Chase Briscoe won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, the second straight victory for the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team. Briscoe held off teammate Christopher Bell in a photo finish, followed by the Ford duo of Ryan Blaney and Josh Berry.
The margin of victory between Briscoe and Bell was 0.029 seconds, the second-closest finish in the history of Charlotte Motor Speedway. Bell eroded a sizeable lead on the final lap of the race, making contact with Briscoe coming to the line.
Kyle Larson dominated the first stage to collect 10 points and pad his points lead. Christopher Bell capitalized on Larson’s loss of track position to take Stage 2, with Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin also placing ahead of Larson.
Bell, who fell to the second row after pit stops, immediately looked to the outside of Larson and Blaney on the first restart of the final stage. He then crossed the pair over on the backstretch, creating a three-wide battle for the lead into the third and fourth turns. The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota drifted up on corner exit, retaking the lead in style.
After a caution for Gray Gaulding brought the field down pit road in the final stage, Briscoe leapfrogged Bell on the strength of one of the field’s elite pit crews. He pulled out in the final laps leaving Bell without the opportunity to catch back up.
Trouble for Chase Drivers
Sunday’s race seemed especially cruel to those in the hunt for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series championship. Second-place points driver Denny Hamlin incurred a safety penalty during Lap 36 pit stops after one of the No. 11 team’s tires rolled into the adjacent stall of Connor Zilisch. A pit crew member on Hamlin’s side had their hands on the ground while reclaiming it, causing NASCAR to send Hamlin to the tail of the field.
Ty Gibbs was the next to feel the wrath, breaking a toe link after hitting the wall and then getting into a wreck with Brad Keselowski. Gibbs did re-enter the race seven laps later, left with no path to reclaim a shot at the win.
A massive crash brings Stage 1 to a close.
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A massive wreck followed on Lap 77, when Alex Bowman appeared to get loose on the exit of Turn 2. His No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet snapped up the track into the path of Bubba Wallace. Both cars sustained heavy damage, and William Byron was collected as Bowman’s car slid back in front of traffic. Wallace and Byron, both Chase contenders, were eliminated from the race.
“Still a lot of opportunity in front of us,” Wallace said. “Unfortunately Alex got loose and we were just a byproduct.”
“I was already running the top and I lifted right away but I had nowhere to go,” Byron added. “I got left as far as I could.”
Chase Outlook
Kyle Larson maintained his points lead on Sunday with 17 stage points and a sixth-place finish. Despite finishing one spot higher in fifth, Denny Hamlin dropped from 40 to 49 points behind the defending Cup Series champion.
Chase Briscoe gained two spots in the standings for the second straight week, moving to fourth place behind Larson, Hamlin, and Christopher Bell. He gained significant ground on Larson, advancing from 84 to 65 points out of the lead.
Ryan Blaney surged through the field during the final stage, bringing his No. 12 Team Penske Ford home with a third-place finish. Still, Blaney went from 80 to 85 points behind Larson in a week where gains in the standings would’ve been crucially important.
Race Results
