TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
Bristol Motor Speedway
September 17-19, 2026
Chevrolet Newsroom
The NASCAR Chase rolls into East Tennessee for a tripleheader weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, with all three national touring series facing postseason action under the lights of the famed .533-mile concrete oval. The Craftsman Truck Series will open its own Chase Thursday night in the UNOH 250 Presented by Ohio Logistics, while Friday’s Food City 300 for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race for the Cup Series will mark the third race in each of their respective postseason schedules. Kyle Larson enters the weekend having snapped a 51-race winless streak during a chaotic afternoon at World Wide Technology Raceway, closing to within just nine points from the Chase leader, Denny Hamlin. Sheldon Creed grabbed the O’Reilly Series points lead with a runner-up finish at Gateway, while the Truck Series field turns the page entirely as Team Chevy’s four title contenders will begin their championship campaigns.
LARSON, LOVE MAKE A STATEMENT IN TITLE-DEFENDING CAMPAIGNS
No two Chevrolet drivers gained more confidence at World Wide Technology Raceway than reigning champions Kyle Larson and Jesse Love. Larson entered Sunday’s race seventh in the Cup Series Chase standings, 49 points behind leader Denny Hamlin, before his victory produced a 40-point swing and vaulted him five spots to second and within striking distance of the points lead heading into a track where he’s historically been the class of the field.
Love authored a similar climb a night earlier in the O’Reilly Series, rallying late to hold off Carson Kvapil for his first win of the season – ultimately moving him from sixth to fourth in the Chase standings, cutting what had been a 48-point deficit to the lead, down to just 16. Both drivers now carry real momentum into Bristol, a track where a strong run could push them even closer to the top of their respective standings and one step closer to defending their championship titles.
CHEVROLET HITS SEASON-BEST SHOWING
Chevrolet’s charge at World Wide Technology Raceway was not limited to Kyle Larson’s win. Seven Chevrolet’s crossed the line inside the top-10 of the Enjoy Illinois 300 with Larson leading Alex Bowman (second), William Byron (fourth), Ross Chastain (fifth), Austin Dillon (sixth), Connor Zilisch (seventh) and Carson Hocevar (eighth) – marking the manufacturer’s strongest single-race showing of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Hendrick Motorsports alone accounted for three of those top-four finishers, including Bowman, who not only played a pivotal role in pushing his teammate to the victory, but also brought home his best finish of the season. Following in a similar fashion, Dillon’s sixth-place finish and Zilisch’s seven-place finish matched their respective season-best results. The Bowtie brigade will look to carry that kind of depth into Bristol, a track where Chevrolet’s overall numbers in the sport’s top division is already the best in the garage with 48 all-time victories.
BIGGEST MOVERS
Among the 16 title contenders, Team Chevy’s Kyle Larson and Carson Hocevar were the biggest movers up the standings following the second stop on the NASCAR Cup Series postseason tour. Larson heads to Bristol as the class of the Chevrolet Chase contingent and arguably the man to beat overall. His victory in Sunday’s race vaulted him from seventh to second in the standings, just in time to head to one of his statistically strongest tracks. In the sport’s top division, the reigning champion owns three wins (Sept. 2021, Sept. 2024, Apr. 2025), as well as nine top-five finishes in his last 12 starts. His last two wins came alongside an overall dominant run that included stage sweeps and more than 400 laps led in each event. In the Next Gen era, his 7.0 average finish sits strong at the top of the leaderboard among the series’ active drivers.
Carson Hocevar quietly continued his solid first Chase campaign with an eighth-place run at Gateway, boosting him up three positions to ninth in the standings and now 88 points back. The Spire Motorsports driver has shown real speed at Bristol in his short career, finishing 11th or better in four of his six starts there, including a seventh-place run with 26 laps led last fall and a 10th-place result with top-seven stage finishes in this year’s spring race.
PAGING A NEW POINTS LEADER
Chevrolet continues to add to an already record season in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series with the manufacturer occupying the top-eight spots of the Chase standings entering the Bristol race weekend. Sheldon Creed backed up his Chase opening victory with a runner-up result at Gateway, an effort that was enough to lift the Haas Factory Team driver into the points lead for the first time this season. Despite an uncharacteristic start to the postseason for Justin Allgaier, the veteran driver still sits in the second position and just three points behind Creed. Carson Kvapil sits third, nine back, after leading a career-high 105 laps before fading late at the Illinois-based oval. Defending series champion, Jesse Love, not only drove to a breakthrough win at Gateway, but made a massive 32-point gain up the standings to now sit fourth and just 16 points off the pace.
Chevrolet’s history at Bristol in the second-tier series is just as decorated as its Cup Series resume with 39 all-time wins, including a record 16-race winning streak that ran from Aug. 1997 through April 2005. Allgaier is the only Chase contender that is a past Bristol winner having earned two trips to victory lane at the Tennessee short track in his career (Mar. 2010 and Sept. 2023).
GREEN FLAG FLIES FOR THE NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES CHASE
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will officially join in on the postseason action with Thursday’s UNOH 250 presented by Ohio Logistics serving as the Chase opener to start a seven-race stretch to determine the 2026 champion. The 10-truck Chase field will feature four Team Chevy drivers, led by McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Christian Eckes, who ranks fourth in the standings heading into the postseason. The New York native brings one of the strongest Bristol resumes in the field. In four starts behind the wheel of a McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet, he’s finished no worse than fifth, including a dominant win in the track’s 2024 sprint event where he led the final 92 laps.
CR7 Motorsports’ Grant Enfinger sits seventh in the Chase field, and despite an up-and-down campaign through much of the regular season, a trip to victory lane at Lime Rock Park in July put him up into the top-10 of the points standings for the first time this season and he never looked back en route to his postseason berth. McAnally-Hilgemann Racing rounds out the manufacturer’s Chase contingent with Daniel Hemric in eighth and Tyler Ankrum in 10th.
BOWTIE BULLETS:
· Chevrolet will serve as the official pace vehicle for the tripleheader weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, with the Corvette Stingray pacing the NASCAR Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Silverado RST pacing the Craftsman Truck Series.
· Chevrolet is the winningest manufacturer in both of NASCAR’s top-two divisions at Bristol Motor Speedway, with the Bowtie brand heading into the weekend with 48 Cup Series wins and 39 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series wins.
· With Grant Enfinger’s win at Lime Rock Park, Chevrolet sits just two wins away from its milestone 300th all-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win.
· With seven-straight victories to start the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Chevrolet set the record for the longest season-opening streak by a single manufacturer in the division’s history.
· In 171 points-paying races in the NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 74 victories – a winning percentage of 43.3%.
· Chevrolet is coming off its 29th all-time sweep of the NASCAR Cup Series championship titles – capturing its 34th driver championship and 44th, and fifth consecutive, manufacturer championship in 2025.
· With its 44 NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer championships, 34 NASCAR Cup Series driver championships, and 888 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.
FOR THE FANS:
Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Midway at Bristol Motor Speedway, which will feature a variety of Chevrolet vehicles including: Traverse, Tahoe, Silverado LD, Silverado HD, Equinox, Colorado and Corvette.
Chevrolet Display Hours of Operation:
Thursday, Sept. 17: 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 18: 12:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 19: 12:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
TUNE-IN:
NASCAR Cup Series
Bass Pro Shops Night Race
Saturday, Sept. 19, at 7:30 p.m. ET
USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series
Food City 300
Friday, Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m. ET
CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
UNOH 250 Presented by Ohio Logistics
Thursday, Sept. 17, at 8:00 p.m. ET
FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
How is the Bass Pro Shops Night race different from the Food City 500 in the spring?
“Yeah, just something about being at night. The Cup cars don’t spark as much as O’Reilly cars or Trucks do, but still, just racecars at night, you can see every little bit of a brake glow and the exhaust. On the Cup cars, you can see them on both sides. So on the backstretch, you can see them on the frontstretch and vice versa. I just think that seeing those flames, the color change in the brakes, it’s so bright inside the track, but yet you can still see that color contrast in the front temperature for the night races. And in the O’Reilly and Truck Series, those vehicles spark a lot, especially on those last restarts if they put tires on, you’ll see most of the field sparking, driving as hard as they can. I love to see race cars hit the ground and spark. I think that’s cool.”
How would you explain to someone who’s never been to Bristol what they’ll see in a night race?
“It’s something you just got to see for yourself. I think in all live sports until you see that quarterback throw that Hail Mary in person, you see that running back go through a hole and score, or two guys hit and you hear those helmets crack. With us it’s the engines when we all fire off turn four. I get nervous watching. I’m actually more comfortable in the car than I am watching because I don’t understand how 36 cars can fit around that track. There’s times when we get strung out that it doesn’t look like we all fit. I don’t think you can describe it. You have to experience it for yourself.”
Do you recall your first time walking into Bristol and what your thoughts were?
“I do. Yeah, I was a kid. We went as fans, sat up in the middle of turns one and two, about three quarters of the way up and then watched the Cup race. We came over from the mountains. My parents had a cabin over in Western North Carolina. So we were a long way from Florida. We’d go to Bristol for the fall race. It’s definitely something I’ve never forgotten, the first time I sat and walked out through the grandstands to look out at the racetrack.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Bristol Motor Speedway seems to be a track that a lot of drivers really love. What do you think it’s going to take to come out of there with a good finish?
“Execution. I think we’ve got to execute to the best of our ability. I think we know where we are speed wise, we’ve got to get better, and that takes some time. But we can go out and execute like we did this past weekend at Gateway. We had qualities of our car that really were good, and then some that weren’t so good. So we took the best out of our car and were able to get a top-10 finish, we finished sixth. If we can go to Bristol and do the same with the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Patriotic Chevrolet I would be stoked.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Heading back to Bristol, what are your thoughts going into the night race?
“Bristol at night is a race I really enjoy. Last fall was a tough race, but I am excited to get back there with the No. 7 team. We’ve learned a lot since the spring race, where we had a decent finish. The fans, the lights, the atmosphere, is what is really exciting at the night race. Hopefully, this time we can put together the kind of night I know this team is capable of.”
Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
What are your thoughts on Bristol Motor Speedway?
“I think anyone who says they are a NASCAR fan likes Bristol. I’ve loved the place since I was a kid and I’ve loved racing there in the Camping World Truck and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. I love a challenge and I am optimistic about this weekend.”
Is the Night race special?
“The night race at Bristol is one of those events every driver circles on the calendar at the beginning of the year. There’s just a different energy when you come through the tunnel for the night race—the atmosphere in the stadium under the lights is electric, and it’s easily one of the most intense, iconic races on the entire schedule.”
What is the strategy at Bristol for your team?
“Five hundred laps around Bristol at night is a total grinding match. You don’t get a second to relax or breathe out there because things happen so fast in front of you. By the end of the night, you’re worn out, but if you can be there at the end with a clean race car, you’ve really accomplished something.”
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Does Bristol still give you chills walking in there?
“Bristol is one of my most favorite tracks, but it’s definitely a grind. It’s grueling and probably by the time the race is over my whole body hurts. Still that place gives me chills when you walk into it. We’ve had some good runs there in the past and won a pole in the Cup Series in 2025. We’ve got a win there in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series too. So, yeah, I love that place under the lights.”
Are you looking forward to having a new sponsor at Bristol?
“It’s pretty cool to have NASCAR’s Official Partner Suburban Propane on our No. 16 Cup car at Bristol. They activate a lot in our sport and we are proud to carry their banner on our car. I’ll be signing autographs with them on race day too. It’s always good to be able to get out and see the fans especially on behalf of our partners. We hope to put on a good show for Suburban Propane and we’re looking forward to having the President and CEO (Michael Stivala) there with us.”
Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Returning to Bristol Motor Speedway for your second career Bass Pro Shops Night Race, what is the key to a good result on Saturday night?
“Bristol is a really cool place to race at, especially under the lights for the night race. We had a good car there last year and should have finished inside the top-18 or 20 if the tire curveball wasn’t thrown at the beginning of the race. No one was expecting what happened, so we got caught a couple laps down and had to manage it the best we could for the rest of the night. We were able to unlap ourselves under green and leave with a top-25 finish. We want to improve that this time around with our Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet, so qualifying will be important and we’ll have to stay on top of strategy to manage the race as it unfolds. Things happen fast and can change quickly at Bristol, so being adaptable is important.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
“Bristol at night is always one of the races you look forward to, so it’s great to have Chef Boyardee back with us for it,” said Stenhouse. “We’ve had some really strong runs with them on the car this year, especially at Daytona and Talladega, and hopefully we can add another one at Bristol. It’s a place I really enjoy racing, and there’s nothing quite like being there for the night race.”
Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
“Bristol is 500 laps of chaos. To be able to walk out of Bristol with a good result is always very rewarding, because you know how hard it is to achieve.
Even though the distance at Bristol is not very long – a little more than 266 miles – 500 laps there is a long time. The mental endurance it takes to run at 110 percent and be on your A-game from start to finish is key. You have to be laser-focused on hitting your marks, but also ready to adapt.
Bristol is not like a traditional short track where the bottom lane is dominant throughout the race. You’re going to see people racing the middle line and the high line, and the track conditions are going to play a big part in that. You need to be on the wheel and stay ahead of those changing track conditions, and really pay attention to tire wear and what you’re feeling during the course of a run.”
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
What is your outlook heading into one of the most highly anticipated races of the season?
“Bristol is such a great weekend when it comes to the night race. I didn’t come from a traditional short track racing background, my upbringing was sports cars and road courses, unlike a lot of the other drivers. So, I have always felt like if I could win at Bristol then I can finally say I have made it as a Cup Series driver, which can be a little contradicting after almost 20 years of stock car racing. It is an incredible environment. Travis (crew chief Travis Peterson) and I had some success there early in our career together. We finished 11th two times and sixth before that. Track position is critical to maximize your day. We have also seen some unpredictable tire wear in the past, so that is always a factor, but our Spire organization has started to find some success there in the last year or so and feel like we have the notebook to compete.”
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
You’re ninth in points and have a two solid runs to start The Chase. How do you and Luke (Lambert, Crew Chief) ) stack up at Bristol?
“I enjoy it. We run well there. I felt like we had a really good shot, and probably the best chance we’d had to win a race last fall before the caution came out late in the pit cycle. It is Luke’s favorite race, and he’s won there a couple times, so we all look forward to that one.”
Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
How much of a benefit is it to go back to tracks for a second time?
“I’m going to a lot of these tracks for the second time and that’s beneficial to me. Just knowing that I’ve seen these tracks before and that I have notes I can lean on makes a difference. I feel like that’s a big help.”
What has been the morale of the team following a solid run this past weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway?
“It’s certainly helpful to have a weekend like St. Louis that after the year we’ve had. But honestly, my team has stayed pretty motivated and confident behind me all year long. The confidence has never wavered. It’s just been a matter of actually going out and doing it, but we know we know that we’re capable of it and we know we can’t point fingers at anybody because we all have a job to do. We can all do our jobs better. It’s hard for me to point fingers at the group and vice versa. We’ve stayed confident in each other all year long.”
What are your thoughts entering Bristol?
“I’m excited for Bristol this weekend. I feel like we’ve got some momentum after a really good day in St. Louis. We had three cars in the top 10 there until an incident took Shane out of contention late in the race. I feel like we found something there and we’re going to try and carry that over. The first Bristol race didn’t go too great for us but we’re doing a lot of different things at this point in the year and hope to see some progress with the cars. It’s my first Bristol night race so I’m excited to get to race under the lights. I won at Bristol before and it’s one of the coolest tracks to win at so that would be awesome to do. I’m excited to carry on the momentum we built at St. Louis and we’re hoping to continue that through the rest of the year.”
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Do you feel like this season has been your greatest improvement or do you feel like it’s consistent with what you’ve done before? Do you feel like you’ve really kind of raised your gain and feel much more confident after the work you’ve done this year?
“Yeah, I think so. I think the last third of last year, we really took some steps forward, and I think we’ve just continued on that. I feel like I’m a lot closer to Ross (Chastain) this year. You know, he’s a pretty good benchmark, I think as a teammate, and I feel like I’ve been able to match him a lot. Still some areas he’s really good at. He’s really good at not having bad days and dragging results out of cars that probably shouldn’t be up there. He’s someone I’m really trying to learn off and match closely. It’s been good to be around or just in front of him in the points this year kind of pushing each other along has been really cool. So yeah, just got to keep the improvement going. I feel like every week, I’m learning stuff and still trying new things. I still have a lot to learn.”
With not having to worry about The Chase anymore, is there still stress on performance every weekend?
“Running bad stinks. The last couple of weeks haven’t been great, so the team has been pretty stressed. We are trying to get better. We aren’t complacent about it, everyone is still pretty mad about not being in The Chase. So, yeah we are trying everything to get better and be prepared for when next season starts.”
This is your second full-time Cup season and second year coming to these tracks you might not be as comfortable with. How much of a difference do you feel when coming to these tracks for a second year?
“Yeah, hopefully it helps me get up to speed quicker. Especially with these longer practices too, you can start working on your car earlier, rather than figuring it out as a driver. More times coming to these tracks and longer practices should help set us up for the weekend.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturer Championships:
Total (1949-2025): 44
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)
Most recent: 2025
Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Driver Championships:
Total (1949-2025): 34
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)
Most recent: Kyle Larson (2025)
Driver and Manufacturer Championship Sweeps: 29
Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2025
Event Victories:
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)
2026 STATISTICS:
Wins: 7
Poles: 6
Laps Led: 2,059
Top-Fives: 48
Top-10s: 97
Stage Wins: 19
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 888 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 772
Laps led to date: 258,793
Top-fives to date: 4,484
Top-10s to date: 9,248
Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:
General Motors: 1,222
Chevrolet: 888
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 854
Ford: 754
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 218
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future.
GM Motorsports, including the Cadillac Formula 1® Team develops and proves advanced technologies in the most demanding environments, accelerating innovation in performance, safety, efficiency, and electrification for its production vehicles. Cadillac Racing is one of the leading manufacturers in the IMSA and FIA World Endurance Championships (WEC). Chevrolet competes in single seaters in the US IndyCar series, and in NASCAR with multiple team partners and drivers. Corvette customer teams compete in GT series across the globe including IMSA and WEC. Learn more at GM.com.
