Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Naval Base Coronado

Naval Base Coronado
Sunday, June 21
3.4-Mile Street Course
4 p.m. ET
Location: Coronado, California
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (Race 17 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM

5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 33 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Race: 5th (Pocono)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 6th

No. 5 Patriotic HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet

• Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet earned a fifth-place finish at Pocono Raceway last weekend. It marked the team’s third top-five result in the last four races. The team currently sits sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, just 12 points behind fifth and 15 points behind fourth with 10 races remaining before the Chase.
• Among active drivers, Larson ranks third in road course victories with six career wins, just one shy of the active lead. Three of those six victories have come during the Next Gen era.
• The 33-year-old has led 597 laps during the 2026 season, second-most among all Cup Series drivers. He also leads the series with 142 stage points earned through 15 races.
• This weekend, the No. 5 Patriotic HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet will sport a special red, white and blue paint scheme honoring the military and celebrating America’s 250th birthday.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 30 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last Race: 11th (Pocono)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 4th

No. 9 NAPA Gold Filters Chevrolet

• Chase Elliott is scheduled to make his 375th NASCAR Cup Series start this Sunday at Naval Base Coronado.
• The 2020 Cup Series champion has led the sixth-most laps (275) this season and has the third-most wins (two). His average finish ranks fourth (13.06).
• On road courses in the Next Gen era, Elliott is tied for the most top-five finishes (11) and tied for the third-most top 10s (15). He has the third most laps led (147) on that track type in that span and the fourth-best average finish (10.88).
• The 30-year-old driver ranks second in average finish at road courses among active drivers with at least four starts.
• Elliott is tied for the most wins (seven) on road courses among active drivers at serpentine tracks and is third all time behind NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. His 489 laps led on road courses leads active drivers.
• In the last nine road course races, Elliott has four top-five finishes and six top 10s. In two road course races this season, his best finish is seventh (Circuit of The Americas).

24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 28 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Race: 3rd (Pocono)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 11th

No. 24 Anduril Chevrolet

• Running double duty at Pocono Raceway, William Byron scored two podium finishes, including a runner up in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series race and a third-place result in the NASCAR Cup Series event.
• In the past 15 road course races, Byron has two wins (Circuit of The Americas, Watkins Glen International), six top-five finishes and nine top 10s.
• Byron’s two road course wins are the fifth most by a Hendrick Motorsports driver.
• In the Next Gen era on road courses, Byron is tied for the fourth-most wins (two), tied for the sixth-most top fives, led the sixth-most laps (139) and has the seventh-best average finish (14.16).

48 ALEX BOWMAN
Age: 33 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Race: 27th (Pocono)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 32nd

No. 48 Ally Chevrolet

• Alex Bowman is among the 15 active drivers with one or more road course victories in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
• The 33-year-old has already won on a street course, securing a victory after leading the final eight laps in the 2024 Chicago Street Race.
• On road courses, Bowman is tied for the fourth most top-five finishes (six) in the Next Gen era.
• The Arizona driver has scored at least a top-10 finish in nearly 40% (17) of all Cup Series road course races (43) he has competed.

17 COREY DAY
Age: 20 (November 28, 2005)
Hometown: Clovis, California
Last Race: 38th (Pocono)
Crew Chief: Adam Wall
Standings: 3rd

• In recognition of the United States’ 250th anniversary, the No. 17 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet will carry a special patriotic paint scheme for this weekend’s race.
• Corey Day has made four career NASCAR O’Reilly Series (NOAPS) starts on road courses, earning a career-best fifth-place finish at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) earlier this season.
• Through 17 NOAPS starts in 2026, the Clovis, California, native has recorded two wins, one pole, six top-five and 12 top-10 finishes.
• The No. 17 team has made 24 starts on road courses, with Kyle Larson delivering its most recent victory at COTA in 2024.

Hendrick Motorsports

• Hendrick Motorsports has the all-time lead in NASCAR Cup Series poles (27), wins (31), top-fives (104), top-10s (174) and laps led (2,462) on road courses.
• Three different Hendrick Motorsports drivers have won five of the last 15 road course races: Kyle Larson (two), William Byron (two), Alex Bowman (one).
• The Hendrick Motorsports engine department enters the weekend with 573 victories across all three national NASCAR touring series including 14 of 17 events in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series this season.
• Hendrick Motorsports remains the Cup Series’ all-time standard bearer in wins (322), poles (259), top-five finishes (1,338), top 10s (2,287), laps led (86,280) and championships (15).

QUOTABLE
 
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on preparing for San Diego: “I spent a little time working on the simulator last week, and I’ll do some more this week before we head out west. The track is definitely bumpy, but that’s pretty normal for a street course – Chicago was bumpy as well. Right now, it’s all about figuring out the corners. I still need more laps to identify the most optimal lines, angles, and approaches through some of the sections.

“I feel like this race is a huge opportunity for us and for the product we can put on display. It’s going to be great to showcase the military, and it will be pretty special to race on a military base and experience everything that comes with it. I’m pumped and really looking forward to getting out there.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on racing in San Diego: “Hopefully, we can kind of keep building on the stuff we worked on in the simulator, or I can continue to get more familiar with the racetrack throughout the course of the week. Then certainly, when we get kind of first looks at it on Friday, hopefully, just fall into a good groove and a good rhythm and try and repeat some good laps out there and be able to do it all day. So, we’ll see. I don’t know what the challenges are going to be. I know, in my experience, when you do these sim learning sessions of a place you’ve never seen before, and then you get there, there’s going to be sections that are really similar, and there’s going to be sections that look really different, and there’s going to be sections that feel really different. Just dissecting all that and finding some comfort within it in real life and getting up to speed and hopefully do it efficiently, and we’ll just kind of see what the weekend brings. But I’m excited about it, excited to go do something different, and I think it’ll be a good event, good show for everybody to watch.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on racing San Diego’s new street course: “I don’t have a sense of how it’s going to race. The middle of the course is very difficult, like there’s a lot of open sections. There’s just a lot of open space that is really not used, so I think you’re going to see a lot of passing opportunities through there. You’re going to see dive bombs because you can give up an exit just to get position on someone, but they might be able to kind of make a run back at you.

“It’s tough. It’s visually difficult because you’re just trying to figure out what corner is coming up next. It is way more complicated, I feel like, than Chicago (Street Course) was the first time. Chicago was a lot of 90 degree turns, you know, kind of pretty simple, in terms of layout, just tight. San Diego is tight, but also very technical. My goal when I go next weekend is just to make laps, I really just want to make all the laps throughout the weekend. I want to build my pace as I go and build my confidence. But I feel like it’s going to be really detrimental if you push too hard in certain sections.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on partnership for San Diego: “There’s a lot of excitement within the industry as we head to San Diego this week and I’m looking forward to being a part of it. Our Ally 48 group is proud to have the USO on board our Chevrolet this weekend. Ally Racing has partnered with the USO of North Carolina since 2019 to support our troops through packing events – it’s special to expand on that as we head to Coronado.”

Corey Day, driver of the No. 17 Chevrolet, on racing in San Diego and on a street course for the first time: “I’m super excited to get the opportunity to race in San Diego. It’s going to be a cool event, one that I’m not too sure they’ll do in years to come, so it’s an honor to be a part of it. I think it’s going to be a really tricky racetrack based off what I’ve seen in the simulator. Everything that’s been shown so far makes it look like an unorthodox racetrack. It’s a street course and it’s a really long one, racing a street course will be a first for me, but I’m excited to have the opportunity to do it. San Diego is a beautiful place so I’m looking forward to hanging out there for the weekend and hopefully we’ll have a good run.”