will fill in for Alex Bowman in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series race Saturday at Darlington, driving the No. 88 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet for JR Motorsports for the second straight week. Last weekend at Las Vegas, Larson put the ride in victory lane.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 30 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last week: 2nd (Las Vegas)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 5th
No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet
- Last weekend, Chase Elliott earned his best finish of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, placing second at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
- Elliott’s average finish of 9.4 is his best through five races of any season since 2017 and ranks third best among his competitors. He is one of five drivers to finish on the lead lap in every race this season.
- In 2026, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native has spent the eighth-most laps inside the top 10.
- This weekend, the series heads to Darlington Raceway, where Elliott has a best finish of third (spring 2023). He has four finishes of eighth or better in his last eight Darlington Cup Series races.
- In this race last spring, the 30-year-old driver earned an eighth-place finish.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 28 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Week: 3rd (Las Vegas)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: T-7
No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet
- At Las Vegas Motor Speedway last week, William Byron scored a stage two win and led 26 laps before recording a season-best third-place result.
- Byron has scored 35 stage points through five NASCAR Cup Series events in 2026, the sixth most. He also has an average running position of 10.03, which ranks third, and has a sixth-best average finish of 12.6. The 28-year-old has run the fifth-most laps in the top five (412) and the second-most laps in the top 10 (818).
- In four of the last five seasons, Byron was the first driver to visit victory lane for Hendrick Motorsports. His teammate Kyle Larson scored the first win of the year in 2022.
- The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has two pole awards, one win (spring 2023), four stage wins (third best) and five top-five finishes (tied for second-best personally) in 15 career Cup Series starts at Darlington Raceway.
- In last year’s spring race at Darlington, Byron won the first two stages and led 243 laps before a green-flag pit cycle relegated him to a runner-up result. That was the third-most laps that Byron has led in a single race in his Cup career. It was also the sixth most led from the start of any event in the modern era and the most in track history.
- In the Next Gen era at Darlington, Byron has led the third-most laps (328), run the most laps in the top five (1,489) and the second most in the top 10 (2,101). Byron has finished eighth or better in five of the last seven races at the egg-shaped oval.
48 JUSTIN ALLGAIER
Age: 39 (June 6, 1986)
Hometown: Riverton, Illinois
Last Week: 25th
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 36th (owner’s points)
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
- Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, will not compete in this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Darlington Raceway as he continues to recover from vertigo. Justin Allgaier will fill in for Bowman.
- It will mark the second straight Sunday with Allgaier behind the wheel after the 2024 NASCAR O’Reilly Series champion subbed for Bowman at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last week.
- In the NOAPS, Allgaier has earned stage points in every stage so far this season.
- Allgaier won the NOAPS race at Phoenix Raceway earlier this year, breaking the record for most consecutive seasons (10) with a win in the series.
- At Darlington Raceway in the NOAPS, Allgaier has earned the most wins (three) among active drivers, has led the fourth-most laps (7,202) and carries the longest active top-10 streak with nine.
17 COREY DAY
Age: 20 (November 28, 2005)
Hometown: Clovis, California
Last Finish: 8th (Las Vegas)
Crew Chief: Adam Wall
Standings: 7th
- Corey Day is set to make his first NASCAR O’Reilly Series start at Darlington Raceway this Saturday.
- In 2025, the Clovis, California, native competed at Darlington in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports entry in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, qualifying 15th and finishing ninth.
- Day heads to Darlington following a breakthrough performance at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he led laps (nine) for the first time in his stock car racing career.
- As Day prepares for his sixth NOAPS start of the season, he does so with momentum, having earned four straight top-10 finishes.
Hendrick Motorsports
- Hendrick Motorsports enters this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway as the facility’s all-time leader in wins (16), top fives (58), top 10s (97) and laps led (4,269).
- The organization’s drivers have combined to win five of the last eight stages at the famed 1.366-mile oval. At least one Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has finished in the top 10 in 12 of the last 13 Darlington races.
- The Hendrick Motorsports engine department enters the weekend with 559 victories across all three national NASCAR touring series including four straight in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series.
- Hendrick Motorsports remains the premier series’ all-time standard bearer in wins (320), poles (250), top-five finishes (1,326), top 10s (2,268), laps led (85,525) and championships (15).
QUOTABLE /
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on returning to Darlington Raceway: “I’m looking forward to getting back to Darlington and applying what we’ve learned as an organization. I feel like this track suits my racing style, and I’m excited to continue the momentum we’ve built as a team and hopefully put the HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy back in Victory Lane.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on this weekend’s race at Darlington Raceway: “Darlington has been a tough one for us. But it is a place I really enjoy. A lot of times when you like a track or enjoy going there, you tend to run well or are in the mix a little more. We had some good runs in the previous gen car there, but certainly that’s not mirrored in the Next Gen era the last handful of years. It’s been a challenge. I would say, for us, probably the first thing would be trying to have a better Saturday. I think having a good Saturday certainly sets yourself up for more success than having to play catch up. So, hopefully that’s the case when we get there.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on heading to Darlington Raceway off of a good run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: “Last week’s race (at Las Vegas) was definitely more indicative of what we are expecting for this season. We were close on speed from unloading and got the car better throughout the weekend and just needed a little bit more in the end. We’ve had success at Darlington but last fall was a bit worrisome. Hopefully we can use some of the notes we have on the new Chevrolet body from this year and apply it to what we used for last spring’s race. I’m hopeful, for sure.”
Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on filling in for Alex Bowman at Darlington Raceway: “We are all continuing to keep Alex (Bowman) top of mind and hope that his recovery continues so that he can get back behind the wheel of this car. Hopefully we can go out and make him proud this weekend. I’ve always loved racing at Darlington, and I feel like we have a great chance to have a really solid day on Sunday.”
Corey Day, driver of the No. 17 Chevrolet, on Darlington Raceway: “Darlington has always been a race I enjoy watching, it always puts on a great show and I’m excited to be a part of it this year in the No. 17 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet. Last year, I ran the track in the truck series so I have an understanding of the visuals, but this will be my first time in a NOAPS car. I’m ready to try it out, see how much speed we get, and experience another new track with the team.”
