Kyle Larson ended a wait of 51 winless races in the NASCAR Cup Series and did it at the Enjoy Illinois 300, the second round of the Chase, on an afternoon that Gateway turned into one of the most crash-filled of the 2026 calendar. Larson won on the second overtime attempt ahead of Alex Bowman and Joey Logano, and his last victory in the series dated back to May 2025, at Kansas.
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Joey Logano started from pole, won the first stage, and controlled the front for 97 of the 247 scheduled laps, but finished third when the order was reshuffled on the final restarts. Larson took the second stage and led for 80 laps, and on the decisive restart he found space to move to the front and never gave it up until the checkered flag. The race had 18 caution flags and two red flags, the highest number ever recorded in a Cup Series race at this 1.25-mile oval and also the highest of the season. Bowman finished second to complete a 1-2 night for Hendrick Motorsports, and William Byron and Ross Chastain rounded out the top five.
The brake failures that shaped the race
But Larson's result was overshadowed, at least in part, by what happened to several of the title contenders. NASCAR confirmed four brake failures during the race. Ryan Blaney, who arrived at Gateway third in the Chase, lost his brakes on the main straight and hit the wall while running sixth; he finished 35th and dropped to fourth in the standings. Chase Elliott suffered a similar failure approaching turn one, lost control of his car, and crossed in front of Chase Briscoe; both ended up against the wall and closed out the night in 31st and 32nd. Chris Buescher had the fourth confirmed failure with two laps to go, and Noah Gragson had a similar problem that NASCAR did not include among the official cases.
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Gateway had already produced a similar night in 2023, when Carson Hocevar, Tyler Reddick, Noah Gragson, and Bubba Wallace lost their brakes due to the oval's design, which combines long straights with relatively slow corners and subjects the rotors to extreme temperature swings. As recently as May, during the Nashville race, the 750-horsepower and lower-downforce package that NASCAR introduced this year had already caused similar failures on the cars of Connor Zilisch, Ross Chastain, A.J. Allmendinger, and Chris Buescher, plus an indirect problem on Ryan Preece's car when a rotor fragment damaged his radiator. Before the race at Gateway, James Small, crew chief for Chase Briscoe, said that choosing the brake package was one of the hardest decisions of the year, and several teams adjusted their cooling ducts specifically to avoid a repeat of Nashville. It did not fully work.
Chase standings after Gateway
Denny Hamlin, who lost positions due to a pit road issue, finished ninth and retained the Chase lead with 2,168 points. Larson moved from seventh to second and sits nine points back. Christopher Bell, winner the previous week at Darlington, finished 19th and stayed third with 2,150. Blaney, despite the brake failure, held on to fourth with 2,135, and Tyler Reddick completed the top five with 2,126, though he was also involved in a crash in the closing laps along with Bell and Bubba Wallace.
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Briscoe dropped to eighth with 2,109 points and Elliott fell to 11th with 2,075. Carson Hocevar, Wallace, Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece, William Byron, and Daniel Suárez completed the 16 names still alive in the title fight.
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Eight races remain to decide the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series champion, and brakes have already entered the season's conversation twice, first at Nashville and now at Gateway, in races where making it to the finish intact weighed as much as speed.
Enjoy Illinois 300 2026
| Pos | Nº | driver | team | brand | time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #5 |  Kyle Larson (C) |
Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | - |
| 2 | #48 | Alex Bowman |
Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | +0.33s |
| 3 | #22 | Joey Logano (C) |
Team Penske | Ford | +0.52s |
| 4 | #24 | William Byron (C) |
Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | +1.04s |
| 5 | #1 | Ross Chastain |
Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | +1.21s |
| 6 | #3 | Austin Dillon |
Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | +1.36s |
| 7 | #88 | Connor Zilisch # |
Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | +1.64s |
| 8 | #77 | Carson Hocevar (C) |
Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | +1.68s |
| 9 | #11 | Denny Hamlin (C) |
Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | +2.27s |
| 10 | #2 | Austin Cindric (C) |
Team Penske | Ford | +2.27s |
| 11 | #41 | Cole Custer |
Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | +2.93s |
| 12 | #6 | Brad Keselowski |
RFK Racing | Ford | +2.95s |
| 13 | #43 | Erik Jones |
Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | +3.02s |
| 14 | #23 | Bubba Wallace (C) |
23XI Racing | Toyota | +3.08s |
| 15 | #42 | John Hunter Nemechek |
Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | +3.33s |
| 16 | #16 | AJ Allmendinger |
Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | +3.39s |
| 17 | #60 | Ryan Preece (C) |
RFK Racing | Ford | +3.39s |
| 18 | #54 | Ty Gibbs (C) |
Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | +3.41s |
| 19 | #20 | Christopher Bell (C) |
Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | +3.62s |
| 20 | #71 | Michael McDowell |
Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | +3.77s |
| 21 | #33 | Austin Hill(i) |
Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | +3.98s |
| 22 | #51 | Cody Ware |
Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | +4.19s |
| 23 | #97 |  Shane Van Gisbergen |
Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | +4.39s |
| 24 | #34 | Todd Gilliland |
Front Row Motorsports | Ford | +4.52s |
| 25 | #45 | Tyler Reddick (C) |
23XI Racing | Toyota | +5.36s |
| 26 | #47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
HYAK Motorsports | Chevrolet | +13.63s |
| 27 | #17 | Chris Buescher (C) |
RFK Racing | Ford | +10 vueltas |
| 28 | #21 | Josh Berry |
Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | +16 vueltas |
| 29 | #7 |  Daniel Suarez (C) |
Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | +18 vueltas |
| 30 | #10 | Ty Dillon |
Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | +20 vueltas |
| 31 | #9 | Chase Elliott (C) |
Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | +33 vueltas |
| 32 | #19 | Chase Briscoe (C) |
Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | +34 vueltas |
| 33 | #4 | Noah Gragson |
Front Row Motorsports | Ford | +49 vueltas |
| 34 | #35 | Riley Herbst |
23XI Racing | Toyota | +71 vueltas |
| 35 | #12 | Ryan Blaney (C) |
Team Penske | Ford | +93 vueltas |
| 36 | #38 | Zane Smith |
Front Row Motorsports | Ford | +118 vueltas |
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Carlos Castillo Sansabas
Upcoming Races
Drivers Standings 2026
| POS | PILOTO | PTS | ↕ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | 2168 | |
| 2 | Kyle Larson | 2159 | arrow_up5 |
| 3 | Christopher Bell | 2150 | arrow_down1 |
| 4 | Ryan Blaney | 2135 | arrow_down1 |
| 5 | Tyler Reddick | 2126 | arrow_down1 |
| 6 | Ty Gibbs | 2117 | |
| 7 | Joey Logano | 2117 | arrow_up1 |
| 8 | Chase Briscoe | 2109 | arrow_down3 |
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