NASCAR Cup Series
Richmond Raceway
Cook Out 400
Team Chevy Post-Race Report
August 15, 2026
Elliott Earns Top-Five Finish at Richmond; Clinches Early Berth into The Chase
In a strategy-filled evening under the lights at “The Action Track”, Chase Elliott and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team led the Bowtie brigade to the checkered flag in the Cook Out 400 with a fifth-place finish. His sixth top-five finish of the season, along with a strong points run, saw the former champion earn an early clinch into the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase. The top-10 of the final leaderboard all four Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet’s with Elliott leading Kyle Larson in sixth, William Byron in ninth and Alex Bowman rounding out the top-10.
RACE RECAP:
Stage One:
William Byron led the Bowtie brigade in Friday’s qualifying session at Richmond Raceway, driving his No. 24 Chevrolet to a fifth-place starting position for this evening’s Cook Out 400. Taking the green flag, three-wide racing in the opening laps saw the North Carolina native lose track position but stay within the top-10. Despite battling an ill-handling car during the opening run, Byron was able to maintain a top-10 running position through much of the first half of the stage as the first green flag pit cycled ensued. Crew chief, Rudy Fugle, opted to make the call to pit road late in the cycle, ultimately giving his driver four-lap fresher tires compared to the leader to battle back up through the field. Upon the completion of the pit cycle, it was his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliott, that took his turn at the front of the Chevrolet camp as he made his first appearance in the top-10 of the evening. While maneuvering through lap traffic during the closing laps, Elliott made his way up into the ninth position to lead the manufacturer to the stage end.
Stage Two:
With a two position gain in the race off pit road, Byron lined up in the ninth position to begin Stage Two. But a stack-up just ahead of him opened up the opportunity to capitalize on the track position, muscling up into the sixth position to start the second run. With another long green flag run en route to their next trip to pit road, Byron reported that he was lacking turn in his Chevrolet-powered machine. Staying consistent within the top-seven during a longer run on tires, Byron was just on the brink of his call to pit road when a caution flew on Lap 126. Taking four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment, the No. 24 pit crew delivered their driver yet another position gained on pit road to lineup fifth for the restart with 98 laps to go in the stage. But it was a monstrous move by Ross Chastain on the restart when he put his Chevrolet in the top lane to take it three-wide and climb up into sixth behind his Team Chevy teammate. With split strategies throughout the field, a two-stop plan by the Alan Gustafson-led team, along with long run pace in their Chevrolet, saw Elliott remain a steady fixture within the top-seven throughout the remainder of the stage, going on to collect seventh-place points at the second green-white checkered flag.
Final Stage:
Maintaining their position following the trip to pit road, Elliott lined back up into the seventh position to take the green flag for 162 laps to go of the race. Mirroring his move from his impressive restart in the previous stage, Chastain quickly found the outside lane to make it three-wide and go from outside the top-10 into the seventh position on the opening lap. The only natural caution of the final stage came when mechanical woes brought Carson Hocevar and the No. 77 team’s evening to an early end. Sharing a similar two-stop pit strategy for the final stage, it was all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers that brought home strong top-10 runs for the Bowtie brigade – led by Elliott and the No. 9 team with a fifth-place finish.
Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 Results
Pos. Driver
5th – Chase Elliott
6th – Kyle Larson
9th – William Byron
10th – Alex Bowman
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 24 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 6
Poles: 5
Top-Fives: 39
Top 10s: 82
Stage Wins: 16
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the Dollar Tree 301 on Sunday, August 23, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 12th
What is your mindset with two races to go left in the regular season?
“We just need to keep running in the top-10 like we did tonight. If we would have been doing this all summer, we would be in a lot different spot. This is way above where the summer was for this No. 1 Jockey 150th Anniversary Chevrolet team. We want more, but we’re getting better.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 19th
“Not the night any of us wanted here at Richmond Raceway for the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Supreme Long Range Chevrolet. We struggled with the car’s balance the whole night despite the best efforts of the entire team, nothing they did or I did seemed to work. While we were tight in Stage 1, we trended loose the remainder of the race. I couldn’t turn, and I couldn’t get down the straight away. It felt like the car was dog tracking from the moment we took the green. It seemed like we were only able to make progress through the field in runs that were 35-40+ laps. We’re thankful for the success we’ve had here the past two years, but after tonight, we’re going back to the drawing board when we get home to Welcome, North Carolina.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 5th
“I thought we were kind of hovering around seventh and eighth, somewhere in there. And then, obviously most of the field committed to three-stopping the last stage up until that caution. We elected to stay out and I know a few guys chose to pit there, put on some scuffs, and maybe burn a set of stickers. It ended up working out pretty well for us. Obviously it’s not a win, but for how things have been going the last few months, it feels nice to just have a really solid night and hopefully we can get things rolling in the right direction. There’s been a lot of hard work put in across the board; everyone on this No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet team and Hendrick Motorsports. I appreciate that effort. Everyone shows up with it each week, even after a bad day, so hopefully we can get things rolling here.”
Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 23rd
“Really proud of everyone on this No. 33 team. Our Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet was strong tonight and while the finishing position does not show the full story, we had speed from the start. After the initial green flag, we steadily moved forward and I knew we were going to be in good shape. On the first green flag stop, we had a tire get away and lost a lap on our pass thru penalty. We put ourselves in position for a break but it unfortunately never came. No one gave up all night though. We consistently ran lap times that would have put us inside the top-10, so this was something to build off of moving forward.”
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Sidelined with a mechanical failure during the final stage.
Finished: 37th
“Really unfortunate end to a really tough night for the No. 77 Zeigler Chevrolet team. We were hoping to salvage a decent finish with pit strategy in the last stage, but we had some mechanical issues the team will have to take a look at. I hate it for the guys, Chevy, and everyone at Spire. Hopefully we can turn this all around the next two weeks and bridge the points gap.”
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 14th
“We were better than what we qualified. We were making gains on our No. 97 Mitti Chevrolet throughout the race, similar to the front-half of the top-20, maybe better. And then, the strategy put us into the top-15 and gained us a lot, so that was great. The line I used during the Truck race seemed to work for us, especially when the tires wore out. I could roll the top and gain quite a few spots. Clean air, as well, seemed to work.”
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