A slew of NASCAR Cup Series stars made it known where they will compete at during the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season on Tuesday morning.
The Hendrick Motorsports quartet — Kyle Larson, William Byron, Chase Elliott, and Alex Bowman — started the morning off by announcing that they will each have a turn behind the wheel of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in the upcoming season. They’ll share the ride with Rajah Caruth, who will drive the HendrickCars.com-sponsored ride for 16 races.
Byron, and Larson will take the No. 88 Chevrolet for three spins apiece in 2026, while Elliott and Bowman will have two races for the No. 88 team.
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Caruth will start the opening three races of the 2026 campaign before giving way to William Byron, who will compete at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, March 7. Byron will return to the No. 88 Chevrolet at Kansas Speedway on April 18, and Pocono Raceway on June 13.
Larson, the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion, will make his first of three starts for the No. 88 team at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 14. Larson’s other two starts will occur at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 11, and Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 2.
Alex Bowman will work his way into the mix beginning at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, March 21, and he’ll return for the May 30th event at Nashville Superspeedway. And Chase Elliott will round out the Hendrick Motorsports drivers’ schedule in the No. 88 Chevrolet with a July 4 date at Chicagoland Speedway, and again at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25.
Following the announcement from JR Motorsports, Jordan Anderson Racing made an announcement of its own as Ross Chastain, the full-time driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series, will pilot the Anderson-owned No. 32 Chevrolet in four NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series events in 2026.
Chastain will get behind the wheel of the No. 32 Chevrolet for the first time at Atlanta in February, and he’ll return for the races at Circuit of the Americas, Watkins Glen, and Sonoma Raceway. Chastain will carry primary sponsorship from GFL Environmental at Circuit of the Americas, and Jordan Anderson Racing will announce Chastain’s other primary sponsorship partners at a later date.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/racing-america as Five NASCAR Cup Stars Announce 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Series Starts.
