| NASCAR Cup Series Michigan International Speedway FireKeepers Casino 400 Team Chevy Post-Race Report June 7, 2026 |
Larson, Hocevar Take Home Top-Five Finishes at Michigan International Speedway |
| MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
RACE RECAP: Stage One: Taking center stage in front of a hometown crowd, it was Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar that led Team Chevy in Saturday’s qualifying session to earn a front row starting position for the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. The sold out crowd came to their feet as Hocevar drove his No. 77 Chevrolet to the top position to lead the opening lap of Stage One. Holding onto the position throughout a pair of early-race cautions, the Michigan native made an early report that his Chevrolet was building tight in turns three and four. But despite the ill-handling racecar, Hocevar was able to maintain a top-three running position and a 2.5-second gap to the leader en route to the first green-white checkered flag. Stage Two: With the No. 77 pit crew firing off a quick four-tire and fuel stop under the stage break, Hocevar found himself back in the third position to take the green flag for Stage Two. A masterful restart saw Hocevar quickly maneuver his Chevrolet back to the top of the leaderboard to pace the field for a handful of laps, ultimately falling to second as the field entered a long run. But a caution at Lap 63 opened up the door for varying pit strategy throughout the field. A two-tire call by much of the lead pack, including the Hendrick Motorsports pair of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, saw the duo takeover the front row for the restart. The track position paid dividends for the Alan Gustafson-led team, with Elliott able to take the lead for the first time of the day and hold the position to take the Stage Two victory. Final Stage: A scheduled four-tire and fuel stop for the No. 9 team saw the former champion inherit a position back on the front row to lead the field to the green flag for the final stage. Elliott maintained a small lead until the race went under yellow flag conditions on Lap 142. Crew chief, Alan Gustafson, called his driver to pit road with the lead pack, with the team returning to the track in the fifth position as the first car on a four-tire strategy. But the team’s strong run came to an early end just after the restart when he was involved in an accident with Christopher Bell. Sitting under red flag conditions for nearly 20 minutes, it was Team Chevy drivers that took over the top-four positions to lead the field to the restart with 47 laps to go. Yet another strong strategy-driven race by the Ryan Sparks-led team saw Daniel Suarez earn a race-contending position at the front of the field. With a long green flag run that brought the race to a close, it was the speed of the No. 5 Chevrolet team that prevailed at the end – leading Team Chevy to the checkered flag with a fourth-place finish. |
| Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 ResultsPos. Driver 4th – Kyle Larson5th – Carson Hocevar6th – Daniel Suarez  Chevrolet’s season statistics with 15 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:Wins: 5Poles: 3Top-Fives: 28Top 10s: 54Stage Wins: 13 |
| The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Pocono Raceway with the Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA on Sunday, June 14, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on Amazon Prime, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
| Post-Race Driver Quotes: Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage Two. Finished: 36th“Our No. 3 Dow MobilityScience Chevrolet was really fast, so it’s super unfortunate. It looked like the No. 77 (Carson Hocevar) got into the No. 42 (John H. Nemechek) and turned him across the field. We almost got through it. I saw the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) coming down. I kind of gassed up to get past him, but the No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) was there. I’m frustrated because we had a fast car. The team did a great job, and I’m proud of everyone at RCR and ECR. I just hate that we lost our car. It’s just unfortunate that we have good runs, but get caught up in other peoples’ messes and it just sets you back every time. We’ll regroup and focus on Pocono (Raceway) next weekend.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 4thYou really found something there at the end. Did your car just come back alive? “I don’t know if we just finally got the adjustments right or the track conditions came to me a little bit. I just had a really poor restart there and got ate up, stuck in the middle and fell back somewhere between 13th-15th. Thankfully, my No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy was good that last run to be able to drive back to fourth. I just wish I would have executed it better and we probably would have had a better shot at finishing second or maybe even be able to race Denny (Hamlin, race winner). It looked like he was really fast and drove away from the field, which is tough to do with this package. But overall, just happy with the result. It was a clean day, for the most part. It was a good points day. There were guys around us in points that had a bad day, so we’ll take it.” Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 6th“We definitely had a Chevrolet that could contend all day long. This No. 7 NationGuards Chevrolet team did a great job and I’m just super proud of this group. I felt like we had a top-five car on the short run and a top-10 car on the long run. Our strength was definitely the short-middle part of the run. After three laps, I would fire off really quickly. I feel like on the short run, I was a little bit better than the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin, race winner). Once we lost control of the race, I knew it was going to be a little tough. Overall, just really proud of this team and everyone at Spire Motorsports.” Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in the final stageFinished: 32nd “It was totally my fault. I feel really bad for (Christopher) Bell, just taking him out. I was trying to run the bottom, make use of our fresh tires and at least get to second, I was hoping, and stay side-by-side with him. I just got in there and got free. I thought I was going to spin and was kind of committing to spinning out. As soon as I was committed to spinning, it just hooked up and, unfortunately, sent Christopher into the wall really hard and me shortly thereafter. We were just racing really hard. I thought it was a turning point in the race to make something happen, but just stepped over the line and paid for it.” I know this wasn’t how you wanted to end the day, but if you look at the day collectively as a whole, what are the positives and the gains you see that your team has made? “I thought the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet team had a really solid day going, we just needed to finish it off. We were able to lead some laps, get a stage win and stage points. I’m not sure what the rest of the day was going to bring, but it was solid overall. We were going to have a shot at it and we just needed to get there to find out.” Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 20th“It was a learning day. The way the Cup car reacts to the air and how you use the pedals to carry momentum are so different than what I’m used to in the O’Reilly car. On the initial fire off, our Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet lost the front end on entry. The car would get loose at times and then tight at times, but anytime I got to the right side of someone, I would get immediately loose on entry. We went for spin towards the end but kept it off the wall without damage. Proud of the guys for sticking together and grinding out a top-20 finish.” Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing ChevroletFinished: 23rd“We had a super-fast No. 51 Super.com Chevy all day today. Unfortunately, we got some damage and we had to fix on the left-rear toe link towards the end of the race, so we went a lap down. But my team did an awesome job getting that fixed because, otherwise, we would have had an even worse day. Just really proud of the team for hanging in there and getting the car fixed. It’s a really positive string of races we’ve had, so we’ve got some momentum to build off of.” Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One. Finished: 37th“It’s just unfortunate. Another short race for this No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet team. I was very loose and I just couldn’t save it. Just very frustrated. It’s been a tough few weeks, but we’ll keep our heads down and try to go get them at Pocono (Raceway) next weekend.” Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 30th“Unfortunate day for our SafetyCulture team. Just struggled with the balance of the car all day. It’s a shame to have this kind of day after building such great momentum the last couple of weeks. But we’ll continue to learn from this and be ready for Pocono.” |
| NASCAR Cup SeriesMichigan International SpeedwayFireKeepers Casino 400Team Chevy Post-Race ReportJune 7, 2026 |
Larson, Hocevar Take Home Top-Five Finishes at Michigan International Speedway |
| MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
RACE RECAP: Stage One: Taking center stage in front of a hometown crowd, it was Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar that led Team Chevy in Saturday’s qualifying session to earn a front row starting position for the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. The sold out crowd came to their feet as Hocevar drove his No. 77 Chevrolet to the top position to lead the opening lap of Stage One. Holding onto the position throughout a pair of early-race cautions, the Michigan native made an early report that his Chevrolet was building tight in turns three and four. But despite the ill-handling racecar, Hocevar was able to maintain a top-three running position and a 2.5-second gap to the leader en route to the first green-white checkered flag. Stage Two: With the No. 77 pit crew firing off a quick four-tire and fuel stop under the stage break, Hocevar found himself back in the third position to take the green flag for Stage Two. A masterful restart saw Hocevar quickly maneuver his Chevrolet back to the top of the leaderboard to pace the field for a handful of laps, ultimately falling to second as the field entered a long run. But a caution at Lap 63 opened up the door for varying pit strategy throughout the field. A two-tire call by much of the lead pack, including the Hendrick Motorsports pair of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, saw the duo takeover the front row for the restart. The track position paid dividends for the Alan Gustafson-led team, with Elliott able to take the lead for the first time of the day and hold the position to take the Stage Two victory. Final Stage: A scheduled four-tire and fuel stop for the No. 9 team saw the former champion inherit a position back on the front row to lead the field to the green flag for the final stage. Elliott maintained a small lead until the race went under yellow flag conditions on Lap 142. Crew chief, Alan Gustafson, called his driver to pit road with the lead pack, with the team returning to the track in the fifth position as the first car on a four-tire strategy. But the team’s strong run came to an early end just after the restart when he was involved in an accident with Christopher Bell. Sitting under red flag conditions for nearly 20 minutes, it was Team Chevy drivers that took over the top-four positions to lead the field to the restart with 47 laps to go. Yet another strong strategy-driven race by the Ryan Sparks-led team saw Daniel Suarez earn a race-contending position at the front of the field. With a long green flag run that brought the race to a close, it was the speed of the No. 5 Chevrolet team that prevailed at the end – leading Team Chevy to the checkered flag with a fourth-place finish. |
| Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 ResultsPos. Driver 4th – Kyle Larson5th – Carson Hocevar6th – Daniel Suarez Chevrolet’s season statistics with 15 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:Wins: 5Poles: 3Top-Fives: 28Top 10s: 54Stage Wins: 13 |
| The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Pocono Raceway with the Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA on Sunday, June 14, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on Amazon Prime, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
| Post-Race Driver Quotes: Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage Two. Finished: 36th“Our No. 3 Dow MobilityScience Chevrolet was really fast, so it’s super unfortunate. It looked like the No. 77 (Carson Hocevar) got into the No. 42 (John H. Nemechek) and turned him across the field. We almost got through it. I saw the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) coming down. I kind of gassed up to get past him, but the No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) was there. I’m frustrated because we had a fast car. The team did a great job, and I’m proud of everyone at RCR and ECR. I just hate that we lost our car. It’s just unfortunate that we have good runs, but get caught up in other peoples’ messes and it just sets you back every time. We’ll regroup and focus on Pocono (Raceway) next weekend.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 4thYou really found something there at the end. Did your car just come back alive? “I don’t know if we just finally got the adjustments right or the track conditions came to me a little bit. I just had a really poor restart there and got ate up, stuck in the middle and fell back somewhere between 13th-15th. Thankfully, my No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy was good that last run to be able to drive back to fourth. I just wish I would have executed it better and we probably would have had a better shot at finishing second or maybe even be able to race Denny (Hamlin, race winner). It looked like he was really fast and drove away from the field, which is tough to do with this package. But overall, just happy with the result. It was a clean day, for the most part. It was a good points day. There were guys around us in points that had a bad day, so we’ll take it.” Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 6th“We definitely had a Chevrolet that could contend all day long. This No. 7 NationGuards Chevrolet team did a great job and I’m just super proud of this group. I felt like we had a top-five car on the short run and a top-10 car on the long run. Our strength was definitely the short-middle part of the run. After three laps, I would fire off really quickly. I feel like on the short run, I was a little bit better than the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin, race winner). Once we lost control of the race, I knew it was going to be a little tough. Overall, just really proud of this team and everyone at Spire Motorsports.” Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in the final stageFinished: 32nd “It was totally my fault. I feel really bad for (Christopher) Bell, just taking him out. I was trying to run the bottom, make use of our fresh tires and at least get to second, I was hoping, and stay side-by-side with him. I just got in there and got free. I thought I was going to spin and was kind of committing to spinning out. As soon as I was committed to spinning, it just hooked up and, unfortunately, sent Christopher into the wall really hard and me shortly thereafter. We were just racing really hard. I thought it was a turning point in the race to make something happen, but just stepped over the line and paid for it.” I know this wasn’t how you wanted to end the day, but if you look at the day collectively as a whole, what are the positives and the gains you see that your team has made? “I thought the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet team had a really solid day going, we just needed to finish it off. We were able to lead some laps, get a stage win and stage points. I’m not sure what the rest of the day was going to bring, but it was solid overall. We were going to have a shot at it and we just needed to get there to find out.” Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 20th“It was a learning day. The way the Cup car reacts to the air and how you use the pedals to carry momentum are so different than what I’m used to in the O’Reilly car. On the initial fire off, our Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet lost the front end on entry. The car would get loose at times and then tight at times, but anytime I got to the right side of someone, I would get immediately loose on entry. We went for spin towards the end but kept it off the wall without damage. Proud of the guys for sticking together and grinding out a top-20 finish.” Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing ChevroletFinished: 23rd“We had a super-fast No. 51 Super.com Chevy all day today. Unfortunately, we got some damage and we had to fix on the left-rear toe link towards the end of the race, so we went a lap down. But my team did an awesome job getting that fixed because, otherwise, we would have had an even worse day. Just really proud of the team for hanging in there and getting the car fixed. It’s a really positive string of races we’ve had, so we’ve got some momentum to build off of.” Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One. Finished: 37th“It’s just unfortunate. Another short race for this No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet team. I was very loose and I just couldn’t save it. Just very frustrated. It’s been a tough few weeks, but we’ll keep our heads down and try to go get them at Pocono (Raceway) next weekend.” Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 30th“Unfortunate day for our SafetyCulture team. Just struggled with the balance of the car all day. It’s a shame to have this kind of day after building such great momentum the last couple of weeks. But we’ll continue to learn from this and be ready for Pocono.” |