It took Chase Briscoe half the 36-race season to find Victory Lane, but he finally arrived at his destination on Sunday south of Chicago.
The driver made up time on pit road and led a 1-2-3 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing, holding off teammate Christopher Bell to win for the first time in 2026 at the eero 400 in the NASCAR Cup Series’ return to Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.
Briscoe brought in his No. 19 Toyota one circuit before William Byron on Lap 52 then passed the No. 24 as both got up to speed.
However, the hard-charging Bell, racing with a fractured wrist, used his No. 20 to chop off a one-second deficit and chase down Briscoe but came up 0.276 seconds short.
JGR’s Denny Hamlin, who started from the pole, finished third and saw his three-race winning streak on oval tracks come to an end.
Byron and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five as Toyota won for the 12th time in 19 races this season.
“I honestly did not see this coming,” said Briscoe of his sixth career win, which vaulted him two spots to eighth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. “Kind of felt like I was struggling in practice and qualifying, but (crew chief) James (Small) and the group did a great job. … What a cool weekend to win a NASCAR race.
“Just a really fun race. I felt like that was about as good a race as you could get. From the cat-and-mouse game to slipping around (on worn tires).”
Bell said he had a slow green-flag entry to pit road that hurt him but liked his fast Camry.
“Toyotas are fast. It seems like a monkey could drive them,” he joked. “Just disappointing whenever you get beat by another monkey.”
Connor Zilisch’s poor rookie campaign took another hit on Lap 1 when Ryan Preece’s No. 60 received contact in a three-wide run. The Ford shot down the 1.52-mile track, which announced a sellout, and turned Zilisch’s No. 88 Chevrolet into the inside wall for the first caution.
Zane Smith’s No. 38 Ford and Austin Hill’s No. 33 Chevrolet brought out separate cautions after Kyle Larson outran Hamlin for the early lead in Stage 1, which featured 80 trips around the track as it hosted NASCAR’s top series for the first time since 2019.
Byron moved his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet past Austin Cindric, who was on 10-lap older tires, to claim the segment’s top points. Larson finished second with Bubba Wallace, Cindric and Briscoe taking the top five.
However, after Wallace roared to the point on Lap 92, Larson spun all alone in Turn 4 and became stuck in the frontstretch’s muddy infield after multiple weekend downpours. The two-time series champ had to be towed out and circled the track with four flat tires.
Tyler Reddick, the 2026 series wins leader with five, hit debris on the racing surface and saw his No. 45 Toyota sustain radiator damage at the race’s midpoint, forcing him to go to the garage.
Byron swept the first two stages as his car had strong short-run speed up front. Briscoe, Hamlin, Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney followed behind in Stage 2.
–Field Level Media
