NASCAR Cup Series
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Dollar Tree 301
Team Chevy Post-Race Report
August 23, 2026
Larson Leads Chevrolet with Top-Five Finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
In an eventful afternoon at “The Magic Mile”, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team put together a strong points run en route to a top-five finish in the penultimate race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. The result – his fourth consecutive top-seven finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway – in combination with an already triple-digit points cushion saw Larson make an early clinch into the Chase and the chance to compete for back-to-back championship titles.
Despite enduring a challenging day at the New England region oval, Team Chevy’s Carson Hocevar, William Byron and Daniel Suarez also punched their tickets into the Chase to give the manufacturer five guaranteed spots in the title hunt heading into the series’ regular season finale. Shane van Gisbergen will head to Daytona International Speedway in the final provisional points position with a 31-point cushion over the cutline.
RACE RECAP:
Stage One:
For the second consecutive weekend, it was William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team that led the Bowtie Brigade in qualifying – earning a third-place starting position for the Dollar General 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Battling lingering precipitation throughout much of the early afternoon, the field took the green flag for the opening stage on wet weather tires. The green flag conditions were short-lived when the damp track proved to be a challenge for the polesitter, Tyler Reddick, when he looped his car coming out of Turn Four on Lap 1. Benefitting from the caution was Byron, who made his way to the top of the leaderboard to pace the field to the restart. With the majority of the field quickly migrating to the top lane as the track began to dry, it was his Team Chevy teammate, Shane van Gisbergen, that took advantage of the conditions – making the pass on Byron for the lead and quickly building to a near six-second gap within just a handful of laps. The New Zealand native continued to set an impressive pace en route to the competition caution on Lap 40. A round of non-competitive stops were on the horizon as the field hit pit road to make the switch to slick tires. On the final restart of the stage, it was Kyle Larson that capped off his progressive climb through the top-10 with a pass for the lead that ended with the Stage One win. The eventful opening stage saw four Team Chevy drivers execute points-earning performances, including Carson Hocevar, who drove his No. 77 Chevrolet from a 22nd starting position to a collection of third-place points.
Stage Two:
Under the stage break, there was a mix of strategies all throughout pit road. Chase Elliott was among the seven teams that opted to stay out, with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Larson, leading the cars on the two-tire strategy. The fresh right-side tires paid dividends for the reigning champion as he quickly returned as the top Chevrolet driver as he settled into the sixth position for what turned into a long green flag run en route to a pit cycle near the halfway mark of the stage. With a report of a loose-handling Chevrolet from behind the wheel, crew chief Cliff Daniels called his driver to pit road on Lap 133 for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to help with his balance. Upon completion of the green flag pit cycle, Larson found himself in the seventh position with 35 laps left to go in the stage. Continuing caution-free, Larson found his footing through lap traffic to drive his way back into the top-five and lead the Bowtie brigade to the second green-white checkered flag.
Final Stage:
A two-position gain in the race off pit road for the No. 5 team put Larson in the third position to take the green flag for the final stage. On the restart, the outside lane proved to be a challenge for the California native, but the driver managed to only slip one position and settle into fourth. With a pair of cautions early in the final stage, Byron was on an alternate strategy that saw the North Carolina native inherit a position on the front row for the restart on Lap 231. But the strategy gave way to a loose left-rear tire that saw the No. 24 Chevrolet bring out the caution just three laps later. With a four-tire call by Daniels under the caution, Larson restarted in the ninth position but gradually chipped away back up the leaderboard – reaching the sixth position with 48 laps remaining. With another caution-free stint to the checkered flag, Larson was able to climb back into the top-five to take the checkered flag of the penultimate race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Team Chevy Unofficial Top-20 Results
Pos. Driver
5th – Kyle Larson
15th – Alex Bowman
16th – Michael McDowell
17th – Daniel Suarez
19th – Carson Hocevar
20th – Shane van Gisbergen
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 25 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 6
Poles: 5
Top-Fives: 40
Top 10s: 83
Stage Wins: 17
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season will conclude at Daytona International Speedway with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday, August 29, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Sidelined by a mechanical failure in Stage One.
Finished: 36th
“There was an issue internally in the engine. There was oil coming out of the exhaust pipe. I felt the No. 1 Kubota Chevy losing power and just rode it out during the caution, but unfortunately, we couldn’t continue. It’s just an unfortunate end to our run towards the Chase. The speed has gotten better, so we’ll hopefully keep moving forward on that. That’s the important part. With the things in our control, we were able to make them better through the summer. I’ve learned that’s really tough to do in the NASCAR Cup Series. We did get better, but we’ve got a ways to go.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 32nd
“We didn’t get to show what I thought the No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Chevrolet was capable of here today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. We fought hard to stay on the lead lap in Stage 1 and were making the adjustments needed to help combat the tightness I was experiencing in the center, but I had great drive and my entry was dialed. I was driving forward, but unfortunately, we got caught up in on track contact at the start of Stage 2 and sustained left rear damage that sent us to pit road to replace a tow link among other things, putting us several laps down. The team never gave up and we fought until the end, continuing to work on the car’s alignment issues and improving the looseness I was experiencing. We’ll take what we can from this experience and look to rebound next week in Daytona.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 5th
“I thought the balance of our No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet in dry conditions were pretty similar all race. I feel like our best run was after the green flag stop, and then even after that last run, it wasn’t bad until the very end. I think fourth-place on back were really struggling. Overall, it was a great day for this team. We got the Stage One win, a fifth-place in Stage Two and a fifth-place finish at the end. It was a lot better overall weekend than we’ve had in a while. We scored a lot of points, which is good way to head into the regular season finale.”
Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 24th
“Up and down day for our zone Sweet Coffee x Cumberland Farms Chevrolet. When it was raining before the race, I was actually excited to see what we could do on the wet weather tires. Our car was good on the initial fire off. The entry was secure and we rolled to the center pretty well. We ended up gaining 13 spots and drove all the way to the top-15 in the first stage. The balance stayed consistent through the first two stages, but when we got to the second half of the race, the right rear started burning off it and our car would slide on top of the rubber. It was loose with the rears and then create a four wheel slide until the car settled down. The guys kept working on it and we came home 24th. It could have been better, but proud of the effort overall. We’ll keep fighting.”
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 16th
“Such a chaotic day here in New Hampshire, we had good pace in our Delaware Life Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and were working toward the top 10, then we started to fight a pretty significant vibration on the right rear. Once we recovered from that we had an equipment interference penalty that almost made our bed for the day. Thankfully, we caught a caution at the right time to get back on the lead lap and fight for a decent finish. It isn’t where we want to be, but we showed promise and some good fight.”
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 20th
“It was a tough day for what we needed. Being that fast on wet weather tires and falling that fast shows that we were missing something to have grip on the slick tires. Hopefully there are some learnings on that because Connor (Zilisch) and I just went backwards as fast as we could when the track dried. It’s just a disappointing way to end the day. We would love to have more of a cushion heading into Daytona (International Speedway), but the No. 60 (Ryan Preece) did a great job today. I don’t think the No. 2 (Austin Cindric) gained much on us, but we would love to have more heading into a big unknown race next weekend.”
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