PREVIEW: Seven – yes, seven – Cup drivers set to start tonight’s Truck Series race at Bristol
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
IMAGE: TRICON Garage, @TRICONGarage
Friday, April 10, 2026 (Green Flag 7:50 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 6 of 25
Tennessee Army National Guard 250 at Bristol
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Stephen Mallozzi
ENTRY LIST
There are 37 drivers entered for 36 spots meaning one team will fail to qualify.
DRIER CHANGE: #4-Niece Motorsports
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. is one of no fewer than seven Cup Series regulars looking to turn tonight’s race into a farce, taking the place of 20th-place Rockingham finisher Connor Hall. Stenhouse’s Chevrolet is sponsored by Comprehensive Vehicle Logistics for his third series start and first since a 9th-place showing at Atlanta in February.
DRIVER CHANGE: #5-TRICON Garage
TRICON’s #5 entry had no driver listed to take the place of Rockingham last-place finisher Adam Andretti until midweek, when – surprise – another Cup driver landed the ride. Chase Briscoe makes his 30th series start, his first since April 8, 2023, when he finished 7th in the dirt race at this track.
DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Spire Motorsports
No onslaught of Cup invaders would be complete without Kyle Busch, so of course he’s running this race, too, taking the place of 11th-place Rockingham finisher Sammy Smith in the Spire #7 entry – formerly of Kyle Busch Motorsports. HendrickCars.com sponsors Busch’s pursuit of a sixth Truck Series win at Bristol in just 13 starts, marking his 182nd series start and first since his win at Atlanta two months ago.
TEAM UPDATE: #22-Team Reaume
The second Josh Reaume effort showed “TBA” in the driver’s column, but it has since been confirmed that Clayton Green will again drive the #22, one week after his 29th-place showing in Rockingham. He’ll be sponsored by Badass Workbench.
DRIVER CHANGE: #25-Kaulig RAM Racing
The latest driver of Kaulig’s “all star” entry will be dirt late model racer Carson Ferguson, his prize for a strong performance in RAM and Kaulig Racing’s “Race for the Seat” reality show. The 25-year-old racer from North Carolina currently races full-time in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series for Paylor Motorsports. He takes the place of Cup regular Ty Dillon, who earned a 22nd-place showing in Rockingham following Corey LaJoie’s deal to complete the season in Kaulg’s #10.
DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Niece Motorsports
Precision Vehicle Logistics will sponsor a returning Tyler Reif, who most recently earned a 16th-place finish on the streets of St. Petersburg. Tonight marks only his fourth series start as he takes the place of Parker Eatmon, whose series debut in Rockingham yielded a 26th-place finish after he qualified 8th and battled inside the Top 10 in the early stages.
DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Niece Motorsports
Back to the Cup Series regulars for tonight’s race – Ross Chastain rejoins the series for his second start of the year, his first since his runner-up finish at Darlington after Corey Heim’s last-lap pass. He again drives for Al Niece in the #45, this week with sponsorship from J.F. Electric and Utilitra. He takes the place of Landen Lewis, who finished 14th in Rockingham.
DRIVER CHANGE: #62-Halmar Friesen Racing
Why stop there? How about Christopher Bell – a driver who’s won a Cup race at Bristol on both dirt and the concrete? Surely, he could use the track time! Bell makes his 60th series start, his first since his 6th-place run in Darlington with this same second entry from the Halmar team. He takes the place of Mike Christopher, Jr., who finished 23rd in Rockingham.
MISSING: #69-Motorsports Business Management
Not among the teams running this week is Carl Long’s MBM effort, which failed to qualify at Rockingham after driver Jonathan Shafer wrecked in practice. Long will instead turn his focus on Sunday’s Cup race with Chad Finchum (see below).
RETURNING: #71-Spire Motorsports
But wait, there’s more! Why not complete a trio of Cup drivers at the Spire team with Kyle Busch, a returning Carson Hocevar in the #77, and the #71 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet of Daniel Suarez. Suarez makes his 29th series start, his first since a 17th-place finish in the Bristol Dirt Race back in 2021, when he drove for Randy Young.
WITHDREW: #90-Terry Carroll Motorsports
Justin S. Carroll and his family’s team withdrew at the entry list’s first publication, one week after they failed to qualify on speed at Rockingham.
CUP INVADERS: #4-Ricky Stenhouse Jr., #5-Chase Briscoe, #7-Kyle Busch, #45-Ross Chastain, #62-Christopher Bell, #71-Daniel Suarez, #77-Carson Hocevar
Saturday, April 11, 2026 (Green Flag 7:48 P.M. ET, CW)
O’REILLY Race 9 of 33
Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Mason Maggio
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for as many spots, so all will make the show.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-JR Motorsports
RETURNING / DRIVER SWAP: #9-JR Motorsports
Connor Zilisch has his own double-duty weekend begin tomorrow on the O’Reilly side, where he’ll make his third series start of the year and first since his 7th-place showing in Las Vegas. He’ll again pilot JRM’s #1 entry with Roto-Rooter as sponsor, which will this time move 5th-place Rockingham finisher Carson Kvapil to the returning part-time #9 entry with High Rock Vodka as sponsor.
TEAM UPDATE: #5-Hettinger Racing
The preliminary entry list showed had no driver listed for the Hettinger team’s Ford, but it was later confirmed that J.J. Yeley will again drive, one week after his 20th-place showing in Rockingham. Yeley has 22 O’Reilly starts at Bristol, but this will be his first since September 16, 2022, when he finished 33rd.
MISSING: #25-AM Racing
Yeley’s will again be the only Ford in the field as AM Racing will miss their second-straight race with Nick Sanchez. The return date for both driver and team are still to be determined.
DRIVER SWAP: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #88-JR Motorsports
Remember when Kyle Larson led 411 of 500 laps in last year’s spring Cup race at Bristol? Well, this year he gets to run another 300 laps, marking his 20th O’Reilly start at Bristol, scene of three of his series victories. He’ll pilot the #88 at JRM, moving 4th-place Rockingham finisher Rajah Caruth back to the Jordan Anderson owned #32, which will also carry HendrickCars.com sponsorship as Caruth competes for the “Dash 4 Cash.”
MISSING: #33-Richard Childress Racing
Cleetus McFarland completed his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut last Saturday, enduring four different single-car spins on his way to a 32nd-place finish. NASCAR has since denied McFarland’s entry to the upcoming race at Talladega, which will be revisited after he makes more starts. His future plans are still to be announced, and RCR will not field the #33 this week.
DRIVER SWAP: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
DRIVER SWAP: #55-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
This week, Joey Gase and Blake Lothian swap rides after they finished 31st and 30th last week, moving Gase to the #55 and Lothian to the #35. The preliminary entry list didn’t show Lothian at first, leaving the #55 as TBA.
DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Young’s Motorsports
Logan Bearden makes his season debut with sponsorship from T3 Vodka, the same company that backed his most recent series start, which came on this same Bristol track last summer. That time, he finished 30th driving the #14 for SS-Green Light Racing. This time, Bearden takes the place of Nathan Byrd, who finished 16th at “The Rock.”
DRIVER CHANGE: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
The Harmon team didn’t have a driver named on this week’s preliminary entry list following Dawson Cram’s 35th-place finish last week in Rockingham. It was then announced that Gray Gaulding has rejoined the team for the first time since April 23, 2022 at Talladega, marking his first series start since August 25, 2023 at Daytona, when he drove SS-Green Light Racing. Gaulding will run a red Chevrolet with sponsorship from Flywheel.
DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing x JIM
Bristol will mark Mason Maggio’s 25th series start and fifth of the year, his first since a 28th-place showing in Las Vegas. He will again drive Mario Gosselin’s #91, taking the place of Alex Labbe, who finished 18th in Rockingham.
CUP INVADERS: #1-Connor Zilisch, #88-Kyle Larson
Sunday, April 12, 2026 (Green Flag 3:11 P.M. ET, FS1)
CUP Race 8 of 36
Food City 500 at Bristol
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Josh Bilicki
ENTRY LIST
There are 37 drivers entered for 40 spots, marking the seventh straight short field in eight races this season, and the fifth with only one “open” entry.
MISSING: #33-Richard Childress Racing
Austin Hill is not among this week’s Cup entrants after his 33rd-place finish two weeks ago in Martinsville.
DRIVER CHANGE: #48-Hendrick Motorsports
Welcome back Alex Bowman, who was announced to return from symptoms of vertigo suffered at COTA, replacing 22nd-place Martinsville finisher Justin Allgaier. Bowman has 17 previous Cup starts at Bristol with a best finish of 4th in this race two years ago.
RETURNING: #66-Garage 66
Chad Finchum returns to his home track with sponsorship from Brian King Roofing on Carl Long’s #66 Ford. Finchum ran at Bristol last summer, when he finished 35th due to late-race brake issues.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (April 10, 1988): Jimmy Means picked up the 10th last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career in the Valleydale Meats 500 at Bristol, where his #52 Eureka Vacuum Cleaners Pontiac was involved in a three-car accident in Turn 2 after 26 laps.
