Kyle Larson took the lead of the Chase in the NASCAR Cup Series by one point over Denny Hamlin on a night at Bristol that left the physical altercation between Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar in the pit area and Joey Logano's third win of the year.
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Qualifying was canceled due to rain and lightning, so NASCAR set the grid using the rulebook's metric system, which combines previous results, championship position, and practice speed, and placed Larson in first position and Logano in second. Logano won the first stage with 81 laps led out of 125 possible and stayed on track throughout the stage, and Blaney won the second stage with 202 of the 500 scheduled laps, the most of any competitor.
The contact between Blaney and Hocevar occurred 43 laps from the end, when Blaney had passed Hocevar and was defending the position, and the No. 77 Chevrolet went to the inside at the entry to turn one until the contact sent the No. 12 Ford into the outside wall. NASCAR confirmed the retirement, and Blaney felt that Hocevar never lifted off the throttle and that he had been hit, a version that Hocevar rejected by saying he was going for a gap to pass and that it seemed to him Blaney turned himself.
"Hocevar never lifted off the throttle and I got hit."
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The physical confrontation in the pit area was the second chapter of the same dispute, because Blaney went looking for Hocevar and struck him before members of both teams separated them, with the grandstands booing Logano during his celebration and cheering the fight.
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Hocevar also lost the chance to win in the closing laps, as he led 33 consecutive laps before Ty Gibbs moved past him on lap 431, and with seven laps to go Gibbs made contact with him so that Logano could take the lead, though Hocevar recovered third place and Gibbs finished fifth. Logano added his third win of the season and his first of the Chase, a result that left him third in the championship.
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Larson finished second and took the lead of the Chase with a one-point advantage over Hamlin, who made his 750th Cup Series start and lost the top spot he had held since the start of the postseason. The change reflects the results of the first three rounds of the Chase, because Hamlin finished 18th at Darlington, ninth at Gateway, and eighth at Bristol, while Larson was fifth at Darlington, won at Gateway, and finished second at Bristol. Hamlin had arrived at Gateway with a 49-point lead over Larson, but his ninth-place finish at that oval and Larson's win in the same race cut the gap to nine points, and Bristol finished closing the gap entirely.
Blaney suffered his second consecutive retirement in the Chase, because at Gateway he lost his brakes and hit the wall while running sixth, and at Bristol Hocevar sent him into the outside wall while he was fighting for second, a sequence that explains his drop from fourth to sixth in the championship and his current 52-point gap to the leader. Gateway was also Larson's first win in 51 races.
The Chase standings have Larson with 2206 points, Hamlin with 2205, Logano with 2190, and Christopher Bell with 2189, so the top four are separated by 17 points. Bell finished fourth at Bristol and kept his position among the top four, and Ty Gibbs moved up to fifth with his fifth-place finish at Bristol, where he had already won the spring race. Blaney ended up sixth, Tyler Reddick seventh, Carson Hocevar eighth, and Chase Briscoe and Bubba Wallace close out the top ten.
The night at Bristol included a tribute to Kyle Busch, because Joe Gibbs Racing brought back the yellow M&M's scheme for the No. 54 Toyota of Ty Gibbs, and Bristol organized an 18th lap with yellow towels handed out to fans at the oval's entrance, a recognition of the four victories that Busch accumulated at Bristol during his Cup Series career.
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The ten drivers maintain mathematical chances at the championship under the elimination-free format, and the next round will be the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on September 27, the fourth of the ten postseason races.
Bass Pro Shops Night Race 2026
| Pos | Nº | driver | team | brand | time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #22 |  Joey Logano (C) |
Team Penske | Ford | - |
| 2 | #5 | Kyle Larson (C) |
Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | +1.25s |
| 3 | #77 | Carson Hocevar (C) |
Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | +1.25s |
| 4 | #20 | Christopher Bell (C) |
Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | +1.49s |
| 5 | #54 | Ty Gibbs (C) |
Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | +1.64s |
| 6 | #21 | Josh Berry |
Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | +1.96s |
| 7 | #23 | Bubba Wallace (C) |
23XI Racing | Toyota | +2.66s |
| 8 | #11 | Denny Hamlin (C) |
Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | +2.99s |
| 9 | #24 | William Byron (C) |
Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | +3.25s |
| 10 | #60 | Ryan Preece (C) |
RFK Racing | Ford | +3.71s |
| 11 | #2 | Austin Cindric (C) |
Team Penske | Ford | +3.85s |
| 12 | #1 | Ross Chastain |
Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | +11.20s |
| 13 | #17 | Chris Buescher (C) |
RFK Racing | Ford | +1 vuelta |
| 14 | #7 |  Daniel Suarez (C) |
Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | +2 vueltas |
| 15 | #6 | Brad Keselowski |
RFK Racing | Ford | +2 vueltas |
| 16 | #4 | Noah Gragson |
Front Row Motorsports | Ford | +2 vueltas |
| 17 | #3 | Austin Dillon |
Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | +2 vueltas |
| 18 | #45 | Tyler Reddick (C) |
23XI Racing | Toyota | +3 vueltas |
| 19 | #34 | Todd Gilliland |
Front Row Motorsports | Ford | +3 vueltas |
| 20 | #97 |  Shane Van Gisbergen |
Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | +3 vueltas |
| 21 | #71 | Michael McDowell |
Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | +3 vueltas |
| 22 | #16 | AJ Allmendinger |
Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | +3 vueltas |
| 23 | #9 | Chase Elliott (C) |
Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | +3 vueltas |
| 24 | #88 | Connor Zilisch # |
Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | +4 vueltas |
| 25 | #42 | John Hunter Nemechek |
Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | +5 vueltas |
| 26 | #41 | Cole Custer |
Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | +5 vueltas |
| 27 | #19 | Chase Briscoe (C) |
Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | +6 vueltas |
| 28 | #38 | Zane Smith |
Front Row Motorsports | Ford | +6 vueltas |
| 29 | #33 | Austin Hill(i) |
Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | +6 vueltas |
| 30 | #47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
HYAK Motorsports | Chevrolet | +10 vueltas |
| 31 | #51 | Cody Ware |
Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | +11 vueltas |
| 32 | #43 | Erik Jones |
Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | +17 vueltas |
| 33 | #12 | Ryan Blaney (C) |
Team Penske | Ford | +43 vueltas |
| 34 | #35 | Riley Herbst |
23XI Racing | Toyota | +68 vueltas |
| 35 | #48 | Alex Bowman |
Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | +72 vueltas |
| 36 | #10 | Ty Dillon |
Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | +98 vueltas |
| 37 | #66 | * Josh Bilicki(i) |
Garage 66 | Ford | +162 vueltas |
Upcoming Races
Drivers Standings 2026
| POS | PILOTO | PTS | ↕ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Larson | 2206 | arrow_up1 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | 2205 | arrow_down1 |
| 3 | Joey Logano | 2190 | arrow_up4 |
| 4 | Christopher Bell | 2189 | arrow_down1 |
| 5 | Ty Gibbs | 2164 | arrow_up1 |
| 6 | Ryan Blaney | 2154 | arrow_down2 |
| 7 | Tyler Reddick | 2145 | arrow_down2 |
| 8 | Carson Hocevar | 2121 | arrow_up1 |
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