Chastain Leads Chevrolet to Four Top-Six Finishes in Overtime Finish at EchoPark Speedway |
| In an overtime attempt, it was Team Chevy’s Ross Chastain that drove his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to a third-place finish – marking his first top-five finish of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. The 33-year-old Alva, Florida, native led the Bowtie brigade to four top-six results with Spire Motorsports Carson Hocevar and Daniel Suarez in the fourth and fifth positions, respectively, and Trackhouse Racing Shane van Gisbergen in sixth. | MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
| Race Recap: With rain washing out yesterday’s qualifying session for the NASCAR Cup Series, the starting lineup was set by the rulebook – putting Team Chevy’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Elliott on the second row to lead the Bowtie brigade to the green-flag at EchoPark Speedway. The beginning laps of Stage One saw the majority of the field settle into their double-file formation. But it was Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar that quickly started to make a march through the field – sitting among the top-five of the race’s biggest movers as the No. 77 made his first appearance in the top-10 within just the first 10 laps of the race. But the run went south at the midway point of the opening stage when Hocevar tagged the wall – quickly losing positions before the Michigan native opted to hit pit road with the threat of a tire going down. The 60-lap stage went on caution-free with the reigning champion, Kyle Larson, turning a 16th-place starting position into a battle for the stage win with a pair of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, with the California native ultimately leading the Chevrolet camp to the first green-white checkered flag in the third position. Among the five Team Chevy drivers that earned points in the opening stage included rookie Connor Zilisch, who made an impressive charge through the field from 31st to a ninth-place result in Stage One. Following a podium result in Stage One, the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet picked up two positions to win the race off pit road – inheriting a front-row position to start the next 100-lap run. With the first natural caution of the day falling at Lap 82 and sitting within the fuel window, the majority of the field hit pit road for a gas-and-go stop. Maintaining a position in the top-five throughout much of Stage Two, Larson put his No. 5 Chevrolet in prime position for the battle for the stage win. But a fight to the line saw Larson make contact with the No. 97 that ultimately saw his hopes for his first drafting-track win come to an end. Two-time EchoPark Speedway winner, William Byron, entered the final run of the race with a pair of back-to-back top-four stage points. With the gamble for four tires called by new crew chief, Brandon McSwain, the fresh set paid early dividends for the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet team with Ross Chastain making a quick climb back into the top-five with 50 laps to go. With multiple players battling for the lead, a multi-car incident mid-pack led to an overtime attempt to finish the 400-mile event. Leading the Bowtie brigade to the green-flag was the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet of Carson Hocevar, who made the ultimate rebound from his Stage One troubles to a true contender for the win. Lining up for a second overtime attempt saw Hocevar take the outside lane of the front-row with a pair of Team Chevy drivers, Chastain and Daniel Suarez, in tow. But it was Chastain that was able to maneuver his Chevrolet-powered machine up to the third position on the final lap to lead the manufacturer to the checkered-flag. |
| Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 ResultsPos. Driver 3rd – Ross Chastain4th – Carson Hocevar5th – Daniel Suarez6th – Shane van Gisbergen  Chevrolet’s season statistics with two NASCAR Cup Series races complete:Wins: 0Poles: 1Top-Fives: 5Top 10s: 6Stage Wins: 0 |
| The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Circuit of The Americas with the DuraMax Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne on Sunday, March 1, at 3:30 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
| NASCAR Cup SeriesEchoPark SpeedwayAutotrader 400Team Chevy Post-Race ReportFebruary 22, 2026 |
Chastain Leads Chevrolet to Four Top-Six Finishes in Overtime Finish at EchoPark Speedway |
| In an overtime attempt, it was Team Chevy’s Ross Chastain that drove his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to a third-place finish – marking his first top-five finish of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. The 33-year-old Alva, Florida, native led the Bowtie brigade to four top-six results with Spire Motorsports Carson Hocevar and Daniel Suarez in the fourth and fifth positions, respectively, and Trackhouse Racing Shane van Gisbergen in sixth. | MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
| Race Recap: With rain washing out yesterday’s qualifying session for the NASCAR Cup Series, the starting lineup was set by the rulebook – putting Team Chevy’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Elliott on the second row to lead the Bowtie brigade to the green-flag at EchoPark Speedway. The beginning laps of Stage One saw the majority of the field settle into their double-file formation. But it was Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar that quickly started to make a march through the field – sitting among the top-five of the race’s biggest movers as the No. 77 made his first appearance in the top-10 within just the first 10 laps of the race. But the run went south at the midway point of the opening stage when Hocevar tagged the wall – quickly losing positions before the Michigan native opted to hit pit road with the threat of a tire going down. The 60-lap stage went on caution-free with the reigning champion, Kyle Larson, turning a 16th-place starting position into a battle for the stage win with a pair of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, with the California native ultimately leading the Chevrolet camp to the first green-white checkered flag in the third position. Among the five Team Chevy drivers that earned points in the opening stage included rookie Connor Zilisch, who made an impressive charge through the field from 31st to a ninth-place result in Stage One. Following a podium result in Stage One, the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet picked up two positions to win the race off pit road – inheriting a front-row position to start the next 100-lap run. With the first natural caution of the day falling at Lap 82 and sitting within the fuel window, the majority of the field hit pit road for a gas-and-go stop. Maintaining a position in the top-five throughout much of Stage Two, Larson put his No. 5 Chevrolet in prime position for the battle for the stage win. But a fight to the line saw Larson make contact with the No. 97 that ultimately saw his hopes for his first drafting-track win come to an end. Two-time EchoPark Speedway winner, William Byron, entered the final run of the race with a pair of back-to-back top-four stage points. With the gamble for four tires called by new crew chief, Brandon McSwain, the fresh set paid early dividends for the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet team with Ross Chastain making a quick climb back into the top-five with 50 laps to go. With multiple players battling for the lead, a multi-car incident mid-pack led to an overtime attempt to finish the 400-mile event. Leading the Bowtie brigade to the green-flag was the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet of Carson Hocevar, who made the ultimate rebound from his Stage One troubles to a true contender for the win. Lining up for a second overtime attempt saw Hocevar take the outside lane of the front-row with a pair of Team Chevy drivers, Chastain and Daniel Suarez, in tow. But it was Chastain that was able to maneuver his Chevrolet-powered machine up to the third position on the final lap to lead the manufacturer to the checkered-flag. |
| Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 ResultsPos. Driver 3rd – Ross Chastain4th – Carson Hocevar5th – Daniel Suarez6th – Shane van Gisbergen Chevrolet’s season statistics with two NASCAR Cup Series races complete:Wins: 0Poles: 1Top-Fives: 5Top 10s: 6Stage Wins: 0 |
| The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Circuit of The Americas with the DuraMax Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne on Sunday, March 1, at 3:30 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
| Post-Race Driver Quotes: Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 3rd“I needed the No. 19 (Chase Briscoe) to not push the No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) into Turn One there, but he followed him because that was his best bet. And then the No. 45 pulled us down the backstretch like supersonic. That was insane how fast that car with the damage pulled the lane down the backstretch. We were all wide-open and we couldn’t gain anything. We needed to be turning better with our No. 1 Wendy’s Chevy today. We were just a little too tight in traffic, and then even in clean air, we were scrubbing the fronts too much. We were never quite good enough to get control of the race. We’re always trying to cycle forward. Brandon McSwain (crew chief) made some great calls from the pit box.” Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 29th “Our Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet was plenty fast to have a great finish today but we ended up with damage in Stage 2. I was in the middle line following my teammate, Kyle Busch, and all of the sudden someone clipped me. We spent the rest of the race salvaging what we could, and our Richard Boswell-led team did a great job making adjustments to give us a shot at a decent finish. Unfortunately, we got clipped again in the closing laps of the race. It was just wrong place, wrong time. I hate it for our No. 3 team and everyone at RCR, ECR and CT Springs because they are putting in the work. We will keep focusing on what we can control and hopefully the luck turns.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident coming to the green-white checkered flag to end Stage Two. Finished: 32nd“I just messed up. I knew the No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) was inside of me at one point of the corner, but I got clear of him. I didn’t quite realize that the No. 97 (Shane van Gisbergen) had gotten inside of him. So once I was clear, I just wanted to cut distance and short-cut my way to the stage finish. The No. 97 was out of my mirror. I just hung a quick left and ran right into him. There was nothing anyone else did wrong, it was all on me. I hate it for this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team. We had a great Chevy. I felt like up until that point, I was doing a pretty good job. As always, we’re just trying to build our notebook up on these places. I know we crashed, but I feel like we are still getting better and better when we come to drafting tracks, especially here at Atlanta.” Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 5th “Honestly, I thought we were in an amazing spot for that last restart. The No. 77 (Carson Hocevar) was leading the top lane and the No. 1 (Ross Chastain) was in front of me. I thought we were in a beautiful spot to make it work. The No. 97 (Shane van Gisbergen) was on my left side and pushed me wide. I felt like that broke down the top lane a little bit. I’m not sure, but I feel like we could have done a little bit better. I feel like we gave that one away because we were in the perfect spot. But overall, I’m very, very proud of everyone at Spire Motorsports. I couldn’t be prouder, honestly. This team just continues to fight; continues to show up and continues to get better. They never doubt that we can make the car better. I can’t thank everyone at Chevrolet and the Hendrick Engine Shop for the power under the hood. We just need to keep cleaning a few things up to keep getting better, but very excited for the start of the season.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage TwoFinished: 34th “I just didn’t have the best of exits off of Turn Two and I was a little crooked getting to the wall. I just got rammed by the No. 4 (Noah Gragson); no check-up or anything. He didn’t give me an opportunity to make sure I was straight before hitting me or get into me gently to just try and get the momentum back going again. He just drove right through me. It sucks for this No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet team and everyone at Richard Childress Racing. I thought we had a really good Chevy. We definitely would have finished better than where we were.” William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 28th “I just didn’t have much grip, so I was searching for air and got loose. It was on me. I was just pushing hard and had to kind of put myself in some weird spots. I didn’t have any steering, so the further I got down the track, I just kept turning to the right. When I slowed down, I was just hoping I could get back to pit road, but then I got clocked. It was a wild race. It was getting really wild there at the end. I felt like I was in a good spot to at least get a good finish. I don’t think I was going to be able to lead with the damage I had, but I was just trying to mix myself into the top-five. I think I was probably fifth or sixth there. It was crazy, but nothing out of the ordinary, really. Overall, I enjoyed it. Our No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet was pretty good all day.” Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage Two. Finished: 35th “I couldn’t really see a lot in front of me. All of a sudden, the No. 35 (Riley Herbst) turned sideways in front of us. I locked up my brakes as hard as I could, but our No. 47 Chef Boyardee Chevy just came to a stop. We were having some fueling issues and that’s just what kind of got us back further than where we wanted to be. We’ll have to go take a look at that. But I was having a blast. It’s a lot of fun out there. We made a few changes that I felt made our Chevy way better. We worked our way back up there in the later part of Stage Two, so bummed how it ended. We’ll regroup and get ready for COTA.” Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 4th “I was really happy with this No. 77 Spectrum Chevrolet. Our car was really fast to go from two laps down to getting stage points and finishing fourth. Overall, it was a good points day for us. I was taking every run I could. I’m sure I owe people apologies, but I think we’re all battling for spaces and runs. At the end, all four tires were straight. My toe was knocked out, but it was still pretty fast. Pretty excited about a strong start to the season.” Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in the final stage. Finished: 30th“I couldn’t see much, really. I was behind the No. 48 (Alex Bowman). He checked up and I just didn’t quite have enough time to check up. I couldn’t see what was going on in front of the No. 48. He had a gap in front of him and he could see it. It’s unfortunate for the No. 88 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet team. We were making moves and getting up towards the front. It’s just unfortunate for it to end like that.” |