Kyle Larson Wins at Gateway Following Record 18 Cautions

Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday, his first victory of the 2026 season. Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro SS was one of the fastest cars in the field throughout the day, giving Hendrick Motorsports their third victory this year.

Fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman finished second, followed by Joey Logano, William Byron, and Ross Chastain to round out top-five. The only Hendrick driver unable to join in on the fun was Chase Elliott, who was eliminated after a brake failure on Lap 213.

The Cautions Commence

TY GIBBS SENDS ERIK JONES AROUND!

📺 /📱 : USA Network pic.twitter.com/UNfaMy3MHh

— NASCAR on USA (@NASCARonUSA) September 13, 2026

The first two stages of the race were marked by a seemingly endless stream of cautions. Most of the earlier incidents were for one or two-car incidents, not significant enough to cost teams more than a lap. Things got uglier later in the race. A Next Gen-era record was tied and a WWT Raceway record was broken with 18 cautions in one event.

The most substantial early caution was Zane Smith’s brake failure and subsequent impact with the wall at the end of Stage 2. The No. 38 driver gingerly exited his car and was helped to an ambulance.

Another incident of note was a collision between Ty Gibbs and Erik Jones on Lap 56. Gibbs seemed frustrated that Jones didn’t give him enough room on the inside on corner entry, and by the next turn the No. 43 Toyota was sent spinning. Jones called the move “ridiculous”, saying “I gave him room and he wrecked us”.

Power Changes Hands

About halfway through Stage 2, Kyle Larson found the lead in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Still with no wins on the season, Larson took advantage of good track position to take advantage of the full ten points from the stage victory.

Meanwhile, Ross Chastain maintained second place after staying out in the most recent round of pit stops. Despite appearing to have a faster car, Brad Keselowski was consistently unable to complete a pass to Chastain’s inside. Once Joey Logano drove around Keselowski with comparably little effort, the RFK Racing co-owner voiced his frustration on the radio.

“I wish I was one of the Fords that gets a good engine,” Keselowski mused per Motorsport’s Matt Weaver. “Instead, we’re considered a s–t box. It’s f–king bulls–t.”

At the beginning of Stage 3, an immediate four-wide battle broke out for fourth place. A multi-car incident kicked off after Josh Berry and Ryan Preece drifted down into Chase Briscoe and Bubba Wallace below them. Briscoe was impacted by William Byron, with Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman also each getting a piece.

On Lap 155, yet another Ford Mustang Dark Horse succumbed to a brake failure. Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 car slammed the outside wall after a part was seen exploding upward through the hood. With only Zane Smith eliminated so far, Blaney dropped to 35th in the running order.

False Ending

A series of restarts ensued as the race had three additional cautions in the first half of the final stage. Initially Keselowski had a hard-fought battle for the lead with Berry and the two made contact multiple times. The No. 6 RFK Racing Ford pulled out to the lead and held it over multiple restarts. On Lap 183 Joey Logano got around Keselowski, with Carson Hocevar settling into third.

After another caution was triggered by Noah Gragson hitting the wall, the field was split on strategy. Joey Logano and the vast majority of the cars came for tires and fuel, while four cars remained out: Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Preece, and Shane van Gisbergen. Carson Hocevar was fourth off pit road but he had to return to tighten a wheel, surrendering almost all his track position.

Logano made it to second within a few laps on two tires, with Christopher Bell hot in pursuit on set of four. Both Chase contenders were in the process of reeling in Keselowski when a brake failure for Chase Elliott took he and Chase Briscoe hard into the outside wall. Another caution flew with 26 laps to go.

The Actual Ending

On the following restart Logano maintained his lead with Larson navigating around Keselowski for second. Bubba Wallace dove under Josh Berry for sixth, drifting both of their cars and Christopher Bell into the wall. Tyler Reddick appeared to launch off Berry’s car from behind, briefly catching air before slamming back to the ground.

Yet another attempt to finish the race under green ended the same way the last many did: under caution. Ty Gibbs turned across Connor Zilisch’s nose, with A.J. Allmendinger and Josh Berry also sustaining damage. This time a red flag came with 11 laps to go. The field made it to three laps to go before Chris Buescher had a broke rotor failure, red-flagging the field up once again for an overtime restart.

Almost instinctively, another caution flew immediately after Shane van Gisbergen spun into Turn 1. His No. 97 Chevrolet appeared to drift down into Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevrolet, sending van Gisbergen around and into the outside wall.

Chase Outlook

Denny Hamlin remains the points leader leaving St. Louis, but his lead is smaller for the second straight week. Kyle Larson jumped five spots in the standings to second, and he now trails Hamlin by only nine points. Christopher Bell is third at 18 points out, followed by Ryan Blaney (-33) and Tyler Reddick (-42).

Joey Logano had a crucially positive day amassing points, winning Stage 1 and placing second in Stage 2. Initially looking like a potential favorite to win, Logano finished third to move 21 points closer to the top. He’s now tied with Ty Gibbs for sixth, with each driver 51 points out.

Several Chase drivers had nightmare points days. Ryan Blaney finished 35th, earning 15 stage points to cushion the blow of finishing below all 15 of his Chase rivals. Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suárez, Chris Buescher, and Tyler Reddick all failed to finish inside the top-20.

Carson Hocevar rebounded from a double-pit stop to finish eighth, saving him from a potentially crippling points plummet. He also escaped the wrath of Brad Keselowski, who many speculated may retaliate for a run-in last week at Darlington.

Race Results

• (C) denotes Chase driver