Chase Elliott passed Denny Hamlin on the final restart of the Würth 400 and won at Texas Motor Speedway for his second victory of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Elliott had won at Martinsville in April and now becomes the second driver with multiple wins this year, alongside Tyler Reddick, who has five.

The Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet finished 0.407 seconds ahead of Hamlin, who finished second to Elliott for the second time in 2026. Alex Bowman was third, Reddick fourth, and Chris Buescher fifth. Elliott led 87 of 267 laps, more than any other car in the race.

Photo By Carlos Castillo

Best start in wins of his career

Elliott had won two races in 2022, but that came in race 17. He had never won two races before race 11 in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career. Elliott commented that he knew at Martinsville they had never won that early in the year, and being able to do it now with two wins at this stage is something he's proud of because when you've been racing for over ten years, checking new boxes is tough.

The No. 9 team made its three fastest pit stops of the season at Texas. Elliott acknowledged the team's work: they have been very good for years, but he admitted he hadn't done a good enough job putting them in position to show their talent all the time. Today they had a great opportunity and they answered the call.

Elliott didn't take control of the race until lap 152, when Corey Heim pitted for fuel on an off-cycle strategy. Heim had led 69 laps but finished 31st after spinning in turn 4, bringing out the seventh and final caution of the race.

Photo By Carlos Castillo

Incidents eliminate several contenders

Christopher Bell was battling Hamlin for the lead on lap 68 when Todd Gilliland spun in front of his Toyota in turn 4. Bell tried to duck low to avoid him but clipped him just enough to send him flying into the outside wall. The impact destroyed the right suspension and Bell finished last. Bell explained it was one of those 50-50 decisions; they were side-by-side with Denny, he saw Gilliland spinning and Denny lifted, he thought he could get by on the bottom and believed he had made it, but they touched.

Joey Logano, the race winner in 2025, also did not finish. On lap 94, Cole Custer braked to let Ty Gibbs exit his pit stall. Logano hit Custer's car and opened the left front fender of the Mustang like a can opener. The right front tire was knocked out of alignment and Logano retired. Seven laps later, Ty Gibbs hit the turn 3 wall after contact with the Ford of Ryan Preece. Gibbs, a winner at Bristol, finished 35th. Kyle Larson spun in turn 2 on lap 160 and hit the wall with the driver's side of his No. 5 Chevrolet. Larson took the car to the garage. Kyle Busch collided with John Hunter Nemechek on the final restart and on the white-flag lap hit Nemechek's car out of frustration. Busch dropped to 20th.

Photo By Carlos Castillo

Reddick maintains large advantage

Tyler Reddick took two tires on the final restart and advanced from ninth to fourth in the final laps. Reddick said it was a solid day, that it was good to gamble with two tires. He had a couple of passes that took longer than necessary and that was the difference in not reaching the lead, though if they had played it perfectly they could have finished second.

Reddick leads the championship with 526 points, 109 ahead of Hamlin and 117 over Elliott. Hamlin commented on his second-place finish that he thought he had a good restart side-by-side, but because of how side-draft works in turn 1, with Elliott getting a push from the 48 (Bowman), his momentum carried him a little faster. He tried to stay alongside but it got tighter the closer it got. It was a good day, just a little short.

Buescher was the fastest Ford in fifth. Daniel Suarez, pole-sitter Carson Hocevar, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, and Ryan Blaney completed the top 10. Rookie Connor Zilisch recorded his best qualifying of the season (12th) and his best oval result (16th).

Photo By Carlos Castillo

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Watkins Glen International for the Go Bowling at the Glen next Sunday.