The first of two off weekends for the NASCAR Cup Series on the 2026 schedule is in the books, as the series had off for Easter following a stretch of seven consecutive race weekends to open up the season.
Between the race at Martinsville Speedway in late March, which was won by Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott, and this Sunday afternoon's race at Bristol Motor Speedway, there have been a total of three changes to the driver lineup, including one that was not initially planned.
Fans can generally expect at least one change each week as far as non-chartered (open) cars are concerned, and there were two this week.
3 NASCAR Cup Series lineup changes for Bristol
The No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, which was fielded for Austin Hill at Martinsville, is not on the entry list for Bristol.
However, the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford, which most recently appeared in the March race at Darlington Raceway with Timmy Hill behind the wheel, is set to return for its third appearance of the season. Chad Finchum is set to drive it for the first time this year.
The other driver lineup change ahead of Sunday's 500-lap Food City 500 around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol, Tennessee oval took place at Hendrick Motorsports, as Alex Bowman is set to return one week earlier than anybody had initially anticipated.
Bowman has been sidelined since exiting the March race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) early due to illness. He was later diagnosed with vertigo and forced to sit out each of the next four races at Phoenix Raceway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Darlington, and Martinsville.
Myatt Snider stepped in for him for the remainder of the COTA race, while Anthony Alfredo filled in at Phoenix. JR Motorsports O'Reilly Auto Parts Series driver and points leader Justin Allgaier had filled in for him ever since.
Bristol Motor Speedway is scheduled to host the Food City 500 this Sunday, April 12, with live coverage set to be provided by Fox Sports 1 beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. Catch all of the action from Thunder Valley with a free trial of FuboTV!