Chase Briscoe beats JGR teammate to dramatic NASCAR Cup Series win in Sunday’s Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
CONCORD, NC — In a race that had a big impact on the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1, Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell hit the wings in sight at the finish line.
Chase Briscoe. Win in Charlotte
Briscoe’s no. 19 Toyota got there first to win Sunday’s Bank of America 400, just 0.029 seconds ahead of Bell, the second-closest finish in Charlotte Motor Speedway history and the closest this season.
“I don’t know what this finish is all about,” said Briscoe, who has run second, first and first in the last three races. “Finally, I have to stop making it so interesting. Just an amazing car. So great to get Free Bird (sponsor) to Victory Lane…
“And, yes, what a great run we’ve had. Must be three in a row. Great job to this team! This pit crew was just incredible. My hero is Tony Stewart. He had a pretty incredible run (2011 Cup Championship) and hopefully we can do the same. …means winning five Chase races and the championship.
Bell Heartbroken with Second
Bell was crushed by a minimal loss.
“I got a lot closer than I thought I was going to,” said Bell, who finished just four points behind Larson in his runner-up finish. “I’m surprised he (Briscoe) fell as bad as he did at the end. It was a great day, but it’s a great day that didn’t get us much.”
Bell made a dramatic three-wide lead after the lap 173 restart, but a caution for Gray Golding’s spin slowed the field on lap 205, and Briscoe’s crew brought the No. 19 Camry out of the pits first for the lap 211 restart.
“They’ve been the absolute key to it,” Briscoe said of his pit crew that excelled during the Chase. “When you can go down pit road and you know you’re going to make up places every time, or if you’re in the lead instead of losing the lead, it just makes your job a lot easier as a driver.”
Briscoe stayed out front the rest of the way, completing 61 of his 62 laps leading into the final run. Bell, however, closed sharply over the final five laps as Briscoe ran into lapped traffic and felt a tire lose air. After late contact at the tri-oval, Briscoe won by the slimmest margin of 0.029 seconds.
“When I got the last set of cars blocked, with five or six left, I just felt like I was going to break the wall at any moment,” Briscoe said. “It just stopped turning.”
Larson, who won the first round and finished fourth in the second, extended his lead over second-place Denny Hamlin from 40 to 49 points. Hamlin finished fifth on Sunday but failed to score points in the first round after committing a safety violation in his first pit stop of the race under a competitive caution.
“I wasn’t in a strong position,” Larson said of the final run, which saw him drop from fourth to sixth in the running order. “I kept staying. Yeah, to be honest, I thought I was going to do well on that run. The top two (Briscoe and Bell) pushed really hard and I could see Danny settling in, so I was settling in to try and get my tires alive.
“Yeah, I got really, really loose on that run. I just wasn’t sure if maybe I wasn’t pushing hard enough and I was forcing the balance back by using the rears too much and I was just hanging on the last 15, 18 laps. I’m glad I still came out sixth and added to the points lead, but there were a few other guys that closed the gap a little bit.”
The historic margin of victory saw Bell move up to second in the standings, 35 points clear of Larson, and remains third, 51 points off the leader.
With his second straight win in the ChaseBriscoe moved up two spots to fourth in the postseason standings, 65 points behind leader Kyle Larson, who finished sixth on Sunday, ending his streak of five straight top-five finishes in 2026 Chase races.
Ryan Blaney finished third to leave Charlotte fifth in the Chase standings, 85 points behind Larson. Non-Chase driver Josh Berry held off Blaney for fourth on the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway.
Larson led from the pole and led five 97 laps, including the first 45. Bell led 93 laps three times and won the second round over Blaney.
The race was a disaster for both Chase drivers through no fault of their own. On lap 77, non-Chase driver Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet broke under Bubba Wallace’s Toyota at the exit of turn two, sending both cars crashing into the outside wall.
William Byron’s No. 24 Chevy also suffered terminal damage in the wreck.
Ty Gibbs, driver of the No. 54 Toyota of Chase, suffered a broken right rear leg ligament in a crash on lap 41.
Joey Logano finished ninth but did not score any stage points and dropped two positions to sixth in the standings, 92 points behind Larson.
Next
The next race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, October 18th is race 7 of the ten Chase. The Freeway Insurance 500 begins at 3 p.m. ET in the US on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. HBO Max offers several scenes of the drivers for fans. No. 12 Team Penske Ford driver Ryan Blaine is the defending winner.
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