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The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 14 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Series, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Euro Series, NASCAR Mexico Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in five cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 11 countries and more than 30 U.S. states.

Kyle Larson takes command of NASCAR Cup Chase with determined Kansas win

Sean Gardner | Getty Images

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Larson made a statement in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

 

Retaking the lead from Chase Briscoe with seven laps left, Larson won for the second time in three races and took control of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1.

 

Larson’s fourth victory at the 1.5-mile track left him 26 points ahead of second-place Denny Hamlin, who entered the Chase as the top seed. Christopher Bell is 50 points back in third after finishing sixth on Sunday.

 

“I really thought when Chase got by, he was just going to stretch out, but I got some lines going where I could settle in and try to take care of my tires,” said Larson, who lost the lead to Briscoe on Lap 238 of 267. “I don't know. I think it's just easier to be the hunter rather than the hunted.

 

“With me out front, I'm just defending and trying to guess on what lines are fast. When he got in front of me, I could see he started getting really loose. Yeah, that was fun. That was such a good day. Max points. I was going to be happy with second with how the race went, but to get the lead, that's a big deal for the points.”

 

The victory was Larson’s second of the season and 34th of his career, tying him with Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. for 26th all-time.

 

Though Larson, the defending series champion, won the first two stages, led 235 laps, and set the fastest lap (30.076 seconds on Lap 2) to score a maximum 76 points for the day, the win was hardly a foregone conclusion after the final cycle of green-flag pit stops.

 

After following Briscoe to pit road on Lap 216 with a last-second call, Larson regained the top spot at the end of the pit cycle, but he scraped the wall early in the final run. Briscoe ran Larson down from 1.5 seconds back and passed the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the lead on Lap 238.

 

Briscoe held the top spot for 23 laps, but his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota developed a loose condition late in the run, and Larson made up the ground he had lost. On Lap 261, Larson darted to the inside of Briscoe’s Camry and completed the winning pass.

 

Contact with the wall cost Briscoe in the final laps, as both runner-up Austin Cindric and third-place Hamlin passed him on the way to the checkered flag. Briscoe held fourth, followed by Ryan Blaney, who is now fifth in the standings, 91 points behind Larson.

 

“Yeah, just went really, really loose,” Briscoe said of the closing laps. “I kind of had that the run before when we did the green-flag pit stop. I got it in the wall so many times that I had a little bit of a leak. Just went really, really free ultimately.

 

“It was better for me to be in second. Just being behind (Larson), especially with how much he was aero blocking, it would just tighten me up and allow me to actually be a little bit better. And then as soon as I would get the lead, I would just go really, really free again.

 

“So, yeah, frustrating for sure. Yeah, just felt like I had a win there to stay in contention for a championship, and obviously now losing, I don't know, 123 points back (in eighth place), that's probably not going to happen.”

 

With perhaps the fastest long-run car in the race, Cindric closed to 0.565 seconds behind Larson at the finish.

 

Cindric, however, lost time on the track by pitting one lap later than Larson and Briscoe. He was 4.6 seconds down to the leader when pit stops cycled out and spent the rest of the race trying to close the gap.

 

“I just feel like that cycle could have gone better for us,” Cindric said. “I feel like just the way it all played out with three cars coming in front, and I slipped through the box a little bit, having some stuff on my tires. I could have done a better job there.

 

“When you only lose by half a second, I wish I would have had at least a shot at it. I felt like we could have at least joined the fun at least. But, no, proud of the effort and great points for today.”

 

Cindric scored 52 points to Larson’s 76 and is tied with Bubba Wallace for ninth in the Chase standings, 140 points behind Larson.

 

Behind Bell, William Byron ran seventh, followed by Chase Elliott, Wallace and Ryan Preece. Tyler Reddick made a remarkable recovery after running 33rd in his ill-handling Toyota early in the race and finished 11th. Reddick’s rally could have been even better, but for a blown pit stop under green in the final cycle.

 

Joey Logano, who started from the pole by the rule book when rain washed out time trials, finished 20th and fell from third to fourth in the standings, a distant 67 points out of the lead.

 

Ten of the 16 Chase drivers are now 111 points or more behind Larson, with 14th-place finisher Daniel Suarez 187 points down in 16th place.

 

After finishing fourth in Stage 1, Bristol pugilist Carson Hocevar was part of a six-car restart wreck on Lap 122. With severe damage to the splitter on his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, Hocevar finished 33rd and dropped three spots to 11th in the standings, 150 points in arrears.

 

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Hollywood Casino 400

Kansas Speedway

Kansas City, Kansas

Sunday, September 27, 2026

 

                1. (2)  Kyle Larson (C), Chevrolet, 267.

                2. (11)  Austin Cindric (C), Ford, 267.

                3. (6)  Denny Hamlin (C), Toyota, 267.

                4. (23)  Chase Briscoe (C), Toyota, 267.

                5. (25)  Ryan Blaney (C), Ford, 267.

                6. (3)  Christopher Bell (C), Toyota, 267.

                7. (8)  William Byron (C), Chevrolet, 267.

                8. (18)  Chase Elliott (C), Chevrolet, 267.

                9. (7)  Bubba Wallace (C), Toyota, 267.

                10. (9)  Ryan Preece (C), Ford, 267.

                11. (15)  Tyler Reddick (C), Toyota, 267.

                12. (16)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267.

                13. (26)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 267.

                14. (14)  Daniel Suarez (C), Chevrolet, 267.

                15. (13)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 267.

                16. (30)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 267.

                17. (5)  Ty Gibbs (C), Toyota, 267.

                18. (33)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 267.

                19. (20)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 267.

                20. (1)  Joey Logano (C), Ford, 267.

                21. (19)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 266.

                22. (24)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 266.

                23. (12)  Chris Buescher (C), Ford, 266.

                24. (17)  Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 266.

                25. (34)  Riley Herbst, Toyota, 266.

                26. (32)  Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 266.

                27. (22)  Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 266.

                28. (36)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 266.

                29. (27)  Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 266.

                30. (29)  Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 266.

                31. (28)  Zane Smith, Ford, 266.

                32. (31)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 266.

                33. (4)  Carson Hocevar (C), Chevrolet, 264.

                34. (35)  Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 262.

                35. (10)  Josh Berry, Ford, 257.

                36. (21)  Noah Gragson, Ford, Engine, 112.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  139.156 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 52 Mins, 41 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .565 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  5 for 26 laps.

Lead Changes:  13 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   J. Logano (C) 0;K. Larson (C) 1-36;R. Chastain 37;K. Larson (C) 38-39;D. Hamlin (C) 40;K. Larson (C) 41-168;C. Zilisch # 169;K. Larson (C) 170-215;A. Cindric (C) 216;D. Hamlin (C) 217;R. Blaney (C) 218-221;K. Larson (C) 222-237;C. Briscoe (C) 238-260;K. Larson (C) 261-267.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Larson (C) 6 times for 235 laps; Chase Briscoe (C) 1 time for 23 laps; Ryan Blaney (C) 1 time for 4 laps; Denny Hamlin (C) 2 times for 2 laps; Ross Chastain 1 time for 1 lap; Austin Cindric (C) 1 time for 1 lap; Connor Zilisch # 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 5,11,2,77,20,22,24,9,54,12

Stage #2 Top Ten: 5,2,11,19,20,24,12,22,54,6

 

Joey Logano gets Kansas pole as rain haunts Chase qualifying

Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Joey Logano doesn’t mind that rain has played havoc with qualifying for three of the first four races in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1.

 

With rain wiping out both practice and time trials for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Logano will start on the pole for the fourth postseason race.

 

“I’ll take rain,” said Logano, who earned the top starting spot through a combination of his victory last Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway and the position of his No. 22 Team Penske Ford in owner points.

 

A three-time series champion—most among full-time active drivers—Logano enters the Kansas race third in the Chase standings, 16 points behind leader Kyle Larson, who will start Sunday’s race beside Logano on the front row.

 

“Starting up front is always good,” Logano said. “We’ll see if we have enough pace when you’re up there. You have a lot of fast cars around you. We’ll see what we’ve got.”

 

Logano was first out during a scheduled practice session that was halted by rain almost before it began.

 

“In a perfect world, we would have gotten to practice, and it rained out qualifying,” Logano quipped. “I thought we were practicing and qualifying when I showed up at the race track this morning. The radar looked pretty good, and the forecast didn’t look that bad either.

 

“I thought ‘We are going to have to do it the hard way today.’ I guess it rained just enough. The curiosity is going to get the best of me, and I am going to want to know what we’ve got. But I can wait one more night. I will be OK.”

 

Christopher Bell and Carson Hocevar will start third and fourth, respectively, as Chase drivers occupy the first nine positions on the grid. Ty Gibbs starts fifth, followed by Denny Hamlin (who trails Larson by one point), Bubba Wallace, William Byron and Ryan Preece.

 

Tenth-place starter Josh Berry is the only non-Chase driver in the top 10.

 

Other Chase drivers will take the green flag from the following positions: Austin Cindric 11th, Chris Buescher 12th, Daniel Suarez 14th, Tyler Reddick 15th, Chase Elliott 18th, Chase Briscoe 23rd and Ryan Blaney 25th.

 

The qualifying rainout is particularly tough on Blaney, who will start deep in the field for the second straight week after wrecking out of the Bristol race while contesting second place with Hocevar.

 

NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying - Hollywood Casino 400

Kansas Speedway

Kansas City, Kansas

Saturday, September 26, 2026

 

                1. (22) Joey Logano (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                2. (5) Kyle Larson (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                3. (20) Christopher Bell (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                4. (77) Carson Hocevar (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                5. (54) Ty Gibbs (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                6. (11) Denny Hamlin (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                7. (23) Bubba Wallace (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                8. (24) William Byron (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                9. (60) Ryan Preece (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                10. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                11. (2) Austin Cindric (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                12. (17) Chris Buescher (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                13. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                14. (7) Daniel Suarez (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                15. (45) Tyler Reddick (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                16. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                17. (97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                18. (9) Chase Elliott (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                19. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                20. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                21. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                22. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                23. (19) Chase Briscoe (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                24. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                25. (12) Ryan Blaney (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                26. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                27. (88) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                28. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                29. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                30. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                31. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                32. (33) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                33. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                34. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                35. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                36. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

 

--30--

-- 
Joey Logano steals a win in an old-school brawl at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn.—When Ty Gibbs finally ran out of magic, Joey Logano took full advantage.

Thanks to a dramatic pass through a gaggle of traffic on Lap 494 of 500, Logano stole a victory in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway and moved close to the lead in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase Presented by Mobil 1.

As Logano celebrated on the frontstretch, his Team Penske teammate, Ryan Blaney, traded punches with Carson Hocevar on pit road. Moments after taking second place from the Spire Motorsports driver, Blaney wrecked off Hocevar’s front bumper on Lap 458, leading to an aggressive confrontation after the race.

The victory was Logano’s third at the 0.533-mile concrete track, his third of the season and the 40th of his career, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin for 20th all-time.

The three-time Cup Series champion climbed four positions to third in the Chase standings, 16 points behind race runner-up Kyle Larson, who took over the series lead by one point over top-seeded Denny Hamlin, Saturday night’s eighth-place finisher.

As Hocevar and Gibbs raced side-by-side for the lead after the final restart—with Larson immediately behind Hocevar in the top lane—Logano rolled the bottom past the trio of cars and moved up the track with the lead. As Gibbs faded to fifth, Larson moved into second place.

After climbing from his No. 22 Ford on the frontstretch, Logano was greeted with a chorus of boos by the same partisans who had waved yellow M&M’s hand towels honoring Busch (distributed by the track) when Gibbs was out front.

“I've got a great team,” said Logano, who led twice for 93 laps. “We've got a team that knows how to win championships. I thought there for a minute, I was like, ‘OK, I might just finish third or fourth here tonight,’ but (we) kind of worked our way up, and I was like, ‘Well, Merry Christmas to me. I got a gift there.’

“There is nothing like the Bristol Night Race, man. This is just the coolest experience as a race car driver, being in front of all you fans down here, hearing everyone screaming, cheering, sometimes booing. That's all right. It's pretty awesome.”

In arguably the fastest car, Gibbs ran an exceptional race in a Toyota featuring a throwback M&M’s point scheme honoring the late Kyle Busch. Gibbs led 120 laps and appeared victory-bound until he succumbed to relentless pressure from Hocevar (who finished third) and Logano, who came from fourth on the final restart to win the race.

Ostensibly channeling some of Busch’s prowess and good fortune at a track where the driver nicknamed “Rowdy” won eight Cup races, Gibbs survived a three-wide accident at the start/finish line immediately after passing Hocevar for the lead on Lap 432.

Busch tried to split the middle between the cars of Alex Bowman and Cole Custer, but Bowman moved up the track, sandwiching Gibbs’ Toyota between the two cars. Miraculously, despite contact from both sides—enough to put Bowman out of the race—Gibbs was able to continue and maintain the speed he showed before the wreck.

“It was an honor to drive the M&M's Camry and it was something I'll never forget,” Gibbs said. “That was such a fun race. Unfortunate that we lost it. I just tried to stay up a little bit too long in (Turns) 1 and 2 that shut the 77 (Hocevar) off, and then the 5 (Larson) got in there, and we just missed it a little bit.

“But I had a blast tonight, and it was so much fun. We'll just keep working hard and keep getting better.”

Blaney led a race-high 202 laps and regained track position after a commitment line penalty caused by an inopportune caution on Laps 397 near the end of a cycle of green-flag pit stops.

After passing Hocevar for the second on Lap 457, he moved down the track to block Hocevar’s line. Hocevar didn’t lift and knocked Blaney into the outside wall in Turn 1. Blaney’s Ford was damaged too extensively to continue, and he exited race in 33rd place, dropping three positions to sixth in the Chase standings, 52 points out of the lead.

On pit road after the race, Blaney approached Hocevar aggressively with a hand to Hocevar’s shoulder. The Spire driver landed two punches in return. After the second blow, Blaney lost his balance and fell backwards. He got to his feet and landed a left hand to Hocevar’s face before officials and crew members pulled them apart.

“I just felt like he didn’t lift,” Blaney said of the wreck. “I left him plenty of room for a lap before that. I didn’t chop him. I didn’t run him into the fence or nothing like I easily could have. I protected the bottom, and he just decided he wanted to be there and didn’t lift and wrecked me.”

Hocevar seemed all but nonchalant after the fight.

“There wasn't a whole lot of talking,” he said. “He just kind of said one thing and then went after me, and I wasn't going to take it.

“I mean, that was fun with the 54 (Gibbs). I got ran into a lot for the win. I mean, that was for second and he wants to come fight… They got an old-school Bristol show here.”

Christopher Bell finished an unassuming and non-controversial fourth on Saturday and leaves Thunder Valley fourth in the standings, 17 points behind Larson, the only driver to have scored top fives (fifth, first and second) in all three Chase races so far.

“Yeah, I mean, it's good,” Larson said. “It's good. But there's still so much racing left. Just got to keep having good, consistent days. It's three top fives to open the Chase and looks like leading the points now by just a point.

“But we're going to some good tracks for us but also good tracks for the Toyotas—Vegas and Kansas, Charlotte. It could easily change a lot here in the upcoming weeks. But we've just got to be ready for anything and keep plugging away.”

Josh Berry finished sixth, the only non-Chase driver in the top 11. Bubba Wallace, Hamlin, William Byron and Ryan Preece completed the top 10.

Kansas Speedway is next on the Chase schedule with the Sept. 27 Hollywood Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

--30--

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Bass Pro Shops Night Race

Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol, Tennessee

Saturday, September 19, 2026

                1. (2)  Joey Logano (C), Ford, 500.

                2. (1)  Kyle Larson (C), Chevrolet, 500.

                3. (5)  Carson Hocevar (C), Chevrolet, 500.

                4. (12)  Christopher Bell (C), Toyota, 500.

                5. (13)  Ty Gibbs (C), Toyota, 500.

                6. (32)  Josh Berry, Ford, 500.

                7. (10)  Bubba Wallace (C), Toyota, 500.

                8. (3)  Denny Hamlin (C), Toyota, 500.

                9. (4)  William Byron (C), Chevrolet, 500.

                10. (16)  Ryan Preece (C), Ford, 500.

                11. (8)  Austin Cindric (C), Ford, 500.

                12. (7)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 500.

                13. (23)  Chris Buescher (C), Ford, 499.

                14. (28)  Daniel Suarez (C), Chevrolet, 498.

                15. (11)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 498.

                16. (36)  Noah Gragson, Ford, 498.

                17. (9)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 498.

                18. (20)  Tyler Reddick (C), Toyota, 497.

                19. (24)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 497.

                20. (22)  Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 497.

                21. (21)  Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 497.

                22. (18)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 497.

                23. (27)  Chase Elliott (C), Chevrolet, 497.

                24. (15)  Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 496.

                25. (19)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 495.

                26. (17)  Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 495.

                27. (26)  Chase Briscoe (C), Toyota, Suspension, 494.

                28. (35)  Zane Smith, Ford, 494.

                29. (25)  Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 494.

                30. (31)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 490.

                31. (30)  Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 489.

                32. (14)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 483.

                33. (29)  Ryan Blaney (C), Ford, Accident, 457.

                34. (34)  Riley Herbst, Toyota, Suspension, 432.

                35. (6)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 428.

                36. (33)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 402.

                37. (37)  Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, Suspension, 338.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  87.697 mph.

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 2 Mins, 20 Secs. Margin of Victory:  1.248 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  10 for 78 laps.

Lead Changes:  13 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   K. Larson (C) 0;K. Larson (C) 1-44;J. Logano (C) 45-130;K. Larson (C) 131;R. Blaney (C) 132-254;C. Bell (C) 255;R. Blaney (C) 256-324;T. Gibbs (C) 325-386;R. Blaney (C) 387-396;C. Hocevar (C) 397-430;T. Gibbs (C) 431;C. Hocevar (C) 432-434;T. Gibbs (C) 435-491;C. Hocevar (C) 492-493;J. Logano (C) 494-500.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Ryan Blaney (C) 3 times for 202 laps; Ty Gibbs (C) 3 times for 120 laps; Joey Logano (C) 2 times for 93 laps; Kyle Larson (C) 2 times for 45 laps; Carson Hocevar (C) 3 times for 39 laps; Christopher Bell (C) 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 22,5,11,1,54,12,2,77,6,23

Stage #2 Top Ten: 12,54,22,21,20,23,77,24,5,17

 

 

Canceled qualifying session puts Kyle Larson on pole for Night Race

 

September 18, 2026

 

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

BRISTOL, Tenn.—Just nine points out of the Chase lead, Kyle Larson will start from the pole position in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race, after a lightning delay forced cancelation of Friday’s qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Having finished fifth in the Chase opener at Darlington Raceway before winning last Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway, Larson brings considerable momentum to the third race of the NASCAR Cup Series postseason (7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“Always coming into here I feel confident,” said Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. “I do believe we can come here and have a good weekend. At Darlington, I felt like we were back to being ‘5-team-ish’ in a way. It had been so long since we were battling for a win… So that was fun.”

“To go to Gateway and put on a performance like we did, yeah, I felt like we were getting closer to where we want to be, but still have room to go, for sure—a lot of room to go to be dominant. But at least as far as team prep, execution and all the things it takes, I felt like these first two weeks have gone really strong.”

Chase drivers occupy the first five positions on the starting grid for the Night Race, with Joey Logano lining up next to Larson on the first row in a field set by the rule book (according to metrics) because of the cancellation.

Top seed and Chase leader Denny Hamlin will start third, as he tries to keep Larson at bay. William Byron lines up fourth, followed by Carson Hocevar. Non-Chase drivers Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain will start sixth and seventh, followed by Chase driver Austin Cindric.

Non-Chaser Austin Dillon starts ninth with Chase driver Bubba Wallace 10th on the grid.

Other Chase drivers start as follows: Christopher Bell 12th, Ty Gibbs 13th, Ryan Preece 16th, Tyler Reddick 20th, Chris Buescher 23rd, Chase Briscoe 26th, Chase Elliott 27th, Daniel Suarez 28th and Ryan Blaney 29th.

Bell is third in the Chase standings, 18 points behind Hamlin. Suarez is currently on baby watch for his first child, with NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Justin Allgaier on standby for possible relief duties.

“Hopefully, the baby doesn’t come till Sunday or Monday,” Suarez said. “I think it’s going to come very soon though. Hopefully, it’s not tomorrow.”

--30--

NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying - Bass Pro Shops Night Race

Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol, Tennessee

Friday, September 18, 2026

                1. (5) Kyle Larson (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                2. (22) Joey Logano (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                3. (11) Denny Hamlin (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                4. (24) William Byron (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                5. (77) Carson Hocevar (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                6. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                7. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                8. (2) Austin Cindric (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                9. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                10. (23) Bubba Wallace (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                11. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                12. (20) Christopher Bell (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                13. (54) Ty Gibbs (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                14. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                15. (88) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                16. (60) Ryan Preece (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                17. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                18. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                19. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                20. (45) Tyler Reddick (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                21. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                22. (97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                23. (17) Chris Buescher (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                24. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                25. (33) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                26. (19) Chase Briscoe (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                27. (9) Chase Elliott (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                28. (7) Daniel Suarez (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                29. (12) Ryan Blaney (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                30. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                31. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                32. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                33. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

                34. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 0.000 mph.

                35. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                36. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 0.000 mph.

                37. (66) Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, 0.000 mph.

Kyle Larson Breaks Drought in Wild Chase Race at World Wide Technology Raceway

 

Amy Kontras | Getty Images

September 13, 2026

 

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

MADISON, Ill.—In a cauldron of chaos, with Chase drivers wrecking and brake rotors exploding through the bodies of NASCAR Cup Series cars, Kyle Larson’s 51-race winless streak ended Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

 

Holding off pole winner Joey Logano and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman on a succession of late restarts, Larson won the Enjoy Illinois 300 in two overtimes to affirm his status as a contender for a third series championship.

 

With top seed Denny Hamlin running ninth after a problematic pit stop on Lap 199 of 247, Larson, the defending series champion, gained five positions to second in the Chase standings, nine points behind Hamlin.

 

The victory was the first for the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet since May 11, 2025 at Kansas Speedway. Larson, who led 80 laps and won the second stage, prevailed for the first time at WWT Raceway and for the 33rd time in his career.

 

In a race that featured a track-record 18 cautions for 87 laps, Larson passed Logano to the inside moments after a Lap 228 restart that followed a four-car wreck involving Chase drivers Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick.

 

Three more cautions and two attempts at overtime later, Larson took the checkered flag 0.333 seconds ahead of Bowman, who grabbed the second position from Logano on a Lap 242 restart.

 

Larson had superior speed at the end of the race, thanks to a four-tire call by Larson himself on the team’s final stop on Lap 203. Logano’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, opted for right-side tires on the No. 22 Ford’s las trip to pit road, and Larson’s tire advantage—along with strong pushes from Bowman on consecutive restarts—proved decisive.

 

“Just proud of my team for working so hard, being so patient through all the tough times, the winless streak, all that,” said Larson, who ended a nine-race drought for Chevrolet. “Thanks to the fans, my fans, for also being patient with us, letting us get it figured out,

 

“How about Hendrick Motorsports? Alex Bowman, can't ask for a better teammate than him. Gave me the pushes I needed to get clear. Want to dedicate this win to him—and his dog just passed away a couple days ago.”

 

Bowman, who will retire from full-time Cup racing after next season, executed a solid race, avoiding the pitfalls that caused consternation among other competitors.

 

“Yeah, super happy for Kyle. Was a really hard weekend just to get on the plane and be here,” Bowman said. “So, yeah, ready to go home. But proud of everybody on this Ally 48 team for helping me through the weekend. Yeah, life is hard sometimes.

 

“Yeah, I lost my best friend, so just ready to go home.”

 

Logano, who led a race-high 96 laps and finished third, had mixed feelings about the outcome for the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

 

“The restart where Larson took the lead—that's where I lost it obviously,” Logano said. “He just rolled the bottom really good and cleared me, which is really surprising.

 

“His first, like, three laps of every run was pretty spectacular. You had a bunch of three-lap runs there at the end. Once he got there, then the 48 (Bowman) got there, the 24 (William Byron) got there. Had no homies with me. No more friends. On my own…

 

“I mean, it's a good run, right? Got a lot of stage points, finished in the top five again, which is obviously what we need to do. Thinking about what the 25 points would feel like right about now, it does stink some.”

 

Logano, who won the first stage and finished second in Stage 2, leaves Greater St. Louis seventh in the Chase standings, having trimmed his deficit to Hamlin from 72 points to 51.

 

William Byron recovered from a Lap 141 accident to finish fourth, with Ross Chastain in fifth posing his second top five of the season. Austin Dillon was sixth, followed by Connor Zilisch, Carson Hocevar, Hamlin and Austin Cindric.

 

If Logano was somewhat disappointed with his third-place result, his dissatisfaction paled in comparison with the calamities that befell a succession of Chase drivers. Ryan Blaney blew a brake rotor and fell out in 35th place, falling 33 points behind Hamlin.

 

Five Chase drivers—Blaney, Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe—had gone to the garage before the race ended. Buescher and Elliott both suffered from exploding rotors, with Elliott collecting Briscoe after his No. 9 Chevrolet spiraled out of control.

 

Bell, last Sunday’s winner at Darlington Raceway, finished 19th and fell one spot to third in the standings, 18 points behind Hamlin.

 

The bottom five drivers in the Chase standings—Byron, Cindric, Buescher, Ryan Preece and Suarez—all are more than 100 points out of first place and losing touch with the top contenders, although there are eight races left before the title is decided.

 

The Cup Series competes next in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway next Saturday (7:30 p.m. on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

 

Notes: The 18 cautions are the most since that same number occurred in the 2022 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway… Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 26th in his 500th NASCAR Cup Series start.

 

--30--

 

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Enjoy Illinois 300
World Wide Technology Raceway
Madison, Illinois
Sunday, September 13, 2026

 

      1. (2)  Kyle Larson (C), Chevrolet, 247.
      2. (11)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 247.
      3. (1)  Joey Logano (C), Ford, 247.
      4. (24)  William Byron (C), Chevrolet, 247.
      5. (20)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 247.
      6. (22)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 247.
      7. (19)  Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 247.
      8. (6)  Carson Hocevar (C), Chevrolet, 247.
      9. (10)  Denny Hamlin (C), Toyota, 247.
      10. (13)  Austin Cindric (C), Ford, 247.
      11. (26)  Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 247.
      12. (23)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 247.
      13. (25)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 247.
      14. (7)  Bubba Wallace (C), Toyota, 247.
      15. (28)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 247.
      16. (17)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 247.
      17. (14)  Ryan Preece (C), Ford, 247.
      18. (9)  Ty Gibbs (C), Toyota, 247.
      19. (4)  Christopher Bell (C), Toyota, 247.
      20. (29)  Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 247.
      21. (27)  Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 247.
      22. (30)  Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 247.
      23. (35)  Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 247.
      24. (34)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 247.
      25. (18)  Tyler Reddick (C), Toyota, 247.
      26. (36)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 247.
      27. (21)  Chris Buescher (C), Ford, Accident, 237.
      28. (16)  Josh Berry, Ford, 231.
      29. (15)  Daniel Suarez (C), Chevrolet, Accident, 229.
      30. (32)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 227.
      31. (8)  Chase Elliott (C), Chevrolet, Accident, 214.
      32. (5)  Chase Briscoe (C), Toyota, Accident, 213.
      33. (31)  Noah Gragson, Ford, Accident, 198.
      34. (33)  Riley Herbst, Toyota, Accident, 176.
      35. (3)  Ryan Blaney (C), Ford, Accident, 154.
      36. (12)  Zane Smith, Ford, Accident, 129.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  81.47 mph.
Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 47 Mins, 23 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .333 Seconds.
Caution Flags:  18 for 87 laps.
Lead Changes:  11 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   J. Logano (C) 1-47;B. Keselowski 48-65;R. Chastain 66-80;K. Larson (C) 81-136;J. Logano (C) 137-158;K. Larson (C) 159-162;J. Berry 163;B. Keselowski 164-181;J. Logano (C) 182-201;B. Keselowski 202-220;J. Logano (C) 221-227;K. Larson (C) 228-247.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Joey Logano (C) 4 times for 96 laps; Kyle Larson (C) 3 times for 80 laps; Brad Keselowski 3 times for 55 laps; Ross Chastain 1 time for 15 laps; Josh Berry 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 22,20,5,12,9,77,19,48,54,6
Stage #2 Top Ten: 5,22,6,12,21,11,60,45,19,23

 

Joey Logano Charges to Pole Position for NASCAR Cup Chase Race at World Wide Technology Raceway

Amy Kontras | Getty Images

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

MADISON, Ill.—With a spectacular lap late in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session, Joey Logano won the Busch Light Pole Award for Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway by a wide margin.

 

The only competitor in 36-driver field to crack the 33-second barrier, Logano covered the 1.25-mile distance in 32.817 seconds (137.124 mph) to claim the top starting spot for the second race in the Cup Series Chase (3 p.m. ET Sunday on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

 

The Busch Light Pole Award was the second of the season for Logano, who won the inaugural Cup Series race at WWTR in 2022. In winning his first pole at the track and the 35th of his career, Logano beat second-place qualifier Kyle Larson (135.980 mph) by 0.276 seconds.

 

“Honestly, I feel like I’ve had good cars here for qualifying—I just have always screwed up Turn 1,” said Logano, who is eighth in the Chase standings, 72 points out of the lead. “It’s nice to have a good clean lap.

 

“It’s in your head, right? Before you go out because you’ve had four qualifying sessions before where you’ve always screwed up Turn 1. I’ve overdriven it. I’ve underdriven it because of that.

 

“I hit it right this time, so that part was good. I was able to get through it pretty well and have a pretty solid (Turns) 3 and 4, and the car did what it needed to do. The car has got some raw speed in it, which is very encouraging for (Sunday).”

 

Logano is the only driver in the field who has finished in the top five in each of the four previous races at Gateway.

 

Chase drivers claimed the top 10 positions during time trials, with Logano’s Team Penske Teammate, Ryan Blaney, qualifying third at 135.898 mph and last Sunday’s Darlington winner, Christopher Bell, earning the fourth spot on the grid at 135.767 mph.

 

Chase Briscoe was fifth fastest, followed by Carson Hocevar, Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs and series leader Denny Hamlin, who improved significantly from his 30th position on the speed chart during practice earlier in the day.

The remaining six Chase drivers qualified as follows: Austin Cindric 13th, Ryan Preece 14th, Daniel Suarez 15th, Tyler Reddick 18th, Chris Buescher 21st and William Byron 24th. Buescher’s No. 17 Ford failed inspection twice, resulting in the ejection of crew chief Joshua Sisco and the loss of pit selection for Sunday’s race.

 

--30--

 

Christopher Bell snaps drought in crown jewel Southern 500, wins Chase opener at Darlington

James Gilbert | Getty Images

Sept. 6, 2026

 

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

 

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Christopher Bell snapped a 33-race winless streak, claiming his first victory of the year in Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500, coming after a record-breaking mark of seven runner-up efforts on the season. And the timing of his trophy hoist could not have been better for the perpetual championship contender.

 

Bell’s 1.038-second win in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota over JGR teammate Ty Gibbs at the historic – and historically tough – 1.366-mile Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase opener was a strong statement for Bell’s championship run.

 

The victory vaults him from sixth place to second place in the championship standings, now only 12 points behind another JGR teammate, the regular season champion Denny Hamlin with nine races left to decide who hoists the big trophy.

 

“It’s been too long, oh my gosh man,’’ said a grinning Bell, who took the checkered flag and proudly bowed to the packed and rowdy Darlington grandstands in honor of his former teammate, the late Kyle Busch.

 

“I’m just so, so, so proud of all these guys, all these guys they deserve it more than anyone,’’ he said of his team. “This has been a long time coming. And Darlington has been one I’ve always wanted to win since I got into the sport. It’s the ultimate driver’s track.’’

 

Not only did Bell end that winless streak, but the showing was a big boost to his spirit considering this season he’s had to overcome a broken wrist suffered in June during a crash at Michigan. Bell raced as the injury was healing this summer and now that perseverance and unwavering belief in himself and team has put himself in position to vie for the 2026 championship.

 

Sunday’s win in one of the premier events on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule was not only particularly rewarding in the moment, but a huge motivation going forward. And Bell’s victory marks the first time since 2019 that the JGR operation has scored wins by all four of its drivers.

 

“We can win any week, it just hadn’t happened yet,’’ Bell said. “When I was sitting in the infield care center at Michigan, I thought my season would be over. But we’re still in it, baby.’ We’re still in it.’

 

The 31-year old Oklahoman led 46 laps on the night, but ultimately took the lead for good getting around reigning series champion Kyle Larson with 12 laps remaining in the 367-lap race. Larson led a race best 99 laps, but was among four cars that did not pit for fresh tires following an eight-minute red flag stoppage period for rain with 24 laps remaining.

 

Bell restarted fifth – his crew getting him out first among those that did take fresh tires on the pit sequence - and he wasted no time moving forward. He was on Larson’s bumper two laps after that green flag restart and made the winning move low on Larson with 12 laps to go – in the closing laps holding off four other championship-eligible drivers including Gibbs, polesitter 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Larson who managed a top-five showing despite being at a tire deficit.

 

Larson, who is riding a 56-race winless streak now, said after the race that he absolutely did not doubt the call to stay on track during that final caution instead of taking fresh tires.

 

“No, I don’t,’’ Larson said of second-guessing his team’s strategy. “[If we did] we were going to restart behind the 20 [Bell] and the 19 [sixth-place finisher, JGR’s Chase Briscoe]. I was actually surprised they pitted in front of me and didn’t stay out with me. There were so many cars on the lead lap, I thought there might be two to four more [cars] that would stay out and that could help me at least get some laps to manage my tires.

 

“But Bell got to second [place] so fast, I was just straight into playing defense and not able to run the lines I wanted to take care of my tires. Either way, it was going to be hard to hold him off and I ended up holding him off longer than I thought.

 

“Really happy with the day. Much better than we’ve been in Darlington last couple times.’’

 

Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry was the only non-Chase driver among the top-10 finishers, his seventh place effort marking his sixth consecutive top-10 finish – the longest such streak for a Wood Brothers driver since NASCAR Hall of Famer, the late David Pearson in 1977. 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, Team Penske’s Joey Logano were eighth and ninth.

 

Last week’s Daytona regular season finale winner, Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Ryan Preece rallied to a 10th place finish even after a slow pit sequence during the Stage 1 pit break that necessitated an extra pit stop and dropped to 28th in the running order then went a lap him down under the second green flag cycle in Stage 2 and got the lap back as the beneficiary at the Stage 2 break.

 

The regular season champion and a five-time Darlington winner, Denny Hamlin finished 18th which was actually a huge rebound after a series of bad luck events mid-race hijacked the title favorite’s trophy chances.

 

First, he and teammate Bell had slow pit stops during the Stage 2 caution period. And a lap after the restart for the stage break, while running 16th, Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota and Michael McDowell’s No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet made contact. Hamlin’s car went into the wall and after multiple pit stops to access the damage, he returned on track and went a lap down with 100 laps remaining.

 

Timely strategy calls and subsequent caution periods helped him get back on the lead lap – important in salvaging that top-20 position that keeps him atop the standings.

 

“Certainly not the finish we were hoping for, good first couple of stages, just got where our car was best right before the wreck in Stage 3,’’ Hamlin said. “Certainly big gains all day and was really good in the long run and got it good by the time that last stage came but never got to see it through.

 

“It’s the pressure of the sport. Can’t have big mistakes. We just had a tough pit stop there and once we got back there you’re with guys that are a little more aggressive and don’t really care about the points or anything like that so you sometimes don’t get a break and that’s the way it goes.

 

“We’re still leading [the points], so just gotta go to the next race rack and execute a high level and do our best to execute a much better day next week than what we did this week.’’

 

Other Chase-eligible drivers included Carson Hocevar, who finished 11th, Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott, who finished 13th and 14th. Chris Buescher and Daniel Suarez were 20th and 21st. Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron was 37th among the 38-car field, his No. 24 Chevrolet suffering an engine problem only 48 laps shy of the checkered flag.

 

Beyond Hamlin and Bell in the championship standings, Blaney is third now, 16 points off Hamlin. Reddick, who claimed the Stage 1 win, is 24 points back and Briscoe is 37 off his teammate’s pace.

 

Round 2 of the 10-race Chase, the Enjoy Illinois 300 is Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (Ill.) (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hamlin is the defending race winner.

 

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Cook Out Southern 500

Darlington Raceway

Darlington, South Carolina

Sunday, September 6, 2026

 

                  1. (11)  Christopher Bell (C), Toyota, 367.

                  2. (28)  Ty Gibbs (C), Toyota, 367.

                  3. (1)  Tyler Reddick (C), Toyota, 367.

                  4. (24)  Ryan Blaney (C), Ford, 367.

                  5. (25)  Kyle Larson (C), Chevrolet, 367.

                  6. (7)  Chase Briscoe (C), Toyota, 367.

                  7. (14)  Josh Berry, Ford, 367.

                  8. (17)  Bubba Wallace (C), Toyota, 367.

                  9. (13)  Joey Logano (C), Ford, 367.

                  10. (3)  Ryan Preece (C), Ford, 367.

                  11. (34)  Carson Hocevar (C), Chevrolet, 367.

                  12. (10)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 367.

                  13. (6)  Austin Cindric (C), Ford, 367.

                  14. (18)  Chase Elliott (C), Chevrolet, 367.

                  15. (36)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 367.

                  16. (21)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 367.

                  17. (5)  Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 367.

                  18. (4)  Denny Hamlin (C), Toyota, 367.

                  19. (22)  Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 367.

                  20. (35)  Chris Buescher (C), Ford, 367.

                  21. (2)  Daniel Suarez (C), Chevrolet, 367.

                  22. (30)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 367.

                  23. (12)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 367.

                  24. (19)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 367.

                  25. (33)  Zane Smith, Ford, 367.

                  26. (26)  Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 366.

                  27. (23)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 366.

                  28. (32)  Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 366.

                  29. (9)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 366.

                  30. (15)  Riley Herbst, Toyota, 366.

                  31. (27)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 366.

                  32. (29)  Noah Gragson, Ford, 366.

                  33. (16)  Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 366.

                  34. (31)  Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 365.

                  35. (8)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 363.

                  36. (37)  Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 363.

                  37. (20)  William Byron (C), Chevrolet, Engine, 319.

                  38. (38)  Chad Finchum(i), Ford, Suspension, 243.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  123.741 mph.

Time of Race:  4 Hrs, 3 Mins, 5 Secs. Margin of Victory:  1.038 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  6 for 44 laps.

Lead Changes:  29 among 12 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   T. Reddick (C) 0;D. Suarez (C) 1-2;D. Hamlin (C) 3-28;T. Reddick (C) 29-37;S. Van Gisbergen 38;T. Reddick (C) 39-44;D. Hamlin (C) 45-71;B. Wallace (C) 72-76;C. Elliott (C) 77;C. Hocevar (C) 78;D. Hamlin (C) 79-93;T. Reddick (C) 94-150;R. Blaney (C) 151;K. Larson (C) 152-154;B. Wallace (C) 155-186;T. Reddick (C) 187;C. Bell (C) 188-190;K. Larson (C) 191-193;C. Briscoe (C) 194-215;C. Bell (C) 216-232;B. Wallace (C) 233;K. Larson (C) 234-279;C. Hocevar (C) 280;T. Gilliland 281-285;K. Larson (C) 286-316;T. Reddick (C) 317;C. Bell (C) 318-331;C. Briscoe (C) 332-339;K. Larson (C) 340-355;C. Bell (C) 356-367.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Larson (C) 5 times for 99 laps; Tyler Reddick (C) 5 times for 74 laps; Denny Hamlin (C) 3 times for 68 laps; Christopher Bell (C) 4 times for 46 laps; Bubba Wallace (C) 3 times for 38 laps; Chase Briscoe (C) 2 times for 30 laps; Todd Gilliland 1 time for 5 laps; Daniel Suarez (C) 1 time for 2 laps; Carson Hocevar (C) 2 times for 2 laps; Chase Elliott (C) 1 time for 1 lap; Shane Van Gisbergen 1 time for 1 lap; Ryan Blaney (C) 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 45,23,11,20,12,19,60,2,24,54

Stage #2 Top Ten: 20,5,11,19,23,12,21,24,45,2

 

Reddick Starts Chase From Pole at Darlington as Weather Cancels Qualifying

 

September 5, 2026

 

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

 

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Inclement weather necessitated the cancellation of Busch Light Pole Qualifying at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway Friday evening and no one was happier about the development than 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who will now lead the field to green in Sunday night’s Chase-opening Cook Out Southern 500 (5 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

This is the eighth time this season the five-race NASCAR Cup Series winner and driver of the No. 45 Toyota will start from the number one position on the grid – five times through a formal qualifying session and three others as a result of a cancelled session due to weather. 

“This is literally the best-case scenario for us,’’ said a smiling Reddick, who has now started among the top-10 at every Darlington race throughout his entire four-year career at 23XI Racing.

Reddick led 77 of the 293 laps and won from pole position here in May.

“We were so strong here in the Spring,” he said. “Ironically enough, as I kind of got going in Cup racing it was during COVID with no practice at all and I got very used to just having to figure it out in the first corner. 

“So for me, generally, I feel like we’re in a really good spot most weekends when this happens. But beyond that, as strong as we were, I know teams may want to try thing to close the gap, but no one had that opportunity today so that helps us even more.’’

Reddick will share the front row with fellow title contender Spire Motorsports’ Daniel Suárez in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. Chase drivers, Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Ryan Preece and championship leader Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, will roll off third and fourth. 

Hamlin, whose five Darlington wins is most in the field, won the regular season title and starts the race with a 25-point advantage on the 16-driver championship field.

Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, who is not championship-eligible, will start fifth followed by a pair of Chase drivers, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric and JGR’s Chase Briscoe, who is the two-time defending race winner and the only other multi-time winner among the field.

Three non-Chase drivers – HYAK Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, and Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman round out the top-10 on the grid.

The rain-out metric has made for an interesting challenge for several of the other Chase drivers. JGR’s Christopher Bell starts 11th with Penske’s Joey Logano – a three-time series champion – 13th on the grid. Reddick’s 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace will start 17th alongside Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott – tops on the grid among the three title-chasing Hendrick team Chevrolets.

Hendrick’s William Byron (20th), Penske’s Ryan Blaney (24th), JGR’s Ty Gibbs (28th), Spire’s Carson Hocevar (34th) and RFK’s Chris Buescher (25th) round out the Chase field on the 38-car grid.

Logano, Larson and Byron are all former Darlington race winners.

--30--

NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying - Cook Out Southern 500

Darlington Raceway
Darlington, South Carolina
Saturday, September 5, 2026

 
          1. (45) Tyler Reddick (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
          2. (7) Daniel Suarez (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          3. (60) Ryan Preece (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.
          4. (11) Denny Hamlin (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
          5. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          6. (2) Austin Cindric (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.
          7. (19) Chase Briscoe (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
          8. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          9. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          10. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          11. (20) Christopher Bell (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
          12. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 0.000 mph.
          13. (22) Joey Logano (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.
          14. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 0.000 mph.
          15. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
          16. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          17. (23) Bubba Wallace (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
          18. (9) Chase Elliott (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          19. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
          20. (24) William Byron (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          21. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 0.000 mph.
          22. (67) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 0.000 mph.
          23. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          24. (12) Ryan Blaney (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.
          25. (5) Kyle Larson (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          26. (97) Shane van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          27. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          28. (54) Ty Gibbs (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
          29. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 0.000 mph.
          30. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          31. (88) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          32. (33) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          33. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 0.000 mph.
          34. (77) Carson Hocevar (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          35. (17) Chris Buescher (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.
          36. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
          37. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
          38. (66) Chad Finchum(i), Ford, 0.000 mph.
 

Ryan Preece storms into NASCAR Cup Chase with first career win at Daytona

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Short on fuel in the late going, but with no dearth of tenacity, Ryan Preece won Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway in overtime to force his way into the NASCAR Cup Series Chase.

 

“I'm just speechless right now,” said Preece, who claimed the final berth the Chase by 17 points over Shane van Gisbergen. The three-time Australian Supercars champion had led Preece by 31 points entering the regular-season finale.

 

“But those guys, that 60 group, we're fighters,” Preece continued. “When you put our back against the wall, we swing hard… Last year there were a lot of keyboard warriors saying I was nothing. Well, we just kicked their butts tonight.”

 

In winning his first Cup Series points race, Preece recovered from a three-car wreck at the end of the first stage that damaged his left front fender, but after repairs, he was able to power his No. 60 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford back to the front.

 

Stretching fuel mileage over the final 65-lap stage, Preece surged into the lead past Tyler Reddick and Zane Smith in overtime moments before Smith turned into the outside wall to ignite a series of collisions that forced NASCAR to call the fourth yellow of the evening—with Preece ahead at the moment of caution.

 

“It's a testament of how prepared these race cars are, man. I'm a racer. I know what it takes to build speed. So, to every man and woman at RFK, thank you for giving me a rocket ship so I could go to the moon tonight. This is redemption.”

 

In a race that went six laps beyond its scheduled distance of 160 laps, Preece led three times for a total of five laps. Eschewing a pit stop in the final stage, he was running second when Carson Hocevar made an aggressive move to the inside entering Turn 3 to cause the Lap 155 wreck that forced overtime.

 

Hocevar steered his Spire Motorsports Chevrolet toward the bottom lane, but the rear of the car snapped loose, propelling the No. 77 Camaro into the outside wall. Erik Jones’ Toyota plowed violently into Hocevar’s car along the outside wall, as Ty Gibbs’ Camry spun down the track.

 

“Yeah, I was always super tight behind people, it seemed,” said Hocevar, who picked up his first career win at Talladega in April. “And so, I just changed from top to bottom there, and that was the first time I really got a ton of air on my nose into three and I just lost it. It just kept going. I had the wheel straight, man.

 

“It just kept going with all the air and something down on the nose. I'm shocked that it did that. It caught me off guard, for sure. It was nice to ride around all day like we'd kind of planned, and then we gave ourselves a shot to win it at the end. We were up front, had track position and led laps, and that's all I can really ask for from a team standpoint. Overall, I thought we did a pretty good job here tonight.”

 

Hocevar’s accident set up the overtime restart with Smith in the lead. After pushing Smith on the white-flag lap, Reddick made a move to the outside, but he and Smith tangled on the final circuit to start the race-ending melee on the backstretch.

 

Daniel Suarez avoided the chaos and finished second, followed by Reddick, Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Austin Cindric came home sixth and clinched the 15th seed in the Chase by nine points over Preece, who will start the postseason as the 16th seed.

 

“We were so close, two years in a row with a second-place finish,” Suarez said of his run in the No. 7 Spire Chevrolet. “Super happy and proud to make it to the Chase with this team. This team deserves it.

 

“I feel like in the past, I’ve had runs in the postseason where I didn’t think we were strong enough to really contend. But this team deserves to be in the Chase. We are a Chase team. There are so many people and partners that have helped us get here and put this kind of performance together.”

 

Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Josh Berry, and Cole Custer completed the top 10. Berry posted his fifth straight top-10 result in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford.

 

Bubba Wallace finished 20th after clinching the 14th seed in the Chase with a seventh-place result in the first stage.

 

Van Gisbergen worked his way into a strong position with a win in Stage 1, as Preece, RFK teammate Chris Buescher and Kyle Larson spun into the infield grass approaching the finish line to end the stage.

 

Late in the race, however, van Gisbergen came to pit road for fuel on Lap 157 and opted for four new tires. That put him 27th for the overtime restart, and from that position he was unable to avoid the multicar wreck on the final lap. The New Zealander finished 28th and out of the Chase.

 

Denny Hamlin had clinched top seeding in the Chase, along with a 25-point advantage, last Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He’ll start the Chase with 2,100 points. Despite wrecking on the final lap and finishing 33rd, Ryan Blaney picked up the Stage 2 win and held the second seed to start the Chase with 2,075 points.

 

The remaining seeds in order are: Reddick, Gibbs, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Larson, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Buescher, Suarez, Hocevar, William Byron, Wallace, Cindric and Preece.

 

The Chase begins on Sunday, Sept. 6 with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (5 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

 

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Coke Zero Sugar 400

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona Beach, Florida

Saturday, August 29, 2026

 

                1. (4)  Ryan Preece, Ford, 166.

                2. (23)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 166.

                3. (17)  Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 166.

                4. (18)  Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 166.

                5. (32)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 166.

                6. (8)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 166.

                7. (29)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 166.

                8. (20)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 166.

                9. (24)  Josh Berry, Ford, 166.

                10. (16)  Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 166.

                11. (30)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 166.

                12. (5)  Harrison Burton(i), Toyota, 166.

                13. (12)  Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 166.

                14. (21)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 166.

                15. (27)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 166.

                16. (11)  Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 166.

                17. (35)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 166.

                18. (9)  Joey Logano, Ford, 166.

                19. (33)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 166.

                20. (26)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 166.

                21. (31)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 166.

                22. (13)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 166.

                23. (22)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 166.

                24. (1)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 166.

                25. (7)  Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 166.

                26. (37)  Noah Gragson, Ford, 166.

                27. (3)  Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 166.

                28. (6)  Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 166.

                29. (39)  Daniel Dye(i), Chevrolet, 166.

                30. (36)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 166.

                31. (10)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 166.

                32. (34)  Zane Smith, Ford, Accident, 165.

                33. (19)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 165.

                34. (14)  Ty Gibbs, Toyota, Accident, 165.

                35. (25)  Cody Ware, Chevrolet, Accident, 165.

                36. (40)  Joey Gase(i), Chevrolet, 165.

                37. (38)  Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 165.

                38. (28)  Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, Accident, 154.

                39. (15)  Erik Jones, Toyota, Accident, 154.

                40. (2)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 151.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  154.69 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 40 Mins, 58 Secs. Margin of Victory:  Under Caution Seconds.

Caution Flags:  4 for 23 laps.

Lead Changes:  41 among 22 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   R. Chastain 1;K. Larson 2;R. Chastain 3-4;C. Buescher 5-9;K. Larson 10;A. Hill(i) 11-33;C. Buescher 34;S. Van Gisbergen 35-39;T. Gibbs 40;R. Blaney 41;J. Logano 42-43;S. Van Gisbergen 44;T. Gilliland 45;A. Hill(i) 46-49;C. Briscoe 50-55;R. Chastain 56-63;C. Elliott 64-67;Z. Smith 68-70;C. Elliott 71-81;R. Blaney 82-84;A. Cindric 85-90;C. Elliott 91-94;R. Blaney 95;R. Preece 96;R. Chastain 97;J. Berry 98;R. Stenhouse Jr. 99;T. Gilliland 100-106;C. Briscoe 107-109;B. Keselowski 110-113;C. Briscoe 114;B. Keselowski 115-117;C. Ware 118-119;B. Keselowski 120-122;C. Ware 123-128;W. Byron 129-142;J. Nemechek 143-144;T. Reddick 145-149;R. Preece 150-152;C. Hocevar 153;Z. Smith 154-165;R. Preece 166.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Austin Hill(i) 2 times for 27 laps; Chase Elliott 3 times for 19 laps; Zane Smith 2 times for 15 laps; William Byron 1 time for 14 laps; Ross Chastain 4 times for 12 laps; Chase Briscoe 3 times for 10 laps; Brad Keselowski 3 times for 10 laps; Todd Gilliland 2 times for 8 laps; Cody Ware 2 times for 8 laps; Chris Buescher 2 times for 6 laps; Austin Cindric 1 time for 6 laps; Shane Van Gisbergen 2 times for 6 laps; Ryan Preece 3 times for 5 laps; Ryan Blaney 3 times for 5 laps; Tyler Reddick 1 time for 5 laps; John Hunter Nemechek 1 time for 2 laps; Kyle Larson 2 times for 2 laps; Joey Logano 1 time for 2 laps; Josh Berry 1 time for 1 lap; Ty Gibbs 1 time for 1 lap; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 1 lap; Carson Hocevar 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 97,54,22,43,19,5,23,60,42,2

Stage #2 Top Ten: 12,60,38,24,34,5,19,7,9,33

 

--30--

 

Florida Native Ross Chastain Claims Clutch Daytona Pole

james gilbert/getty images

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Floridian Ross Chastain claimed his first Busch Light Pole position of the season – and third of his career – delivering a clutch effort Friday evening at Daytona International Speedway.

 

The 33-year-old from Alva, Florida – whose crew chief Brandon McSwain is from Auburndale, Fla. - dramatically claimed the top starting spot for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale – delivering a best lap of 184.391 mph in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. The effort bettered Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher’s No. 17 Ford by .051-second.

 

It’s the best start on the 2.5-mile high banks for Chastain in 16 previous races at the iconic track and his first series pole position since the Watkins Glen, N.Y. road course race in 2023. Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney won this race from pole position last year – the first to do it in any Daytona NASCAR Cup Series race since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2015.

 

“It’s almost indescribable," Chastain said, noting he fully realizes starting position in these close-quarter races at Daytona don’t always translate into a trophy.

 

“But tonight and today for a new package, for Trackhouse to pick the right package and execute through two round. … it’s very important to note we chose the right things as a team," said Chastain whose Trackhouse team advanced all three Chevrolets into the 10-car field qualifying round.

 

“Life achievement," Chastain said of the accomplishment. “I was a kid sitting in the grandstands and we camped outside Turn 1. … It’s a big deal, a life achievement and a moment I’ll never forget."

 

“Just incredible," he added. “All the cars were bouncing, all the cars were not driving well, and we made ours go faster not driving well.

 

All three of the drivers most closely vying for the final two Chase positions advanced to the second round of qualifying.

 

Buescher’s RFK teammate Ryan Preece was fastest in the opening round of qualifying and ended up fourth on the grid in the No. 60 RFK Ford – his best start of the season.

 

It’s important momentum considering Preece is 17th in the championship standings – 44 points off Team Penske’s Austin Cindric and 31 points behind Chastain’s Trackhouse teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen – the two holding onto 15th and 16th in the standings heading to Saturday’s green flag.

 

The top-16 drivers in the standings will advance to the 10-race Chase to decide the 2026 season champion, which gets underway next weekend at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

 

“I think having a good starting spot gives us an opportunity to learn about our car, but also still have a very reasonable shot at some good points," said Cindric, who will roll off seventh. “That first stage is super short, so that’s giving us a chance to start checking boxes early in the race.”

 

Said Preece of his strong qualifying showing, “I wanted the pole. Fourth is great, but not what I wanted. The good thing is we have a fast Ford Mustang, and we’ll race the hell out of them tomorrow.”

 

Driving the car that the late Kyle Busch drove to pole position for this year’s DAYTONA 500, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill will start third in the No. 33 RCR Chevrolet, alongside Preece.

 

It was 23XI Racing’s Riley Herbst who led for most of opening session of qualifying, sitting atop the speed chart until Preece claimed the spot with only nine drivers remaining. The driver of the No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota – the only Toyota to advance to the final session – will start fifth.

 

Van Gisbergen will roll of sixth in the No. 97 Trackhouse Chevrolet, his rookie teammate Connor Zilisch in the No. 88 Trackhouse Chevrolet seventh best in the session, his fourth top-10 start of the season.

 

Team Penske teammates Cindric and three-time series champion Joey Logano will start their Fords eighth and ninth with Hendrick Motorsports’ driver and reigning series champion Kyle Larson rolling off 10th in the No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet.

 

Daytona has historically presented a long list of race champions - nine different drivers have won the last 11 races at the speedway. There have been seven different winners in the last eight summer races here.

 

Of note, none of the top four drivers in the points standings advanced to the second round of qualifying. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who clinched the No. 1 seed in the Chase last week, was only 30th fastest in the No. 11 JGR Toyota.

 

Last week’s New Hampshire race winner, and defending Daytona race winner, Penske’s Ryan Blaney – who sits second in the points - was 19th quickest.

 

Hamlin’s JGR teammate Ty Gibbs, who is third in the standings, will start his No. 54 Toyota from the 14th position on the grid. And 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who is fourth in the championship, will start his No. 54 Toyota 17th.

 

Forty drivers will take the green flag Sunday. Gray Gaulding was the only entrant that did not qualify. It would have been his first NASCAR Cup Series start since 2023.

 

NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying - Coke Zero Sugar 400

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona Beach, Florida

Friday, August 28, 2026

 

                1. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 184.396 mph.

                2. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 184.204 mph.

                3. (33) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 184.188 mph.

                4. (60) Ryan Preece, Ford, 184.121 mph.

                5. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 183.763 mph.

                6. (97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 183.602 mph.

                7. (88) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 183.599 mph.

                8. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 183.408 mph.

                9. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 183.397 mph.

                10. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 183.367 mph.

                11. (67) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 183.296 mph.

                12. (19) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 183.284 mph.

                13. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 183.236 mph.

                14. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 183.214 mph.

                15. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 183.150 mph.

                16. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 183.135 mph.

                17. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 183.132 mph.

                18. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 183.117 mph.

                19. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 183.098 mph.

                20. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 183.016 mph.

                21. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 182.912 mph.

                22. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 182.808 mph.

                23. (7) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 182.778 mph.

                24. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 182.622 mph.

                25. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 182.548 mph.

                26. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 182.445 mph.

                27. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 182.426 mph.

                28. (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 182.423 mph.

                29. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 182.397 mph.

                30. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 182.334 mph.

                31. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 182.330 mph.

                32. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 182.278 mph.

                33. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 182.231 mph.

                34. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 182.179 mph.

                35. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 181.873 mph.

                36. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 181.873 mph.

                37. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 181.818 mph.

                38. (62) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 181.745 mph.

                39. (78) Daniel Dye(i), Chevrolet, 181.616 mph.

                40. (44) Joey Gase(i), Chevrolet, 180.242 mph.

 

                1 driver failed to qualify.

 

                41. (66)  Gray Gaulding(i), Ford, 179.791 mph.

 

Did Kyle Larson just blow up the Chase at Kansas?

 

September 28, 2026

 

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Larson won’t say it. No athlete in his position would.

 

But with his never-say-quit victory in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet took a giant step toward a third NASCAR Cup Series championship.

 

Is the title now Larson’s to lose? The demurral came quickly.

 

“No, no,” Larson said during his post-race press conference, laughing off the suggestion. “There are still six races, and I only have a 26, I think, point lead on Denny (Hamlin). That could be swallowed up in a hurry. I scored 76 points today.

 

“So, Denny could go have a max points day next week, and I could blow an engine, like Noah (Gragson) did in the first stage, and I'm down 70-some points right there.

 

“No, I don't look at it like that. I'm just really trying to do the best job I can, again. And, yeah, just show up to the racetrack and kind of block out all that stuff.”

 

It’s only natural for Larson to downplay his prospects, but here’s the reality. In the first four races of the Chase presented by Mobil 1, the defending series champ has gained 84 points on Hamlin, who entered the postseason as the top seed.

 

Larson is the only Chase driver who has performed at an elite level in all four Chase races. He was fifth at Darlington Raceway, first at World Wide Technology Raceway, second at Bristol Motor Speedway and first again at Kansas.

 

Yes, he leads Hamlin by only 26 points, an advantage that could disappear in a single race. But Larson also leads third-place Christopher Bell by 50 points and fourth-place Joey Logano by 67—and both Bell and Logano also are Chase race winners.

 

The remaining 12 Chase drivers range from 91 points behind (Ryan Blaney in fifth) to 187 points out of the running (Daniel Suarez in 16th).

 

“Yeah, I think in that side of things, yeah, you start paying less attention maybe to the other guys that you feel like are probably close to out of contention,” Larson acknowledged. “But yeah, you're still trying to run the best laps that you can and execute great restarts, good pit stops, all the things.

 

“Then, yeah, wherever the points kind of shake out at the end of the day, they shake out.”

 

The surge to the top of the standings isn’t all about Larson. His No. 5 team has done everything necessary to make him a winner.

 

On Sunday, for example, crew chief Cliff Daniels made a last-second call to bring Larson to pit road after the team, monitoring Chase Briscoe’s radio, heard that Briscoe was pitting from second place behind Larson.

 

That move kept the No. 5 car in the lead after pit stops cycled out, where pitting a lap later probably would have cost Larson the top spot.

 

“In this case we knew all week that if we're the leader coming to the final green flag pit stop in Stage 3 that we were going to have to cover that, depending on what the gap out back was,” Daniels said. “Of course, the gap out back was super close.

 

“Credit to the guys in our war room and our engineer here. They do what we all do to play the game, and you scan the other guy. We heard them call it out over the radio late trying to probably keep us from hearing it and making it to pit road in time.

 

“I called it out to (spotter) Tyler (Monn). Of course, he called it out over the radio, and Kyle made it clean. That was important to try to defend the lead at that point.”

 

Larson’s pit crew was flawless as well. On every stop under caution, the No. 5 Chevrolet was first off pit road.

 

“Our pit crew was phenomenal all day,” Daniels said. “I believe their fastest stop may have been an 8.5 (seconds), and their slowest stop was an 8.7. Super tight in that window of consistency and speed.

 

“Those guys, even when we haven't been great performance-wise on track at times this year and during the summer, they've been really strong on pit road all year… For those guys to have a great day today, we would not have stayed in the race the way that we did without them.”

 

Bottom line? Larson’s team is beginning to look something like the juggernaut that carried former Hendrick driver Jimmie Johnson to five straight championships—and a record-tying seven overall.

 

Consider also that Larson has two wins and three second-place finishes in nine Gen 7 era starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which hosts the next race on the Chase calendar.

 

Still, Larson prefers to poor-mouth his success. After all, he started on the front row at Kansas according to metrics after qualifying was rained out.

 

“I'm not convinced that I was better than them (the Toyotas) because we didn't get to qualify, so I got to line up on the front row,” Larson said. “Logano was up there. His team has kind of struggled here over the NextGen era, I would say. He was kind of clogging the field up there that first run.

 

“So, yeah, I don't want to read into it… If a Toyota was out in the lead, they could have potentially looked better than us. It's just there was no qualifying. The weekend could have looked quite a bit different if, say, I qualify seventh. I don't know if it would have looked as good as it did today.”

 

There’s another unknown in the equation. It would be highly unusual for Larson not to face serious adversity at some point during a 10-race Chase. That’s the nature of the beast.

 

However, all indications from the first four postseason races suggest that Larson and his team will be able to handle any pitfalls that may come their way.

 

 

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The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 14 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Series, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Euro Series, NASCAR Mexico Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in five cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 11 countries and more than 30 U.S. states.

  

 

   nascar cup series

NASCAR Cup Series schedule 2026

(All times Eastern)

DateRaceTrackTime
Feb. 1Cook Out Clash at Bowman GrayBowman Gray Stadium8 p.m.
Feb. 12Duel 1 at DaytonaDaytona International Speedway7 p.m.
Feb. 12Duel 2 at DaytonaDaytona International Speedway8:45 p.m.
Feb. 15Daytona 500Daytona International Speedway2:30 p.m.
Feb. 22Autotrader 400EchoPark Speedway3 p.m.
March 1DuraMax Grand PrixCircuit of the Americas3:30 p.m.
March 8Straight Talk Wireless 500Phoenix Raceway3:30 p.m.
March 15Pennzoil 400Las Vegas Motor Speedway4 p.m.
March 22Goodyear 400Darlington Raceway3 p.m.
March 29Cook Out 400Martinsville Speedway3:30 p.m.
April 12Food City 500Bristol Motor Speedway3 p.m.
April 19AdventHealth 400Kansas Speedway2 p.m.
April 26Jack Link's 500Talladega Superspeedway3 p.m.
May 3Wurth 400Texas Motor Speedway3:30 p.m.
May 10Go Bowling at the GlenWatkins Glen International3 p.m.
May 17All-Star RaceDover Motor Speedway3 p.m.
May 24Coca-Cola 600Charlotte Motor Speedway6 p.m.
May 31Cracker Barrel 400Nashville Superspeedway 7 p.m.
June 7FireKeepers Casino 400Michigan International Speedway3 p.m.
June 14Cup Series race at PoconoPocono Raceway3 p.m.
June 21Anduril 250Naval Base Coronado4 p.m.
June 28Toyota/Save Mart 350Sonoma Raceway3:30 p.m.
July 5Cup Series race at ChicagolandChicagoland Speedway6 p.m.
July 12Quaker State 400EchoPark Speedway7 p.m.
July 19Window World 400North Wilkesboro Speedway7 p.m.
July 26Brickyard 400Indianapolis Motor Speedway2 p.m.
Aug. 9Iowa Corn 350Iowa Speedway3:30 p.m.
Aug. 15Cook Out 400Richmond Raceway7 p.m.
Aug. 23Cup Series race at New HampshireNew Hampshire Motor Speedway3 p.m.
Aug. 29Coke Zero Sugar 400Daytona International Speedway7:30 p.m.

NASCAR Cup Series playoff race schedule 2026

(All times Eastern)

DateRaceTrackTime
Sept. 6Southern 500Darlington Raceway5 p.m.
Sept. 13Enjoy Illinois 300World Wide Technology Raceway3 p.m.
Sept. 19Bass Pro Shops Night RaceBristol Motor Speedway7:30 p.m.
Sept. 27Hollywood Casino 400Kansas Speedway3 p.m.
Oct. 4South Point 400Las Vegas Motor Speedway5:30 p.m.
Oct. 11Bank of America ROVAL 400Charlotte Road Course3 p.m.
Oct. 18Freeway Insurance 500Phoenix Raceway3 p.m.
Oct. 25Yellawood 500Talladega Superspeedway2 p.m.
Nov. 1Xfinity 500Martinsville Speedway2 p.m.
Nov. 8Cup Series Championship RaceHomestead-Miami Speedway3 p.m.

2027 NASCAR CUP SERIES SCHEDULE

Date

Event / Racetrack

Saturday, February 13

Wheatley Vodka Clash (Daytona International Speedway)

Sunday, February 21

DAYTONA 500

Sunday, February 28

EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)

Sunday, March 7

Circuit of the Americas (Austin)

Sunday, March 14

Phoenix Raceway

Sunday, March 21

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Sunday, March 28

OFF WEEK

Sunday, April 4

Darlington Raceway

Sunday, April 11

Bristol Motor Speedway

Sunday, April 18

Martinsville Speedway

Sunday, April 25

Talladega Superspeedway

Sunday, May 2

Texas Motor Speedway

Sunday, May 9

Kansas Speedway

Sunday, May 16

Dover Motor Speedway

Sunday, May 23

NASCAR All-Star Race (North Wilkesboro Speedway)

Sunday, May 30

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Sunday, June 6

Nashville Superspeedway

Sunday, June 13

Pocono Raceway

Sunday, June 20

Michigan International Speedway

Sunday, June 27

Chicagoland Speedway

Sunday, July 4

Iowa Speedway

Sunday, July 11

Sonoma Raceway

Sunday, July 18

EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)

Sunday, July 25

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Sunday, August 1

San Diego (Naval Base Coronado)

Sunday, August 8

OFF WEEK

Saturday, August 14

Bristol Motor Speedway

Sunday, August 22

World Wide Technology Raceway (St. Louis)

Saturday, August 28

Daytona International Speedway

Sunday, September 5

Darlington Raceway

Saturday, September 11

Richmond Raceway

Sunday, September 19

Watkins Glen International

Sunday, September 26

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Sunday, October 3

Kansas Speedway

Sunday, October 10

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Sunday, October 17

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Sunday, October 24

Phoenix Raceway

Sunday, October 31

Talladega Superspeedway

Sunday, November 7

Martinsville Speedway

Sunday, November 14

NASCAR Championship (Homestead-Miami Speedway)

 

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