Christopher Bell, hampered by seven runner-up finishes through 26 races, opened The Chase postseason Sunday by notching his first Southern 500 victory, capturing the 77th running of the crown jewel race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C.
After a brief red-flag condition for light rain, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver propelled his No. 20 Toyota past Kyle Larson with 12 laps left, then beat teammate Ty Gibbs by 1.038 seconds for his first win since the Bristol Night Race last Sept. 13.
Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Larson, who stayed out on older tires and led on the final restart with 24 laps left, followed behind Bell as Toyota won its fourth straight Cup race at Darlington.
Points leader Denny Hamlin was 18th, while William Byron suffered his fourth DNF and was 37th.
On a different pit schedule, Bubba Wallace became a factor as Stage 1’s 115-lap run wound down, passing Hamlin for second and closing in on teammate Reddick of 23XI Racing. However, with less than 10 circuits left, Carson Hocevar spun out Brad Keselowski, ending the segment under a new NASCAR rule.
The Toyotas of Reddick, Wallace, Hamlin and Bell showed the way with Blaney in fifth as the stage ended. Chase Briscoe was sixth, as Camry drivers held five of six spots.
Leader Wallace and runner-up Reddick pitted with 43 laps remaining in Stage 2, but Reddick had trouble on the left front with a loose lug. His Camry was backed into the box, and the five-time 2026 winner lost valuable time as the lug was locked down.
With 15 laps left in Stage 2, Bell slipped by Briscoe for the lead and locked in for maximum segment points. Bell beat Larson by over a second on the final lap, and Hamlin, Briscoe and Wallace completed the top-five spots.
JGR drivers Bell and Hamlin both had right-side issues during their tire changes, but the No. 11 driver had a bigger issue when he smacked the frontstretch wall after being nudged by Michael McDowell. Hamlin then fell to the last car on the lead lap due to toe-link damage.
Larson pitted on Lap 280 of the 367-lap race with a five-second advantage over second-place Josh Berry, but the fourth caution occurred when Zane Smith wrecked on Lap 283 with Todd Gilliland leading.
Chase competitor Byron spun on Lap 316 and had an engine issue after the pit stops.
–Field Level Media
