DOVER, Del. — Someone has to end up on the losing end of a teammate battle. On Sunday, it was Chase Briscoe.
Back-and-forth runs between the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver and Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Toyota encapsulated the slam-packed crowd during the final segment of the 2026 NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway, and while the 31-year-old Briscoe had stretches of overcoming the NASCAR Cup Series veteran, the end result was a runner-up finish at the “Monster Mile.”
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“I thought we were obviously close,” Briscoe said. “I just needed a little bit more. And then there at the end, I kind of caught him there for a second, and then I just started trying stuff, trying to see if I could find something, and just couldn’t get anything to really work. So yeah, obviously I wish we would’ve won … I wish this was a points race because we kinda need that, too, but overall, great day for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota.”
Based on the speed Briscoe and Hamlin showed through the opening two segments of the 2026 exhibition, a thrilling last-segment battle almost seemed inevitable. Hamlin prevailed head-to-head in the first 75-lap segment, finishing second compared to Briscoe’s fourth.
Denny 1, Chase 0.
Then, it was Briscoe who triumphed in the second 75-circuit segment, finishing second to Hamlin’s third. They were both the hard chargers, coming from the back of the top-26 invert.
Denny 1, Chase 1.
Then came the 200-lap finale. After Hamlin led the opening circuit, Briscoe overtook the No. 11, leading the next 39 laps. Hamlin then led in three separate stints before the pair converged again, with Briscoe overtaking the 45-year-old and leading the next 22.
Inconsistent grip, however, couldn’t keep Briscoe ahead, with Hamlin seizing the lead on Lap 171 and holding it the rest of the way en route to the victory.
Final score: Denny 2, Chase 1.
“I just didn’t have the rear grip,” Briscoe said. “Anytime that I was not the leader, I would be really, really good, and as soon as I would take the lead, I would go into the next corner, I’m like, man, I’m way too loose. … I honestly kept trying to back up to him, just not trying to run too hard to burn my right-rear off, and that’s what happened. I get around that lap 30 mark, I would just start getting really swingy, and then I would get passed from the lead, and then I’d be able to always run it back down because my car would kind of come back to me being in dirtier air.
“So I just needed more rear-grip taking off if I was in the lead. It was hard because we started 16th and then 22nd or whatever (in the first two segments), so we were never adjusting on our car for clean air, and when we got up there, we just weren’t as good, where the 11 was up there a lot.”
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Though a race win couldn’t be secured, momentum was; Briscoe’s second-place result is his best in an All-Star Race, eclipsing his fourth-place finish at North Wilkesboro Speedway during the 2023 running. Combined with his fourth-place finish at Watkins Glen International last weekend, Briscoe enters the next points-paying contest at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday (6 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on a streak worth expanding. He sits 17th in the Cup Series ranks.
Perhaps the next battle will be a winning one.
“I mean, this is what we should be doing week in and week out. We’ve just executed the last two weeks, so our speed is clearly there,” Briscoe said. “It’s just a matter of putting that speed to use and capitalizing on it. So, yeah, really excited for next week. I think we’re having a good opportunity to score a lot of points, so hopefully we can do that.”