Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the NASCAR Cup Series action at Texas Motor Speedway.
Chase Elliott went to Victory Lane on Sunday for the second time in 2026 — and the second time at Texas in three years. Behind him was an undulation of fates in Fort Worth. See who is on the upswing and who left feeling down following the Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway and before Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas
THREE UP ⬆️
1. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Started: 9th
Finished: 3rd
What happened: Bowman notched his second straight top-five finish Sunday at Texas, marking his first string of consecutive top fives since the summer of 2024 when he won on the Chicago Street Course. He managed an eighth-best average running position of 11.52 at Texas on Sunday and capitalized on a late caution to nab a third-place finish — his best result yet in Fort Worth and first top five there since 2020.
What’s next: Bowman has been decent on road courses — his most recent win came on the streets of Chicago two years ago — but Watkins Glen has not treated Bowman well. In nine starts, his best finish at the New York road course is 14th three times, most recently in 2022. It’ll take some muscling up to notch that first top 10 at Watkins Glen this weekend, but maybe this Texas momentum will travel with him.
2. Daniel Suárez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Started: 2nd
Finished: 6th
What happened: A yo-yo kind of day for Suárez brought him back to a great finish Sunday afternoon. A stellar qualifying effort led him to a front-row start with Spire teammate Carson Hocevar. But he quickly fell down the leaderboard and outside the top 20 in the first stage. By the time the race ended, though, Suárez was back in contention, even posting the sixth-best average running position at 8.87 en route to a sixth-place finish. That marked his sixth consecutive top-20 finish dating back to Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.
What’s next: The good runs may continue to roll for Suárez, who has been quite solid at Watkins Glen throughout his career. He has three top fives and four top 10s there in eight starts, most recently finishing seventh last summer with Trackhouse Racing.
3. Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
Started: 18th
Finished: 11th
What happened: A rough start for Herbst turned around and nearly resulted in a career-best finish. Herbst was a miserable 33rd at the end of Stage 1 but quickly charged back through the field and was running seventh before a late-race caution for teammate Corey Heim, who crashed in Turn 4. Herbst ultimately took the checkered flag 11th for his best finish since the Daytona 500.
What’s next: The sample size for Herbst at Watkins Glen is small, but time will tell what he delivers this weekend. His first Cup start there produced a 24th-place finish last year. In five NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts at The Glen, Herbst has one top 10 (seventh, 2022) and two mechanical DNFs.
THREE DOWN ⬇️
1. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Started: 11th
Finished: 34th
What happened: The defending Cup Series champion was oddly never a factor in Sunday’s race, running in the midfield before a solo crash in Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 160 truly upended Larson’s day. Contact with Chase Briscoe on pit road on Lap 93 handed Larson the first bit of adversity, when Larson was entering his pit box as Briscoe was exiting his, resulting in left-side damage behind Larson’s left-front wheel. After the Lap 160 crash, the No. 5 team repaired the vehicle to the best of their ability, and Larson returned to action, completing just 180 of 267 laps and finishing 34th, his second straight week outside the top 30.
What’s next: Watkins Glen could offer Larson a good chance at a rebound — or another uphill challenge. Larson is a two-time winner at The Glen, victorious in both 2021 and 2022. But since that second win, the results have been unkind: 26th, 12th and 39th with zero laps led in those three races. If Larson fans need a glimmer of optimism, the No. 5 Chevrolet finished sixth at Circuit of The Americas back in March in the first road-course race of 2026.
2. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Started: 10th
Finished: 36th
What happened: Hard racing with Ryan Preece left the No. 60 driver with hard feelings toward Gibbs. A late charge to Preece’s left entering Turn 1 left Preece frustrated. And 20 laps into Stage 2, Preece got right to the back of Gibbs’ rear bumper — contact or not — and Gibbs went spinning into the outside wall, ultimately leading to an early dismissal from Texas. The 36th-place result is Gibbs’ second straight DNF, creating an unfortunate new streak after posting seven consecutive top 10s before Talladega Superspeedway, including his first career win at Bristol Motor Speedway.
What’s next: Gibbs has been very hit or miss in New York State, placing fifth at Watkins Glen in 2023 and outside the top 20 in his three other appearances. Last year, The Glen was the site of a public radio bickering between Gibbs and then-race strategist Chris Gabehart. No longer paired together and with Gibbs enjoying some of his best results on the circuit, perhaps this trip to Watkins Glen will bear more fruit, particularly after finishing fourth at COTA two months ago.
3. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Started: 7th
Finished: 38th
What happened: A miserable stretch of results continued for Bell on Sunday. In an accident reflective of his luck lately, Bell was defending the lead at Texas when Todd Gilliland spun in front of him exiting Turn 4 on Lap 68. Bell had nearly avoided Gilliland but was clipped in the right rear, sending his No. 20 Toyota sliding and slamming into the SAFER barrier. The damage was too severe to continue and dealt Bell a 38th- and last-place finish. It’s his fourth straight finish of 17th or worse — and it isn’t an accurate display of his speed. He was contending at the front of the field before a speeding penalty at Bristol led to a later crash; he was fighting for the win in overtime at Kansas before wall contact dropped him to 20th; he was top five coming to the checkered flag at Talladega before a crash in the tri-oval. Instead, he’s dropped to 13th in the point standings approaching the midpoint of the regular season.
What’s next: Perhaps Watkins Glen will be where Bell’s results turn around for the better. Bell was runner-up to Shane van Gisbergen at The Glen last summer (albeit by more than 11 seconds) and has posted top 10s in four of his five WGI starts.
