Can Chevrolet Mount a Chase Charge?

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NASCAR

Chevrolet Hopes to Cash in for the 2026 NASCAR Chase

NASCAR’s all-time winningest manufacturer, Chevrolet eyes a record 35th Bill France Cup in 10 weeks. Nearly one-third of The Chase field in 2026 is made up of Camaros from Team Hendrick or Spire Motorsports. Past champions, young upstarts, and hungry veterans are all included in this unique class of drivers. Can a Chevrolet close out this season with NASCAR’s ultimate prize? Here are the General Motors combatants who will be racing for the Cup Series championship.

Kyle Larson – 2,045 points

Reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson has had a very weird season to say the least. Winless through the opening 26 weeks, the No. 5 Chevrolet still has the third-most stage points of anyone. Larson’s 2026 season to date has been highlighted by nine top-fives (sixth-most), 13 top-10s (sixth-most), and 659 laps led (third-most). Despite a zero in the win column, Larson has not been that far off from his typical regular contending self. Driver 5 has never run under a consistency-based Chase format. Larson touched on what he thinks will be keys to success for the next 10 weeks.

“It’s just important to get good runs in at every track,” Larson said. “Obviously, if you can start the Chase off with some solid results, some solid points, you’ll just give yourself better hope throughout it. I mean, 10 weeks is a long time, but I think you can quickly feel like you’re out of it and you don’t want to do that.”

“I’m not as confident as I’ve been, for sure, in other years. But I wasn’t, honestly, sitting here that confident last year, and we were able to win the championship. I know there’s a path to do it. We did it last year without winning a race in the final 10 races, and we weren’t even really all that consistent, from what I remember. I think if we can be ultra-consistent in these final 10 races, there’s no doubt that I could see ourselves winning the championship.”

“I mean, I could also see ourselves winning four or five races in the Chase. You know, things have to go perfect, but we do have a lot of good tracks for us in these final 10. We just need to execute at a high level, and I think our team is definitely capable of that. We’ll try and do our best.”

Larson has still been winless since Kansas Speedway in May 2025, a span of 50 races. Despite this long streak, Larson was still good enough to take last year’s Cup title and ranks seventh for the 2026 Chase. It would be little shock to see Larson bust back into victory lane soon, with wins at seven of the 10 Chase tracks. Larson cannot truly be counted out even though he’s had a lackluster season by his standards. The Cliff Daniels led 5 team may just out-strategize the competition and find a new way to succeed.

Chase Elliott – 2,040 points

2020 Cup champion Chase Elliott was pinned by many preseason as a shoo-in for success in The Chase. The consistency-dependent 10-week stretch should suit the No. 9 Chevrolet that typically is a top-10 constant. Although Elliott did score two wins early this year, he only has two top-10s since Texas in May. The 9 trails teammate Larson by only one spot in eighth to start The Chase. Elliott remembered what he saw childhood heroes do in the past 10-week format to win championships.

“[In the old Chase] I mean, good performance was rewarded,” Elliott said. “You had to be good for all ten weeks. You know, I think it’s more in line with that kind of traditional year-long format. It’s not, obviously, but it is more in line with that. Ten weeks is a long time, you know, and things can change quick. There are examples of all of those things in a lot of those different scenarios. I look at, certainly, the dominance of Jimmie [Johnson] from 2006 to 2010. They just executed at a high level. They went to tracks where they were just far superior at and were able to piece together 10 really good weeks. But each one of those years were a little different. You know, they had battles right down to the wire some years. They had battles some years that were pretty well done come Homestead. So there was a little bit of everything.”

“You look at the year that Tony [Stewart] won in 2011, if I’m not mistaken. He ran like a pile for the majority of the year. He had a couple good races right there at the end and started to get things going in the right direction. I think he won Chicago, if I’m not mistaken, the first week. And then, he ended up winning five of the 10 races. Who had him picked to win it that year? So again, I remember them all very well.”

Elliott is exactly in the middle to start this year’s Chase, and truthfully is a very hard one to handicap. If the 9 team of old returns, then a quietly consistent points-stacking path forward lies ahead. Using 2026 logic, however, Elliott has struggled to find a comfortable groove more weeks than not. Elliott could easily see high highs or low lows ahead. How this team performs out of the gate at Darlington could be a barometer for the rest of their Chase run.

Daniel Suarez – 2,025 points

Spire Motorsports’ new man on campus in 2026, Daniel Suarez’s year was made by winning the Coca-Cola 600. A top-10 man in points almost all year, the No. 7 Chevrolet starts The Chase from the 11th spot. Coming off a strong runner-up result at Daytona, Suarez is focused ahead on what could be a career-defining 10-week run.

“I’m always looking forward to the next one,” Suarez said. “I think, overall at Spire Motorsports we have shown a lot of speed in on the high downforce racetracks. We still have a little bit of work to do on the low downforce racetracks. I mean, with that being said, we also raced very well in Darlington and that’s a low downforce track. Hopefully we can get our package a little bit better for low downforce tracks.”

“You know, I try not to think about it too much. I’m so focused on the next 10 races that, honestly, I haven’t really sat down and thought about how good of a job we did as a team in the regular season. The only reason why I’m thinking about it right now is because several people have asked me that today. I’m very proud of the effort. With that being said, I still don’t want to think about it too much because, in my mind, the job is not done yet. We still have almost a quarter of the season left and that’s the most important one. Hopefully we can continue to grow, continue to learn, and continue to improve on this No. 7 team.”

“I think that the main thing is that you have to control what you can control. Sometimes, as a driver, we want to do too much and there’s only so much that is under our control. You know, the only car I can control out there is the No. 7 car and the No. 7 team. I don’t care about what the other guys are doing or not doing. We have to just control what we can control. And if we can focus on that and maximize that, I feel that we’re going to be in a pretty good spot.”

One glaring absence from Suarez’s body of work this season is stage points. The 7 only has a fitting 77 mid-race points all season, by far the fewest of any Chase driver. If Suarez wants to mount any title run, he must hit the ground running with early speed in Darlington. Already at a disadvantage to many in 11th, Suarez cannot afford to lose any more valuable points to those above him. The massive single-year turnaround effort for the No. 7 team should not be overlooked. However, this Chevrolet crew has work ahead to make noise in The Chase.

Daniel Suarez’s No. 7 Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Chevrolet Camaro on the grid at Daytona International Speedway before the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday, August 29, 2026. Photo Credit: Peter Stratta/TSJSports

Carson Hocevar – 2,020 points

Joining his Spire teammate in the 16-man hunt is Carson Hocevar. ‘The Hurricane’ will start his first Chase showing from the 12th seed, 80 points off the lead. With such a massive points hole already, Chevrolet No. 77 already has a steep climb ahead in the next 10 weeks. Ever an optimist though, Hocevar has a fun mindset for the coming 10 weeks.

“Our team moral or motto is we’re playing with house money,” Hocevar said. “Luke [Lambert] and Matt McCall were on that 31 team in 2014, and that’s how they approached it, and they finished second. I’m not going to look at the points until the end. They’ll let me know when I walk up at the banquet where I finished.”

“The faster tracks are better for us. Talladega is exciting. The most difficult one is going to be Martinsville for us, but all the other ones, we’ve run top-five or top-10. I feel good about them excitement-level wise.”

By all measurable stats, 2026 will go down as a career year for Carson Hocevar. The controversial-yet-popular 23-year-old won his first career race and parlayed that into a maiden Chase showing. Anything from here on out for the 77 team is icing on the cake, setting new standards for Spire Motorsports. With odds and competitors’ ire stacked against him, Hocevar has a tall mountain to climb back into title contention.

William Byron – 2,015 points

Hendrick Motorsports as a whole has seen a down year. but perhaps nobody’s been as off as William Byron. 2025’s regular season champion, The No. 24 Chevrolet ended this year’s first 26 weeks ranked 13th. Admittedly off from their usual race-winning pace at many tracks, Byron laid out what he sees as a simple mission plan for The Chase.

“I mean, you have to be good everywhere,” Byron said. “And then the places you are not good, you have to be able to run top-five at those places where you are not capable of winning. I think it’s going to take a lot, but I don’t know. I don’t really worry about it because it’s going to be who really runs well.”

“Yeah, I think whoever runs well at Darlington is going to get off to a really strong start. Obviously, it’s a long race. There are a lot of stage points, so whoever wins that race is going to be at a real advantage.”

One glimmer of hope for Byron is The Chase’s abundance of intermediate ovals. Chicagoland in July saw the No. 24 Chevrolet lead the most laps, sweep both stages, and finish fourth. The coming 10 weeks include four 1.5-mile tracks, where this same speed could translate. From 13th on the grid, 2026 presents a much steeper title path than Byron is used to. If anyone can reel off an unprecedented Chase surge though, the Rudy Fugle led 24 team could have a trick up their sleeve.

The tale of two Chevrolet teams cannot be a more stark comparison in this year’s Chase. Hendrick Motorsports eyes a 16th Cup title with their superstar trio. Meanwhile, Spire Motorsports looks to add onto what’s already been a best year in team history. Anything positive from here on out is uncharted waters for the Chase newcomers. All five of these Chevrolet teams are equally hungry to come out of the gates hot in Darlington. Still with a new Camaro body style this season, all of their drivers want to be the first to find sustained winning magic.

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit to Justin Casterline/Getty Images