Chase Briscoe collected his sixth career NASCAR Cup win and his first of the 2026 season on Sunday, winning in NASCAR's long-awaited return to Chicagoland Speedway.
He had to hold off a charging Christopher Bell at the end of the race, and led a Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2-3 with Bell second and Denny Hamlin third.
"How about that race," said Briscoe after climbing from the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Camry. "Was that a good race? It felt awesome. Yeah, what an unbelievable weekend.
"I feel so American winning in the Bass Pro Shop's red, white, and blue car, 4th of July weekend, 250 years. Man, just what an unbelievable race car. James did a great job. Team did a pretty job. Honestly did not see this coming.
"I kind of felt like I was struggling in practice, in qualifying, but James [Small, crew chief] and the group did a great job. Man, just so cool to get this paint scheme back in victory lane ... What a cool weekend to win a NASCAR race."
Briscoe also claimed the win on crew chief James Small's birthday, delivering him quite the gift. "Me and him are about the two most polar opposites in the world," added Briscoe. "He stays on me and makes me be perfect each and every lap and does a great job of keeping me honest. He told me if I win today, I can get some chocolate, so I'm pretty fired up about that."
CHASE BRISCOE TAKES IT HOME IN CHICAGOLAND 🏆🔥 pic.twitter.com/R9cqlLFsIP
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) July 6, 2026
Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Corey Heim, and Riley Herbst filled out the remainder of the top ten.
Hamlin took over the championship lead one week ago by a single point, and that lead exploded at Chicagoland after Tyler Reddick suffered a hole in the radiator. Hamlin now leads by 44 points over his 23XI Racing driver.
Stage 1
NASCAR's return to Chicagoland got off to a wild start. Nemechek pushed up the track at the exit of Turn 2 on the very first lap, pushing Stenhouse into the wall. Preece attempted to check up, only to get hit from behind. As he spun, Connor Zilisch spun as well while trying to avoid him.
Preece's car slid to a halt and could not move due to flat tires, while Zilisch pounded the inside wall in his fifth DNF of the last seven races.
Preece returned to the race four laps down, while Larson now led the way. However, on the long run, Hamlin's car came alive and he snatched the lead away.
An early collision at Chicagoland 😳
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) July 5, 2026
Connor Zilisch is forced to end his run after the wreck 😬 pic.twitter.com/cpDJldzphn
Around 33 laps into the race, frustrations were already boiling over in the middle of the field. Smith ran into the back of Hocevar, wrecking both cars into the outside wall. They were wounded, but able to continue.
A few laps later, Van Gisbergen got into the back of rival Austin Hill, sending him crashing into the outside wall on Lap 47. These two have quite the history, and SVG has loudly blamed Hill for wrecking him at both Pocono and San Diego. Hill's team was certain it was payback, and Hill doored Van Gisbergen before falling out of the race.
ANOTHER collision at @ChicagolndSpdwy 😳
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) July 5, 2026
SVG wrecks Austin Hill in the 33 👀 pic.twitter.com/aGRYpec6MJ
This caution was good news for Preece, who had already taken a wave-around and now got the free pass, putting him just two laps down.
But the contact was limited to the race track, as Bell collided with Gilliland in the pits, spinning him out and damaging Bell's right-front. Hamlin also had a bad pit stop, putting him outside the top 20.
Five cars opted to stay out during this yellow, led by Cindric and Herbst, while several others grabbed track position with two-tire calls.
As things sorted out after a chaotic restart, it was Hendrick Motorsports in command with Byron leading Larson.
Byron went on to win Stage 1 over Larson, Wallace, Cindric, Briscoe, Buescher, Herbst, Hamlin, Gibbs, and Reddick.
Stage 2
The caution was extended a bit as NASCAR made repairs to the surface of pit road, but once it opened, this round of pit stops were much cleaner.
On the restart, Wallace muscled into the race lead and soon after, Larson went spinning from second place. He ended up stuck in the wet infield grass, losing two laps as track workers pulled him out.
Kyle Larson spins off in the 5 early into stage 2 😬 pic.twitter.com/iW9pQW9ZLL
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) July 6, 2026
On the other side of that, Preece had once again parlayed a wave-around into a free pass, getting all four laps back within a 100 laps of losing them.
Wallace continued to lead until about halfway through Stage 2, battling three-wide with fellow Toyota drivers Briscoe and Hamlin before falling back to third.
As Hamlin now challenged teammate Briscoe for the race lead, a round of green-flag pit stops got underway. Buescher had to back up after the team failed to secure a wheel. But the real drama involved championship contender Reddick.
The No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota limped into its pit box with major issues, spewing oil all over the side of the car and onto the track after striking debris. This forced a caution flag in the middle of green-flag pit stops.
Blaney was suddenly the leader, but as things cycled out after he and about seven others finally pitted, Byron took control.
On the restart, Jones slid up into the wall, complaining about a broken steering rack. Wallace also nearly lost it, but quickly regained control.
The rest of the stage remained green, with Byron winning Stage 2 as well. He was followed by Briscoe, Hamlin, Gibbs, Blaney, Bell, Elliott, Bowman, Cindric, and Nemechek
Stage 3
Things calmed down for the start of the final stage as the sun set over Chicagoland. Byron was still out front, with all four JGR cars pursuing him.
Briscoe was the closest in the runner-up spot, but he actually tagged the wall trying to keep up with Byron.
With 52 laps to go, Briscoe pitted from second. Byron reacted the following lap, but the undercut was strong enough to vault Briscoe ahead. He continued to lead for the rest of the race, but the gap was rapidly closing in the final ten laps.
Bell and Hamlin (who hit the wall) overtook Byron and began to close on Briscoe. In lapped traffic, Bell caught Briscoe, but simply could not find a way by, and washed up on the white flag lap in Briscoe's dirty air.
Briscoe claimed victory, just 0.276s clear of Bell. He led a total of 51 laps.
