Daytona International Speedway
Saturday, Aug. 29
2.5-Mile Tri-Oval
7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (Race 26 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM
5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 34 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Race: 5th (New Hampshire)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 7th
No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet
- At New Hampshire Motor Speedway last weekend, Kyle Larson secured a fifth-place finish, his ninth top-five result of the season and his second consecutive top 10.
- Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM team scored 48 points at New Hampshire, clinching a spot in The Chase with the opportunity to defend their 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship. The team sits seventh in the points standings, 19 markers behind sixth and 30 behind fifth.
- According to Racing Insights, the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM pit crew ranks first overall in 2026.
- The Elk Grove, California, native has four top-five finishes on drafting tracks with three coming in his last 11 such races.
- Larson has the fourth-most laps led on drafting tracks in 2026 with 59. He ranks third among all drivers in laps led this season with 657.
- Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM team will pay tribute to two individuals as part of The NASCAR Foundation’s Honor a Cancer Hero program at Daytona International Speedway. Michele Broadley, who passed away in 2016, will be honored with her name over the driver’s side window, while David Weinrach will be honored on the passenger side. Both names will replace Larson’s name on the car for this Saturday night’s race.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 30 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last Race: 25th (New Hampshire)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 8th
No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
- This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Daytona International Speedway. Chase Elliott heads into the final race before The Chase already locked in.
- This season on drafting tracks, Elliott’s average finish of eighth is third best.
- The 30-year-old has the best average finish (13.63) on drafting tracks in the Next Gen era among Cup drivers with more than five starts. He’s tied for the second-most wins (three) in that span (Talladega Superspeedway 2022 and Atlanta Motor Speedway 2022 and 2025).
- Elliott has four top-five finishes and five top 10s in the last eight drafting races.
- In February, Elliott won the second Duel at Daytona race and was leading on the final lap of the DAYTONA 500 before finishing fourth.
- In the Next Gen era, Elliott is tied for the second-most top-10 finishes at Daytona (four). His best finish at the track is second (August 2020 and February 2021).
- This weekend as part of The NASCAR Foundation’s Honor a Cancer Hero program, Elliott’s name will be replaced on both the driver and passenger side of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet. Being honored on the driver side is Michele Broadley, who sadly lost her battle with cancer in 2016. On the passenger side, Bill Roberts, who is a cancer survivor, will replace Elliott’s name.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 28 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Race: 30th (New Hampshire)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 12th
No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet
- Following last week’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, William Byron secured his place in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase. This is the eighth consecutive season that he will compete for a championship.
- In 44 Cup Series starts on drafting tracks, Byron has five wins (three at Daytona International Speedway, two at Atlanta Motor Speedway), tied for fourth most among active drivers. His four such victories in the Next Gen era are the most.
- Hendrick Motorsports has 17 wins at Daytona and the Charlotte, North Carolina, native accounts for three of those, tied for second most in the team’s history.
- Byron’s three wins at Daytona are tied for his most at a single track (Martinsville Speedway). One of those victories came on August 29, 2020, marking his first career Cup win. Saturday’s race will be run six years to the day of that event.
- For Saturday’s race, at Daytona, the No. 24 will don two special names on board in conjunction with The NASCAR Foundation’s Honor a Cancer Hero program. On the driver side door is Adam Brookhart, a diehard Byron fan who was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer but remains a center point for his family. On the passenger side door is Stephanie Kearns, who is also a huge fan of Byron and who has courageously battled stage four breast cancer twice, but remains determined in her fight.
48 ALEX BOWMAN
Age: 33 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Race: 15th (New Hampshire)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 30th
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
- Alex Bowman’s best career finish on a drafting track is second on two occasions where he finished runner-up to a teammate both times (2024 DAYTONA 500 won by William Byron, 2019 at Talladega Superspeedway won by Chase Elliott). Bowman’s two runner-up finishes are the most among active drivers without a win at this style of track.
- In the Next Gen era, Bowman has an average finish of 16.56 in nine starts at Daytona International Speedway, ranking sixth best. With four top-10 finishes, he is also in a six-way tie for second most since 2022.
- At Daytona, Bowman has earned three pole awards, all of them for the DAYTONA 500.
- In the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, Bowman has secured his best finish of third in two events, the first of which came at Talladega.
- This weekend, the Ally 48 team will be honoring Jennifer Quattrocchi on the driver side name rail as part of The NASCAR Foundation’s Honor a Cancer Hero program. Quattrocchi, one of foundation’s own, courageously battled her disease while working full-time with the foundation until her peaceful passing in July 2025. As Quattrocchi’s favorite driver, Bowman will honor her legacy of kindness and passion at Daytona.
17 COREY DAY
Age: 20 (November 28, 2005)
Hometown: Clovis, California
Last Race: 36th (Iowa)
Crew Chief: Adam Wall
Standings: 5th
- The NASCAR O’Reilly Series returns Friday, Aug. 28, at Daytona International Speedway, after a two-week break. Corey Day enters the final race before The Chase with his postseason spot secured. He sits fifth in the NOAPS points standings.
- In four career starts at superspeedways, Day has recorded an average starting position of 7.8 and earned his first NOAPS victory at Talladega Superspeedway earlier this season.
- Friday will mark Day’s second NOAPS start at the World Center of Racing. Day qualified sixth in his series debut at Daytona in February.
- During the most recent NOAPS off week, the Clovis, California, native returned to dirt-track competition, competing in three High Limit Racing Series events. Day captured back-to-back victories at Thunderbowl Raceway and Placerville Speedway, marking his second consecutive year earning wins at both tracks.
- As part of The NASCAR Foundation’s Honor a Cancer Hero program, Day’s name will be replaced on the driver’s side of the No. 17 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet to honor Rick Schaffer, an avid NASCAR fan who passed away in 2022.
Hendrick Motorsports
| 2026 | All-Time | Daytona | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Races | 24 | 1,442 | 85 |
| Wins | 2 | 322* | 17* |
| Poles | 0 | 259* | 23* |
| Top 5 | 22 | 1,344* | 65* |
| Top 10 | 38 | 2,298* | 117* |
| Laps Led | 1,117 | 86,484* | 2,348* |
| Stage Wins | 10 | 147 | 4 |
*Most
**Tied for most
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Daytona International Speedway this weekend. Hendrick Motorsports leads all organizations in wins (17), poles (23), top fives (65), top 10s (117) and laps led (2,348) at the World Center of Racing.
The Hendrick Motorsports engine department enters the weekend with 577 victories across all three national NASCAR touring series, including 18 of 23 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 (1,344), top 10s (2,298), laps led (86,484) and championships (15).
QUOTABLE
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on building on momentum: “Hopefully, we can continue to build on these last two weeks. Obviously, we still have a lot of room to grow before we’re consistently leading laps and challenging for wins, but it’s good to have solid finishes the last two weeks. We just need to continue to work hard. Eventually, it’ll turn around, and to win, you have to be consistent.”
“I feel like everybody has been operating at a really high level. Everybody is just as motivated, probably more so than ever, to work hard and get back to where we want to be. That’s been really nice to see. Not just specifically the No. 5 team, but all of Hendrick Motorsports has been pulling in the same direction, and that’s awesome to see.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on the new rules package at Daytona International Speedway: “I think there’s going to be a ton of guessing kind of going into the weekend from a setup perspective and car configuration, all those things. Honestly, I think it’s going to be really entertaining. I’m sure you’re going to have people complaining about not having a practice. But I think when you look at the grand scheme of all of it, I think it’ll be really fun to watch because you’re probably going to have people coming down pit road on those first couple cautions or first couple pit stops and just – I’m talking changing everything you can change. Hopefully that’s not the case for us, but I could see it. We just don’t know. It’s a total shot in the dark on what we’re doing and kind of where our head space is, but I’m looking forward to it.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on bouncing back at Daytona International Speedway: “Last weekend is a mix of emotions. We definitely had the speed we needed at a track that’s been difficult for us, but the execution was off. Thankfully it happened before The Chase starts but we just need to work on minimizing mistakes. Daytona [International Speedway] will mark a good reset though. We obviously know how to get it done there but the new aero package brings an unknown element that everyone will have to deal with. I’m curious to see how it plays out.”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on returning to Daytona International Speedway: “Daytona [International Speedway] is a place we typically run well at; it’s just so unpredictable. With this being the cutoff race, it increases the chance for things to get crazy. Our focus is minimizing mistakes, staying out of trouble and being there at the end to have a shot.”
Corey Day, driver of the No. 17 Chevrolet, on returning to Daytona International Speedway: “I’m looking forward to getting back to Daytona [International Speedway]. I feel like my superspeedway knowledge has grown a lot since we were there earlier in the year and I feel like I’ll be able to approach the weekend differently than I did in February, which will be a good thing. We’ve had a rough summer unfortunately, it hasn’t gone how we wanted it to go, but there’s no reason that we can’t turn stuff around come The Chase. So, this will be a good final weekend to iron out all the little details that we may be missing or need to put more emphasis on. I’m glad that there’s only one superspeedway in The Chase [Talladega Superspeedway], and I’m definitely glad it’s the one we won at.”
