Alex Bowman at Chicagoland Speedway – Team Chevy Photo
William Byron and Alex Bowman Lead Chevrolet with Top-Five Finishes in the NASCAR Cup Series Return to Chicagoland Speedway
In the NASCAR Cup Series long-awaited return to Chicagoland Speedway,
William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team brought
home a fourth-place finish to lead Chevrolet to the checkered flag of
the eero 400. The result, his fourth top-five finish of the season, was
accompanied by a sweep of the stage wins and a season-high 94 laps led.
Rounding out the Team Chevy top-five, Alex Bowman put together yet
another strong Chicagoland campaign – driving his No. 48 Chevrolet to a
top-five finish and a spot into the third round of the In-Season
Challenge.
RACE RECAP:
Stage One:
With the first caution of the day falling on the opening lap, a second
attempt at taking the green flag saw front-row starter, Kyle Larson,
drive his Chevrolet to the command position. The reigning champion was
able to hold onto the lead for the first 18 laps of the opening stage,
ultimately losing the position to a hard-charging Denny Hamlin. Settled
into the position until the second caution fell near the halfway point
of the stage, Larson’s first report from behind the wheel indicated
that he was fighting a tight-handling car in Turns Three and Four. With
a call for four tires, fuel and a minor adjustment by crew chief Cliff
Daniels, the No. 5 pit crew kept their driver in the second position to
take the green flag for the restart. A side-by-side battle with Hamlin
saw Larson be able to muscle his Chevrolet past the pole-sitter to
retain the lead on the exit of Turn Four. With an assist from a
three-position gain in the race off pit road under the caution, it was
his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, that was able to
capitalize on the track position during the restart to reach second just
before the third caution of the day. A trio of early-race cautions saw
the start of varying strategies along pit road. Returning to the track
as the first cars on a four-tire strategy, Larson and Byron netted out
in the 11th and 12th positions, respectively, to take the green flag
with 27 laps to go in the stage. The advantage of fresh Goodyear rubber
came to display early in the run as the teammates made their way back
into the top-five in just five laps around the 1.5-mile oval. As the
opening stage wound down, the speed of the No. 24 Chevrolet came to
light as the driver climbed back up into the second position and quickly
went to work on then race leader, Austin Cindric, in the closing laps –
ultimately making the pass on Lap 69 to lead his first laps of evening.
Keeping his teammate in his rearview mirror, Byron went on to cash in on
the first green-white checkered flag with Larson in tow to give
Chevrolet an one-two finish in Stage One.
Stage Two:
Under the stage break, crew chief Rudy Fugle made the call for four
tires and fuel, and with a masterful stop by the No. 24 pit crew, Byron
was able to maintain the top position for the start of Stage Two. Byron
was able to lead the opening lap of Stage Two, but the stint was
short-lived as Bubba Wallace traded positions just a few laps later. The
green conditions turned yellow shortly thereafter when the third-place
runner, Larson, spun off Turn Four. Lined up on the outside lane of the
front-row for the restart, Byron was able to remain on the door of
Wallace through the backstretch before settling back into the second
position. As the race finally settled into a long run to set-up for a
green flag pit cycle, Byron reported that the previous adjustment made
an improvement to the handling of his Chevrolet, but he was still
experiencing overall tight conditions throughout the track. Making the
call to hit pit road just past the halfway mark of Stage Two, Byron made
his way back up into the eighth position just as the fifth caution of
the day flew amidst the tail-end of the cycle. With the remaining cars
completing their stops under the caution, Byron found his way back to a
position on the front-row to lead the field to the restart. This time,
it was Byron that was able to power off a strong restart to take over
the lead once again with 20 laps to go in the stage. Reaching up to just
over an one-second lead over Briscoe, Byron started to build two-numbers
tighter late in the long run but managed to hold him off to drive to a
stage win sweep.
Final Stage:
With the No. 24 pit crew keeping their driver up front once again, Byron
found his way back to the front-row to lead the field to the green flag
for the final stage of the race. Electing the inside lane for the
restart, it was no competition for the top position as Byron cleared
Briscoe in Turns One and Two for the start of the run. With a two-stop
strategy for the final run, Byron set the pace for the first-half of the
stage as the field approached the final green flag pit cycle of the
race. But with Briscoe making his stop just one lap before Byron, the
No. 24 Chevrolet fell to the second position as the cycle was deemed
complete. Going green to the end, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native
went on to take the checkered flag with fourth-place finish.
Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 Results
Pos. Driver
4th – William Byron
5th – Alex Bowman
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 19 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 6
Poles: 4
Top-Fives: 36
Top 10s: 68
Stage Wins: 15
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at EchoPark Speedway with
the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart on Sunday, July 12, at 7 p.m.
ET. Live coverage can be found on TNT Sports, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR
Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 24th
“We were going in the right direction with the No. 3 Dow Salutes
Veterans Aptiv Chevrolet here today at Chicagoland Speedway, but as the
race progressed, especially in stage 3, I was battling wear on the right
rear. It was a frustrating day, but everyone across RCR and ECR gave it
their all. We’ll take what we learned and reset as we turn our
attention back to speedway racing next weekend in Atlanta.”
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Anduril
Finished: 4th
You wanted a big points day, so you can check that box. Do you walk away
happy with this finish?
“We definitely reached that objective. I’m happy with the finish
because we maximized what we could do. A win would have been awesome.
We’ve been craving that for a long time and working really hard to get
there. We could kind of taste it there with a couple runs to go. We got
jumped by the No. 19 (Chase Briscoe, race winner) there on that last
green flag pit cycle, but I just didn’t quite have the pace that last
run to keep up with him, and then those other guys had fresher tires at
the end.
Just thank you to Anduril, Chevrolet and everyone at Hendrick
Motorsports for working super-hard. We’ve been grinding a lot. For us
on the No. 24 team, that last two ovals we’ve been to, we’ve had a
shot to compete and win, so we just have to keep that going.”
Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One.
Finished: 37th
“Not the day we should have had in the zone x 7-Eleven Chevrolet. Hate
it for everyone who works at RCR, ECR, and CT Spring because they built
a good car. We were making gains with the balance. Fired off a little
tight but the adjustments on the first stop helped. A few laps after
that stop, right past halfway of Stage 1, we got hit from behind under
green which ended our day early. We will turn our attention to next week
but proud to be a part of this team.”
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 5th
“It definitely feels nice to have a good, normal, solid day for this
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team. We didn’t start the day how we wanted to.
We were super-tight taking off on those first couple of restarts. But at
the end of Stage Two until the end of the race, I felt pretty good about
the Ally Chevrolet. Hats off to the entire No. 48 team. We just needed a
good, normal day. It feels like a win with how the season has gone, but
we just have to keep digging every week.”