5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 33 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Week: 7th (Las Vegas)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: T-7
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No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
2026 / Cup Career / Darlington
Races: 5 / 407 / 16
Wins: 0 / 32 / 1
Poles: 0 / 22 / 0
Top 5: 1 / 135 / 7
Top 10: 3 / 207 / 9
Laps Led: 117 / 10,479 / 1,050
Stage Wins: 0 / 72 / 6
Average Finish: 12.8 / 14.0 / 12.9
• Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team led 62 laps en route to a seventh-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last Sunday. The result marked their third consecutive top-10 finish of the season.
• Larson has finished in the top three in six of his 16 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington Raceway, including a win in the fall of 2023. He has led laps in all but four of those races and has paced 394 of the 1,050 total laps run at Darlington in the Next Gen car.
• The defending Cup Series champion has won six stages at Darlington, second most among all drivers.
• Larson will fill in for Alex Bowman in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series race Saturday at Darlington, driving the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. Last weekend at Las Vegas, Larson won in that ride.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 30 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last Week: 2nd (Las Vegas)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 5th
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No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet
2026 / Cup Career / Darlington
Races: 2 / 363 / 18
Wins: 0 / 21 / 0
Poles: 0 / 12 / 0
Top 5: 2 / 117 / 4
Top 10: 3 / 193 / 8
Laps Led: 13 / 5,993 / 159
Stage Wins: 0 / 39 / 3
Average Finish: 9.4 / 12.8 / 15.9
• Chase Elliott earned his best finish of the 2026 season last weekend, placing second at Las Vegas.
• Elliott’s average finish of 9.4 is his best through five races since 2017 and ranks third among all drivers.
• He is one of five drivers to finish on the lead lap in every race this season.
• Elliott has a best Darlington Cup finish of third (spring 2023) and four top‑eight results in his last eight starts there.
• Last spring, Elliott finished eighth at Darlington.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 28 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Week: 3rd (Las Vegas)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: T-7
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No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet
2026 / Cup Career / Darlington
Races: 5 / 293 / 15
Wins: 0 / 16 / 1
Poles: 0 / 16 / 2
Top 5: 1 / 66 / 5
Top 10: 2 / 122 / 7
Laps Led: 28 / 4,336 / 331
Stage Wins: 1 / 35 / 4
Average Finish: 12.6 / 15.1 / 15.4
• William Byron scored a stage win and led 26 laps at Las Vegas before finishing third, his best result of the season.
• Byron has earned 35 stage points through five races and ranks third in average running position at 10.03.
• He has run the fifth-most laps in the top five and the second-most in the top 10 this year.
• At Darlington, Byron has two poles, one win (spring 2023), and four stage wins.
• In last year’s spring Darlington race, he led 243 laps and finished second.
• In the Next Gen era at Darlington, Byron ranks top three in most major categories, including laps led.
48 JUSTIN ALLGAIER
Age: 39 (June 6, 1986)
Hometown: Riverton, Illinois
Last Week: 25th
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 36th (owner’s points)
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No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
2026 / Cup Career / Darlington
Races: 1 / 84 / 2
Wins: 0 / 0 / 0
Poles: 0 / 0 / 0
Top 5: 0 / 0 / 0
Top 10: 0 / 2 / 0
Laps Led: 3 / 20 / 0
Stage Wins: 0 / 0 / 0
Average Finish: 38.0 / 27.3 / 35.5
• Alex Bowman will not compete this weekend as he continues to recover from vertigo; Justin Allgaier will drive the No. 48.
• It will be Allgaier’s second consecutive week filling in after driving at Las Vegas.
• In the NOAPS, Allgaier has earned stage points in every stage this year.
• He won the Phoenix NOAPS race, extending his record to 10 straight seasons with a win.
• At Darlington in the NOAPS, Allgaier leads active drivers with three wins and nine straight top 10s.
17 COREY DAY
Age: 20 (Nov. 28, 2005)
Hometown: Clovis, California
Last Finish: 8th (Las Vegas)
Crew Chief: Adam Wall
Standings: 7th
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• Corey Day will make his first NASCAR O’Reilly Series start at Darlington on Saturday.
• He finished ninth in the Truck Series race at Darlington in 2025.
• Day led laps for the first time in his stock‑car career last weekend at Las Vegas.
• He enters Darlington with four straight top‑10 finishes.
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS
2026 / All-Time / Darlington
Races: 5 / 1,422 / 36
Wins: 0 / 320* / 16*
Poles: 0 / 259* / 9
Top 5: 4 / 1,326* / 58*
Top 10: 8 / 2,268* / 97*
Laps Led: 158 / 85,525* / 4,269*
Stage Wins: 1 / 138 / 8
*Most
**Tied for most
• Hendrick Motorsports enters the weekend as Darlington’s all-time leader in wins, top fives, top 10s, and laps led.
• The team has won five of the last eight Darlington stages.
• At least one Hendrick car has finished in the top 10 in 12 of the last 13 Darlington races.
• The Hendrick engine department has earned 559 national-series wins, including four straight in NOAPS.
• HMS remains the all-time premier series leader in wins, poles, top fives, top 10s, laps led, and championships.
QUOTABLE
Kyle Larson on returning to Darlington:
“I’m looking forward to getting back to Darlington and applying what we’ve learned. I feel like this track suits my racing style.”
Chase Elliott on Darlington:
“Darlington has been a tough one for us, but it’s a place I enjoy. Having a better Saturday will be key.”
William Byron on momentum heading to Darlington:
“Last week’s race was more indicative of what we expect this season. I’m hopeful we can build on our past success at Darlington.”
Justin Allgaier on subbing for Bowman:
“We all hope Alex continues to recover. I’ve always loved Darlington and hope we can make him proud.”
Corey Day on his first Darlington NOAPS start:
“Darlington always puts on a great show. I’m excited to experience it in the No. 17 and see what speed we bring.”
Hendrick Motorsports PR