NEXT RACE
Talladega Superspeedway
Sunday, April 26
2.66-Mile Tri-Oval
3 p.m. ET
Location: Talladega, Alabama
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series race (10 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM
5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 33 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Race: 2nd (Kansas)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 5th
No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet
- At Kansas Speedway, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM team led three times for a total of 78 laps and won the second stage en route to a second-place finish.
- Through nine NASCAR Cup Series races this season, the team is tied for the most stage points (91), has the second-most stage wins (three) and has led the second-most laps (499).
- The defending Cup champion finished second in the spring at Talladega Superspeedway race last year.
- If Larson leads a lap at Talladega, it will mark the third-consecutive year he has reached 500 laps led within the first 10 races of a season.
- In the last nine drafting-track races, Larson has three top-five finishes, four top 10s and three stage wins while leading 80 laps.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 30 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last Race: 8th (Kansas)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 6th
No. 9 Prime Video Chevrolet
- Chase Elliott is a two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner at Talladega Superspeedway, most recently visiting victory lane in the fall of 2022.
- His two wins are tied with Jimmie Johnson for second most at Talladega by a Hendrick Motorsports driver behind vice chairman Jeff Gordon (six).
- Elliott’s most recent victory on a drafting track came last summer at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Including that triumph, he’s finished top 10 in four of the last six drafting-track races.
- The 30-year-old driver was leading on the final lap of the DAYTONA 500 this season before getting caught up in a multi-car incident. He still finished fourth.
- In the last nine drafting-track races, Elliott has earned the fourth-most points (272).
- The 2020 Cup champion’s three wins at drafting tracks in the Next Gen era are tied for second most behind teammate William Byron.
- Elliott’s average finish of 10.3 so far in 2026 is tied for third best in the Cup Series and is also tied for his second best through the first nine races of a season.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 28 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolin
Last Race: 7th (Kansas)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 7th
No. 24 Phorm Energy Chevrolet
- Through nine races in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, William Byron has scored the eighth-most stage points (55).
- In 42 starts on drafting tracks, Byron has five wins – three at Daytona International Speedway and two at Atlanta Motor Speedway. That is tied for third most among active drivers and tied for second all-time at Hendrick Motorsports with Jimmie Johnson (Jeff Gordon is first with 12).
- On this track type in the Next Gen era, Byron has the most wins of any driver (four). He has led the fifth-most laps (269) and is one of two drivers to compete in all eight Next Gen races at Talladega Superspeedway without a DNF.
- Currently, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native is on a streak of eight consecutive lead-lap finishes at Talladega, second best in the field. Byron has finished seventh or better in five of the last six races at the 2.66-mile tri-oval.
- In 16 starts at the Alabama track, Byron has five top-five finishes and seven top 10s while finishing runner up twice (spring 2021, fall 2023). He has an average finish of 14.38, which is sixth-best all-time at Talladega.
48 ALEX BOWMAN
Age: 32 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Race: 18th (Kansas)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 36th
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
- Alex Bowman earned his season-best finish of 18th last weekend in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway after running inside the top 10 in the second stage.
- In the last two spring races at Talladega Superspeedway, Bowman finished seventh or better. He earned his best finish of second at the track in 2019, finishing runner up to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott.
- The Tucson, Arizona, native has made 20 Cup Series starts at the 2.66-mile tri-oval, earning two top fives, six top 10s and leading 68 laps.
- Alex Bowman and the No. 48 team are eligible for the 2026 NASCAR All-Star Race Fan Vote with the winning driver earning entry into the NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway on May 17. Fans can vote up to five times per day per unique email address until 9 a.m. ET on race day.
17 COREY DAY
Age: 20 (November 28, 2005)
Hometown: Clovis, California
Last Race: 12th (Kansas)
Crew Chief: Adam Wall
Standings: 4th
- Corey Day has led laps in four of the first 10 races of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Series season, pacing a total of 190 circuits along the way. He was out front for 26 laps last week at Kansas Speedway.
- This weekend, the Clovis, California, native heads to Talladega Superspeedway for his first career start at the track.
- In his NOAPS career, Day has made two starts at drafting tracks, both during the 2026 season at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. He has an average starting position of 7.5 in those races.
- The 20-year-old driver enters Talladega weekend fresh off his second High Limit Racing sprint car victory of the season, earned on Tuesday, April 21 at Eagle Raceway.
- Hendrick Motorsports enters this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway as the facility’s all-time leader in wins (14), poles (13), top fives (70), top 10s (107) and laps led (3,115).
- Rick Hendrick’s Chevrolets have led at least one lap in the last 48 events at Talladega, the longest such streak in Cup history.
- In the last five races at the 2.66-mile tri-oval, Hendrick Motorsports has had just one DNF.
- The Hendrick Motorsports engine department enters the weekend with 563 victories across all three national NASCAR touring series including seven of 10 events in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series.
- Hendrick Motorsports remains the premier series’ all-time standard bearer in wins (321), poles (259), top-five finishes (1,330), top 10s (2,276), laps led (86,009) and championships (15).
QUOTABLE
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on Talladega Superspeedway: “It’ll be a little different with the stage lengths. So, just curious to see how that’s kind of going to affect the fuel conservation and stuff throughout the race. I still think you’re going to be saving quite a bit of fuel, but we’ll see when we get there. And then, I think you just study that and see what kind of scenarios might pop up and how to best adapt for it. You’re always trying to position yourself for that final run to the end, so we’ll see if we can do that. We’ve done that well in the past at Talladega, especially, and I think it could just look a little different now with stage lengths.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on Talladega Superspeedway: “I feel good about going there. It’s a speedway and just so much is out of your control, but I feel like our team has been doing a pretty good job throughout the course of the year of executing the things that we can control and hopefully we can do that. I think that’s really kind of the name of the game when you go to those speedways and just try to give yourself a shot. There’s so much that can go good or go bad or anywhere in the middle that you have no say so in, so we just try and do our best at the things that we can control and hope it falls our way.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on Talladega Speedway: “I really enjoy Talladega. Not sure how many people actually say that. I feel like I’ve got a pretty good grip when it comes to superspeedway racing, at least on what you can control, that is. The difference is that at Talladega your car is a bit more handling dependent than at other drafting tracks. It makes track position that much more valuable because it’s hard to make runs to the front quickly. I do think the shortened stages are going to ramp up the intensity though, since we know fuel mileage is no longer a factor. We’ll just have to see how it plays out.”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on Talladega Superspeedway: “This track can be so unpredictable; if you’re caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, it can be detrimental, but at the same time, anyone has a shot. Our Ally 48 team is ready to be there at the end when it counts and gain momentum. Kansas [Speedway] was a building block for us last week; we expect more and we’ll continue to put in work to get there.”
Corey Day, driver of the No. 17 Chevrolet, on Talladega Superspeedway: “Talladega is going to be a tough track, superspeedways always are. You never really know what’s going to happen. It’s another new track for me, so plenty to learn there for sure, not having practice means I’ll have to focus on track visuals and comfortability as much as I can during qualifying. I know my No. 17 HENDRICKCARS.COM team will bring a fast Chevy, so I’ll try and stay out front and get back in the top 10.”
