| NASCAR Cup SeriesWorld Wide Technology RacewayEnjoy Illinois 300Team Chevy Post-Race ReportSeptember 13, 2026 |
Larson Continues Title Fight with a Trip to Victory Lane at World Wide Technology RacewayTeam Chevy Earns Season-Best Seven Top-10 Results |
| MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
| Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson, drove to a statement performance at World Wide Technology Speedway to put the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team right back into the title fight. Battling through a race that saw a history-making 18 cautions and an overtime finish, the Elk Grove, California, native snapped a 51-race winless streak and took home the checkered flag in the Enjoy Illinois 300. The victory – Larson’s first at WWTR and 33rd all-time in NASCAR’s top division – put the team up into the second position of the points standings and just nine points out of the lead. It was a season-best showing by the Bowtie brigade with Larson leading the manufacturer to seven of the top-10 finishing positions. Hendrick Motorsports owned three of the top-five with Alex Bowman’s career-best WWTR effort of second followed by William Byron’s rebound fourth-place finish. Three ECR-powered Chevrolet’s joined in on the strong afternoon at the Illinois-based circuit with Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain finishing fifth and Connor Zilisch in seventh, with Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon coming home in sixth. After a loose wheel in the final stage, Spire Motorsports’ Chase contender, Carson Hocevar, salvaged an eighth-place finish to round out the Team Chevy top-10. RACE RECAP: Stage One: Reigning champions, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team, continued their strong start to their title-defending campaign in yesterday’s qualifying session – earning a front row starting position for the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway. The 45-lap opening stage was marred with early cautions, and through three restarts before the halfway point, Team Chevy Chase contenders, Larson and Carson Hocevar, managed to hold on to positions within the top-five. But a restart with 13 to go in the stage saw Larson test his strength in the top lane – making a masterful three-wide move to jump back up into the third position. With the leaders quickly singling out, the California native settled into position and kept the top-two contenders at a margin under 1.7-seconds en route to the first green-white checkered flag. Stage Two: Varying pit strategies during the eventful opening stage saw a shake-up in the lineup with the top-11 cars opting to forgo a trip to pit road under the stage break. Stage winner, Joey Logano, and Larson were the first-two cars on a four-tire strategy to start the stage with the No. 5 taking the green flag for the next 95-lap run from the 16th position. With a similar start to the second stage, a pair of cautions brought the field within their fuel window early in the run. While six cars stayed out, Larson was among the group that hit pit road with crew chief, Cliff Daniels, calling for two tires and fuel. Among those that stayed out was his Team Chevy teammate, Ross Chastain, who went on to inherit the lead for the restart. Despite having nearly 20-lap older tires, Chastain put up a valiant effort to defend Larson, but the No. 5 ultimately made the pass for the lead and set sail just past the one-third mark of the stage. With the first long green flag run finally underway, Larson continued to hold a strong lead as the leaders worked their way through lap traffic. With 10 laps to go, it was a close call for Larson when Zane Smith blew a brake rotor within a handful of car links in front of his Chevrolet. A heads-up move saw Larson escape damage, and with the timing of the caution, the incident ultimately brought Stage Two to a close with the reigning champion going on to collect the win. Final Stage: Pitting for four tires, fuel and a slight balance adjustment, Larson was the second car off pit road to regain a spot on the front row for the start of the final stage. But a quick yellow on the opening lap brought the race back under the caution, with the incident seeing his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, collected with minor damage. Restarting from the inside line proved to be a slight challenge for Larson, with the driver ultimately filing into the third position after the restart. But back-to-back cautions opened up the opportunity for pit strategy once again for teams to try and make it on fuel. While the majority of the field made the turn to pit road, Larson was among the two cars to make the gamble to stay out. While the restart saw Larson make a quick fall down the top-10 of the leaderboard, a caution just a handful of laps later allowed Daniels to call Larson to pit road for a four-tire and fuel stop – ultimately putting his driver on the offense while sitting in a safer position on fuel mileage. On the same strategy as the majority of the field, it was the Luke Lambert-led No. 77 team that took their turn back at the front of the Bowtie brigade as they were settled within the top-four as the race hit 50 laps to go. While under caution for yet another blown brake rotor, the field sat on the horizon of what could have been the last trip to pit road. With just five cars staying out, then-race leader, Logano, led the rest of the field to pit road including Team Chevy Chase drivers Hocevar, Larson and Elliott. With yet another gamble from atop the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing pit box, Chastain found himself back within the top-five for the restart. While at a nearly 30-lap deficit on his tires, Chastain was putting on a strong fight to maintain his running position in fourth when a caution with 27 laps to go flew for Elliott, whose top-10 effort came to an unfortunate end when he became the next victim to a blown brake rotor. With 13 laps to go, Larson made a power move on the restart to regain the lead just as a multi-car accident mid-pack ultimately brought the race under red flag conditions. Lining up on the outside lane of the front row with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Alex Bowman, in his rearview mirror, a push on the restart saw Larson clear Logano with seven laps to go and start his quest back to victory lane. Surviving an overtime finish, Larson went on to make his first trip to victory lane of the season and led Team Chevy to seven top-10 results. |
| Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 ResultsPos. Driver 1st – Kyle Larson2nd – Alex Bowman4th – William Byron5th – Ross Chastain6th – Austin Dillon7th – Connor Zilisch8th – Carson Hocevar  Chevrolet’s season statistics with 28 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:Wins: 7Poles: 6Top-Fives: 48Top 10s: 97Stage Wins: 19 |
| The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase will continue at Bristol Motor Speedway with the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday, September 19, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
| NASCAR Cup SeriesWorld Wide Technology RacewayEnjoy Illinois 300Team Chevy Post-Race ReportSeptember 13, 2026 |
Larson Continues Title Fight with a Trip to Victory Lane at World Wide Technology RacewayTeam Chevy Earns Season-Best Seven Top-10 Results |
| MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
| Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson, drove to a statement performance at World Wide Technology Speedway to put the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team right back into the title fight. Battling through a race that saw a history-making 18 cautions and an overtime finish, the Elk Grove, California, native snapped a 51-race winless streak and took home the checkered flag in the Enjoy Illinois 300. The victory – Larson’s first at WWTR and 33rd all-time in NASCAR’s top division – put the team up into the second position of the points standings and just nine points out of the lead. It was a season-best showing by the Bowtie brigade with Larson leading the manufacturer to seven of the top-10 finishing positions. Hendrick Motorsports owned three of the top-five with Alex Bowman’s career-best WWTR effort of second followed by William Byron’s rebound fourth-place finish. Three ECR-powered Chevrolet’s joined in on the strong afternoon at the Illinois-based circuit with Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain finishing fifth and Connor Zilisch in seventh, with Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon coming home in sixth. After a loose wheel in the final stage, Spire Motorsports’ Chase contender, Carson Hocevar, salvaged an eighth-place finish to round out the Team Chevy top-10. RACE RECAP: Stage One: Reigning champions, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team, continued their strong start to their title-defending campaign in yesterday’s qualifying session – earning a front row starting position for the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway. The 45-lap opening stage was marred with early cautions, and through three restarts before the halfway point, Team Chevy Chase contenders, Larson and Carson Hocevar, managed to hold on to positions within the top-five. But a restart with 13 to go in the stage saw Larson test his strength in the top lane – making a masterful three-wide move to jump back up into the third position. With the leaders quickly singling out, the California native settled into position and kept the top-two contenders at a margin under 1.7-seconds en route to the first green-white checkered flag. Stage Two: Varying pit strategies during the eventful opening stage saw a shake-up in the lineup with the top-11 cars opting to forgo a trip to pit road under the stage break. Stage winner, Joey Logano, and Larson were the first-two cars on a four-tire strategy to start the stage with the No. 5 taking the green flag for the next 95-lap run from the 16th position. With a similar start to the second stage, a pair of cautions brought the field within their fuel window early in the run. While six cars stayed out, Larson was among the group that hit pit road with crew chief, Cliff Daniels, calling for two tires and fuel. Among those that stayed out was his Team Chevy teammate, Ross Chastain, who went on to inherit the lead for the restart. Despite having nearly 20-lap older tires, Chastain put up a valiant effort to defend Larson, but the No. 5 ultimately made the pass for the lead and set sail just past the one-third mark of the stage. With the first long green flag run finally underway, Larson continued to hold a strong lead as the leaders worked their way through lap traffic. With 10 laps to go, it was a close call for Larson when Zane Smith blew a brake rotor within a handful of car links in front of his Chevrolet. A heads-up move saw Larson escape damage, and with the timing of the caution, the incident ultimately brought Stage Two to a close with the reigning champion going on to collect the win. Final Stage: Pitting for four tires, fuel and a slight balance adjustment, Larson was the second car off pit road to regain a spot on the front row for the start of the final stage. But a quick yellow on the opening lap brought the race back under the caution, with the incident seeing his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, collected with minor damage. Restarting from the inside line proved to be a slight challenge for Larson, with the driver ultimately filing into the third position after the restart. But back-to-back cautions opened up the opportunity for pit strategy once again for teams to try and make it on fuel. While the majority of the field made the turn to pit road, Larson was among the two cars to make the gamble to stay out. While the restart saw Larson make a quick fall down the top-10 of the leaderboard, a caution just a handful of laps later allowed Daniels to call Larson to pit road for a four-tire and fuel stop – ultimately putting his driver on the offense while sitting in a safer position on fuel mileage. On the same strategy as the majority of the field, it was the Luke Lambert-led No. 77 team that took their turn back at the front of the Bowtie brigade as they were settled within the top-four as the race hit 50 laps to go. While under caution for yet another blown brake rotor, the field sat on the horizon of what could have been the last trip to pit road. With just five cars staying out, then-race leader, Logano, led the rest of the field to pit road including Team Chevy Chase drivers Hocevar, Larson and Elliott. With yet another gamble from atop the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing pit box, Chastain found himself back within the top-five for the restart. While at a nearly 30-lap deficit on his tires, Chastain was putting on a strong fight to maintain his running position in fourth when a caution with 27 laps to go flew for Elliott, whose top-10 effort came to an unfortunate end when he became the next victim to a blown brake rotor. With 13 laps to go, Larson made a power move on the restart to regain the lead just as a multi-car accident mid-pack ultimately brought the race under red flag conditions. Lining up on the outside lane of the front row with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Alex Bowman, in his rearview mirror, a push on the restart saw Larson clear Logano with seven laps to go and start his quest back to victory lane. Surviving an overtime finish, Larson went on to make his first trip to victory lane of the season and led Team Chevy to seven top-10 results. |
| Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 ResultsPos. Driver 1st – Kyle Larson2nd – Alex Bowman4th – William Byron5th – Ross Chastain6th – Austin Dillon7th – Connor Zilisch8th – Carson Hocevar Chevrolet’s season statistics with 28 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:Wins: 7Poles: 6Top-Fives: 48Top 10s: 97Stage Wins: 19 |
| The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase will continue at Bristol Motor Speedway with the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday, September 19, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
| Post-Race Driver Quotes: Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 5th“I mean, I was backwards right here on the frontstretch at one point. To recover from that and then stay out with that last strategy with older tires; it was enough to hold on with this No. 1 Busch Light Chevy. We just needed to protect the top. I couldn’t let anyone get to my right-rear. The 5 and 24, they went by me on fresher tires on the bottom on the restarts. We just could not get off the corner on the bottom, especially off of (turn) two on the restarts. But I’m very, very happy after the year this team has had. This feels really good.” Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 6th“Really proud of the entire No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Deer Season XP Chevrolet team. We finished sixth, which feels great compared to where we’ve been ending the day. We went from one of the lowest of lows after Darlington to a really good finish for us here today. I knew if I could keep clean air on the nose there, my car was pretty good at the end. When the track cooled down, I got a lot of grip so that was pretty nice. We’re just going to keep grinding away. If we can finish the season with eight more races like this, we’ll be in a good spot for 2027.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 1stMuch has been made about 51 races for Kyle Larson. We don’t have to talk about that anymore. Tell me what it feels like, the relief, to get back to Victory Lane.“Yeah, it feels great. And honestly, I mean, it doesn’t feel like it’s been 51 races. You know, I feel like we’ve been in contention and had shots to win. We’ve just had to work really hard at it; stay patient and trust in the process. I’m so proud of the team; proud of Cliff Daniels (crew chief), the pit crew, everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. What a day for Hendrick Motorsports. Three in the top-five at a track that doesn’t suit our style, that just shows the hard work that’s gone into it. I did not think that I would break the streak here, I was more looking at next week, but this definitely built some momentum and we just have to keep it going. There’s still a lot of racing left, but we need more days like today.” Regarding restarts, the one where you got the lead, what was the key to getting the lead on Joey?“The key was having my teammate behind me, and Alex (Bowman) gave me a great push. He popped me right at the right time. I knew if I could just stay side-by-side with Joey, I would at least have a shot. But I was able to tag enough of a side draft on them to have the momentum and leverage into one, and off of two, and gain control, and I was hoping it would just stay green from there. I knew I had a tire advantage on him, but people kept breaking rotors and crashing, and so we had to go through it. But you know, without Alex, I would not be in Victory Lane right now, and so I want to dedicate this one to him, for sure. Just, again, proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, HendrickCars.com, Chevrolet, Valvoline, everybody that is a part of it. I think my family is at the airport right now. They flew in to pick me up, so I hope they can find some time and find a route to get in here to celebrate with us.” Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained after a brake rotor failure during the final stage. Finished: 31stA brake issue, what feedback were or weren’t you getting from your car before that? “Yeah, really nothing that said it was fixing to break, unfortunately. I knew that there had been some issues throughout the day, obviously. I was right behind Ryan (Blaney) when he blew his. I guess it’s kind of the luck of the draw, unfortunately. I just went to make a move on the No. 19 (Chase Briscoe) there. I stepped on the brakes, exploded a rotor and that was about it. It’s really unfortunate. I thought the No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet team was having a really solid day. We were right there around the top-five. I thought we had the right strategy there at the end. We were able to kind of continue to march forward there. Proud of the effort today. Hate to have another bad week, but we had some good pace and some good stuff to hopefully build on. We’ll try and go get them next weekend at Bristol (Motor Speedway).” William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 4th“I think with how the race was going for us and getting in that caution with the No. 23 (Bubba Wallace), it’s nice to finally have some stuff go our way. I’m glad that the No. 5 (Kyle Larson) could get the win. I tried to help all that I could. They had a good Chevy, so hopefully we can learn something from that. We were okay today. We made a lot of adjustments once we had the damage, and we were able to make our car a lot better. Our No. 24 Phorm Energy Chevrolet was good there at the end. I’m happy with it, we just have to keep digging. We don’t quit.” Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 21st“Up and down race for our Lucas Oil team, but at the end; we came home 21st. Our Chevrolet fired off tight rolling to the center, but the dirty air in the back didn’t help our situation any. Once we would run five or so laps, the car would be able to run the bottom and make up some ground. We definitely passed a lot of cars though. Drove up to the top-15, something would happen for us to end up in the back, and we would start it all over again. Felt like we did it a few times today. The guys kept working on it until the end. It was a battle to the finish with missing a bunch of wrecks.” Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 2nd“It feels good to get a top-five with this No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team. I’m really happy for Kyle (Larson, race winner). I hate to be one spot short, but just really proud of this team. We’ve certainly struggled here in the past, so I’m just glad we could have a good, solid day. Certainly, the pushes on the restarts were really important. I’m just glad I was able to help (his teammate, Kyle Larson) and make it happen. Glad it worked out.” Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 8th“Every time there was a wreck or it got chaotic, we were having to make up track position. I didn’t get to see a lot of the chaos, but I’m glad it helped us, obviously. We had to come from the back twice. Our No. 77 Spectrum Chevrolet was fast, so luckily, we could do that and we could just move around. I was worried that we were just going to run out of laps, but people just kept wrecking, so it made our lives a little easier.” Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 7th“It was certainly a chaotic day, but we survived and we were able to get ourselves back into a decent spot at the end there. We had a few restarts at the end and this No. 88 Very Good Ventures Chevrolet team was able to come home with a solid day. I hate that Shane (van Gisbergen) got wrecked there at the end. We had three Trackhouse cars in the top-10 during one of those overtime restarts, so it’s just unfortunate that happened. But overall, it was a good day for us nonetheless.” |