The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the 0.533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway, which is a high-banked concrete oval, for the eighth of 36 races in the 2026 NASCAR Cup season. The Cup Series will be joined this weekend by the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, which were each in action last weekend at Rockingham Speedway.
As the NASCAR Cup Series is coming off of its first off-weekend of the season, this will represent a good gauge as to which teams were able to make improvements in their time away from the track last weekend, and which ones will likely be fighting things for the remainder of the campaign.
On Monday evening, NASCAR revealed the preliminary entry list for Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, and contained on the list are 37 cars, comprised of the 36 Chartered entries, which compete every weekend, and one “open” entry team.
The lone “open” entry team this weekend will be the No. 66 Garage 66 team, which will field the Brian King Roofing Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Chad Finchum, a Tennessee native.
Chase Elliott, who won the most recent NASCAR Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway a couple of weeks ago, will carry his anchor partner — NAPA Auto Parts — on his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet this weekend.
Elliott, who has only won back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series events once in his career, will look to add a second two-race winning streak to his resume this weekend.
Kyle Larson, the defending winner of the Food City 500, will carry his familiar HendrickCars.com paint scheme on his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet this weekend. Larson is a three-time race winner in NASCAR Cup Series competition at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Kyle Busch, who is in the midst of a career-long 100-race losing skid, has the most wins at Bristol Motor Speedway among all active drivers with eight career wins. Busch will compete in Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event, driving the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado, and then will look to snap his Cup Series losing streak in Sunday’s race at one of his best tracks.
Busch will carry BankOZK sponsorship on his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in Sunday’s race.
Food City 500 Entry List
Car
Driver
Team
Sponsor
Manufacturer
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
Busch Light Fishing
Chevrolet
2
Austin Cindric
Team Penske
Menards / Tarkett
Ford
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Bass Pro Shops / Winchester Long Beard XR
Chevrolet
4
Noah Gragson
Front Row Motorsports
Long John Silver’s
Ford
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
HendrickCars.com
Chevrolet
6
Brad Keselowski
RFK Racing
Consumer Cellular
Ford
7
Daniel Suarez
Spire Motorsports
NationsGuard
Chevrolet
8
Kyle Busch
Richard Childress Racing
BankOZK
Chevrolet
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
NAPA Auto Parts
Chevrolet
10
Ty Dillon
Kaulig Racing
Ohio Logistics
Chevrolet
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
National Debt Relief
Toyota
12
Ryan Blaney
Team Penske
Discount Tire
Ford
16
AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing
Grizzly Nicotine Pouches
Chevrolet
17
Chris Buescher
RFK Racing
Trimble
Ford
19
Chase Briscoe
Joe Gibbs Racing
Lance
Toyota
20
Christopher Bell
Joe Gibbs Racing
Rheem
Toyota
21
Josh Berry
Wood Brothers Racing
Motorcraft / Quick Lane
Ford
22
Joey Logano
Team Penske
Shell Pennzoil
Ford
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
WWE / Chumba Casino
Toyota
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Valvoline
Chevrolet
34
Todd Gilliland
Front Row Motorsports
Love’s Travel Stops
Ford
35
Riley Herbst
23XI Racing
Monster Energy Zero Sugar
Toyota
38
Zane Smith
Front Row Motorsports
Aaron’s Rent to Own
Ford
41
Cole Custer
Haas Factory Team
TBA
Chevrolet
42
John Hunter Nemechek
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Dollar Tree
Toyota
43
Erik Jones
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
AdventHealth
Toyota
45
Tyler Reddick
23XI Racing
Comparion Insurance
Toyota
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Hyak Motorsports
NOS Energy Drink
Chevrolet
48
Justin Allgaier
Hendrick Motorsports
Ally
Chevrolet
51
Cody Ware
Rick Ware Racing
TBA
Chevrolet
54
Ty Gibbs
Joe Gibbs Racing
Monster Energy
Toyota
60
Ryan Preece
RFK Racing
Kroger / Muscle Milk
Ford
66
Chad Finchum
Garage 66
Brian King Roofing
Ford
71
Michael McDowell
Spire Motorsports
Delaware Life
Chevrolet
77
Carson Hocevar
Spire Motorsports
Spectrum
Chevrolet
88
Connor Zilisch
Trackhouse Racing
Roto-Rooter
Chevrolet
97
Shane van Gisbergen
Trackhouse Racing
WeatherTech
Chevrolet