Briscoe Holds Off Bell in Chicago, and Toyota Places Seven Cars in the Top 10

Chase Briscoe scored his first victory of the 2026 season in the eero 400 of the NASCAR Cup Series, held at Chicagoland Speedway. Briscoe, who drives the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 and had recorded three second‑place finishes this year, beat Christopher Bell by 276 thousandths in a finish where pit strategy proved decisive.

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William Byron controlled the first two stages and accumulated 94 laps led, but the lead slipped away during the third‑stage pit cycle. Byron entered his pit box on lap 216, one lap later than Briscoe, and that minimal margin allowed Briscoe to take control on lap 222 and hold it for the remaining 46 laps. Bell, with tyres two laps fresher, charged back to the bumper of the Toyota 19 at the finish. Lap traffic and dirty air cost him downforce on the final corner, and he had no room left to attempt a pass.

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Briscoe acknowledged that lapped traffic gave him help he hadn't expected, as he was already battling tyre wear. He said he knew Bell would have a clean run.

Bell has now led 417 laps this year, more than anyone, but is still winless in 2026 and has now recorded his fourth second‑place finish.

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Denny Hamlin finished third, 3.36 seconds behind, and JGR occupied the top three positions for the eighth time in its history, something it had already done this year at Nashville. Toyota placed seven cars in the top 10, a record for the manufacturer in the category, with all four JGR cars and all three 23XI Racing entries, which were Bubba Wallace, Corey Heim and Riley Herbst. Byron finished fourth, nearly four seconds back, and admitted he didn't have the pace in the final stint to keep the 19 at bay.

The end of the first stage brought an unusual situation. A hole appeared in the pit‑road concrete, and repairs were made during the stage‑ending caution. The fix held up and did not affect later stops.

Tyler Reddick arrived at Chicago as Hamlin's closest championship rival and left 44 points behind. A detached splitter support from another car pierced the radiator of his Toyota 45 on lap 134, leaving him stuck in the pits for 29 laps. He finished 36th. The drop is steep. He won five of the first nine races, something not seen since Dale Earnhardt in 1987, but in the nine races since then he has not won again. A week earlier at Sonoma, a power steering issue had already cost him the championship lead.

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Kyle Larson also cannot find a way out. He was running third on lap 93 when his Chevrolet lost control in Turn 4, slid onto the grass and needed a tow to return to the track. He finished 34th, two laps down, and extended his winless streak to 42 races. The incident eliminated him from the In‑Season Challenge against Byron.

Connor Zilisch added another retirement to a rookie year that now has four in seven races. A multi‑car crash in Turn 2 slammed him into the inside wall and destroyed his Camaro. John Hunter Nemechek pushed Ricky Stenhouse Jr. into the outside wall, triggering the contact that also collected Ryan Preece.

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The second round of the In‑Season Challenge set the eight quarter‑finalists. Briscoe eliminated Ty Gibbs, Byron beat Larson, Alex Bowman beat Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott beat Michael McDowell, Hamlin beat Erik Jones, Bell beat Chris Buescher, Todd Gilliland beat Carson Hocevar, and Ryan Blaney beat Shane van Gisbergen. The next round will be the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway.

Chicagoland hosted the Cup Series for the first time since 2019. The series had opted for the Chicago street circuit in recent seasons, but the return to the 1.5‑mile Joliet oval delivered 28 lead changes among 13 drivers and a surface that allowed multiple racing lines. The race left the impression that the track retains the virtues that made it one of the most attractive intermediates on the calendar.

eero 400 2026

Pos	Nº	driver	team	brand	difference
1	#19	Chase Briscoe	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	-
2	#20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	+0.28s
3	#11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	+3.36s
4	#24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	+3.99s
5	#48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	+8.03s
6	#23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	+10.98s
7	#12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	+12.54s
8	#54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	+12.82s
9	#67	* Corey Heim(i)	23XI Racing	Toyota	+12.90s
10	#35	Riley Herbst	23XI Racing	Toyota	+15.71s
11	#9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	+18.93s
12	#22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	+21.48s
13	#2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	+21.66s
14	#7	Daniel Suarez	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	+26.27s
15	#43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	+27.63s
16	#34	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	+30.97s
17	#16	AJ Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	+1 vuelta
18	#1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	+1 vuelta
19	#17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	+1 vuelta
20	#10	Ty Dillon	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	+1 vuelta
21	#6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	+1 vuelta
22	#77	Carson Hocevar	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	+1 vuelta
23	#42	John Hunter Nemechek	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	+1 vuelta
24	#3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	+1 vuelta
25	#97	Shane Van Gisbergen	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	+1 vuelta
26	#47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	HYAK Motorsports	Chevrolet	+1 vuelta
27	#4	Noah Gragson	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	+1 vuelta
28	#38	Zane Smith	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	+1 vuelta
29	#71	Michael McDowell	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	+1 vuelta
30	#51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	+1 vuelta
31	#41	Cole Custer	Haas Factory Team	Chevrolet	+1 vuelta
32	#60	Ryan Preece	RFK Racing	Ford	+1 vuelta
33	#21	Josh Berry	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	+2 vueltas
34	#5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	+2 vueltas
35	#44	* JJ Yeley(i)	NY Racing Team	Chevrolet	+11 vueltas
36	#45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	+30 vueltas
37	#33	Austin Hill(i)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	+220 vueltas
38	#88	Connor Zilisch #	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	+267 vueltas