The Chase Report presented by Mobil 1: Where we stand after Charlotte

Posted on October 12, 2026October 13, 2026 by George Winkler

Chase Briscoe did it again, winning for the second straight week and in the second-closest finish in Charlotte Motor Speedway history over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell. After six races in the Chase presented by Mobil 1, Briscoe sits 65 points back of Kyle Larson after making up 58 points over the last two races.

Here’s where we stand in The Chase after the Bank of America 400 at Charlotte and before Sunday’s Freeway Insurance 500 at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Charlotte results | Cup Series standings

Chase Changer

There were two big moments in Sunday’s race that had profound effects on what the standings look like today — or what they could’ve looked like had these moments played out differently. The top one was when Briscoe’s No. 19 Toyota crew turned in the three fastest pit stops of the day, including on Lap 207 when Briscoe took the lead from Bell and held onto it for the final 61 laps to win the race by 0.029 seconds. Any lost time on pit road could have cost Briscoe the win, and had Bell won, he’d be only 31 points behind Larson instead of 51.

The other big moment came earlier on Lap 123 when Larson received contact from Denny Hamlin and dropped from second place to seventh. Up to that point, Larson had dominated, winning Stage 1 after leading the first 45 laps and leading a long stretch between Laps 59 and 107. But after the bump from Hamlin, Larson led only two more laps the rest of the way. Larson finished sixth and gained nine points over Hamlin in the standings and now enjoys a 49-point gap, but the margin could’ve been a lot bigger had Larson continued his dominance throughout the race and ended up winning.

The Chase Board

Despite Briscoe’s hot streak, Larson’s lead over the second-place driver in the standings has grown. This is both a testament to Larson’s ability to avoid the catastrophes that have plagued other Chase drivers and the fact that the driver in the hottest pursuit of him is coming from pretty far back to begin with. It would be a different story if it were Hamlin who was on a two-race winning streak and cozying himself up to Larson in the standings.

The rest of the field needs Larson to have a bad day, but that just hasn’t happened. The sixth-place finish at Charlotte was his “bad day” of this Chase so far, but it’s certainly not the type of meltdown needed to make a big difference. Meanwhile, Bubba Wallace and William Byron were collected in a massive wreck with Alex Bowman and saw their days end early. Hamlin had issues on pit road that caused him to lose track position. Ryan Blaney picked up a speeding penalty on pit road. Chase Elliott had to come back down pit road to tighten a lug nut, and the list goes on without Larson being on it.

As a result of Larson’s near-perfection, the pressure is building on the other drivers. And that pressure is perhaps no greater than on Hamlin, who has set the deadline of this year or next for him to finally win a championship. Hamlin was supposed to gain ground on Larson in the stretch of three intermediate tracks, but instead his deficit to Larson has grown from one point to 49 points. Hamlin’s demeanor has also seemed to change as the chances for him to snap out of his Chase “funk” have started to melt away.

Rank	Driver	Points Behind	Gain/Loss to Leader
1	Kyle Larson	--	Gained 9
2	Denny Hamlin	-49	Lost 9
3	Christopher Bell	-51	Gained 4
4	Chase Briscoe	-65	Gained 19
5	Ryan Blaney	-85	Lost 5
6	Joey Logano	-92	Lost 21
7	Tyler Reddick	-114	Lost 8
8	Austin Cindric	-145	Lost 17
9	Ty Gibbs	-156	Lost 46
10	Carson Hocevar	-180	Lost 22
11	Bubba Wallace	-185	Lost 48
12	Chase Elliott	-185	Lost 22
13	William Byron	-208	Lost 48
14	Daniel Suárez	-215	Lost 20
15	Chris Buescher	-216	Lost 20
16	Ryan Preece	-227	Lost 27

Source: Racing Insights

Next Up

Phoenix Raceway is next, with the former host of Championship Weekend starting a string of three races all on different track types, with Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway to follow before the season finishes up on a 1.5-mile track at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Perhaps the driver most likely to benefit from this stretch is Blaney, who has won multiple times on all three of these tracks, including the last two Phoenix races.

But he will get competition from teammate Joey Logano, who has four wins at Phoenix, and Bell and Hamlin, who each have two wins there. Briscoe got his first Cup Series win in 2022 for Stewart-Haas Racing but has struggled there of late with no finishes better than 18th over the last four races.

Larson also has a win at Phoenix back in 2021 when his pit crew executed a perfect final stop to propel him to the championship. Larson has finished in the top four in six of the last seven Phoenix races, so a chance for a slip-up does not appear too good — unless you believe in the law of averages.

Fellow Chase drivers Byron and Elliott also have wins at Phoenix, with theirs coming in spring of 2023 and fall of 2020, respectively. So Hendrick, Gibbs and Penske appear headed for a battle in the desert to see where this Chase journey takes us.

Posted on October 12, 2026October 12, 2026 by Adam Fenwick

Jacob Derrick has tried to win a championship for the last 11 years.

This season, after some frustration and a few near misses, Derrick can happily say he is not just a champion, but the NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts Division II national champion.

Racing limited late models at Langley and South Boston Speedways in Virginia, Derrick racked up 11 victories in 19 features to secure his first NASCAR national championship by four points ahead of Bowman Gray Stadium regular Zack Ore.

“We haven’t been able to win a championship on asphalt,” said the 19-year-old native of Hampton, Virginia. “My last championship came on dirt in go karts when I think I was like 7 or 8 years old. I’ve gotten so close so many times, but to be able to close one out is sweet.”

(Photo: Joe Chandler/South Boston Speedway)

Like so many others, Derrick has racing in his blood.

He grew up watching his father Ricky race grand stocks. As he got older, he began helping his dad in the shop before taking up racing himself.

“I just watched him. I would hang out with a lot of people and hung out at the race shop and whatnot. I got into it really early, and it’s all I’ve been doing,” Derrick said. “I started in go karts, moved up to bandos, ran bandos for a few years, Legend cars and then got into late models in 2023.”

Derrick’s original plan for this season was to chase the track championship in South Boston Speedway’s limited sportsman division while picking up the occasional race at his home track, Langley Speedway.

However, a crash during the second week of racing at South Boston derailed those plans. Unable to repair his car in time for the third South Boston race weekend, Derrick and his team were forced to reassess their schedule for the remainder of the year.

Oddly enough, that crash at South Boston Speedway proved to be the start of Derrick’s Division II championship run.

“We just decided to travel and run our home track, Langley, and then go to SoBo and try to get as many wins as we could,” Derrick explained. “I think it was about two months ago we saw the points and we were starting to get closer and closer.”

Jacob Derrick earned 11 victories between Langley Speedway and South Boston Speedway this season. (Photo: John Bechtel Photography)

Ore, the 2024 Division II national champion, led the standings for much of the year on the strength of 10 wins at Bowman Gray Stadium. However, the Bowman Gray season ended in August. So when Ore’s season was over, Derrick still had a month of racing to make up ground in the battle for the Division II national championship.

Veteran Virginia late model racer Mark Wertz, who raced and worked with Derrick’s father and also owns Derrick’s car, has ample experience with the NASCAR Local Racing Series points system.

Wertz realized Derrick had a real shot at the Division II national championship and advised him to do everything in his power to claim it.

“(Wertz) is super familiar with how the points work, and he told us that we had a good shot at it and that we should go for it,” Derrick said. “We had no idea at the beginning of the season what we were going for. We were just trying to go try and win races.

“Mark Wertz has been a huge help for us. He’s taught me a lot, not just about driving, but working on (cars), too. He’s been a huge help, for sure.”

With Wertz pushing him, Derrick made a run at Ore and the national title in the last month of the year. On Aug. 20, Derrick was fifth in the Division II standings, 46 points behind Ore.

With exactly one month to make up 46 points on Ore, Derrick went to work. He competed in five features between Langley and South Boston, winning twice at Langley and never finishing worse than third.

Across 19 features at Langley and South Boston Speedways, Jacob Derrick finished in the top five on 17 occasions this year. (Photo: John Bechtel Photography)

Entering the South Boston finale on Sept. 13, Derrick had made up those 46 points and found himself tied with Ore at the top of the Division II standings.

He completed his championship effort with a runner-up finish that day at South Boston, which was just enough to secure the Division II crown.

“With Bowman Gray, they ended up a whole lot earlier. I felt like we were in the catbird seat,” Derrick said. “We were in striking range to be able to take the lead. One of my teammates, his dad, they had a whole points layout, so we knew where we had to go and where we had to finish.

“There was one night, there was a ton of rain coming down at Langley. We ended up having to start by points. I think we were fourth or so and only had 35 laps. That was a big race for us, and we ended up winning it. That put us tied with him and then we went to SoBo and finished second.”

With the Division II championship locked up, Derrick is ready to look toward the future. The plan for 2027 is to make the move to the ultra-competitive late model stock class, where he’ll battle drivers like Peyton Sellers, Woody Howard and Trevor Ward.

Derrick can do so with confidence knowing he’s proven his worth by capturing the NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts Division II national championship.

“I know not many kids my age will get to do this,” Derrick said. “I’m very grateful for the opportunities I’ve gotten, for the people I’m around, like Mark Wertz, Chris Edwards and my dad. It’s our first championship on asphalt, and it’s a national one, at that.

“It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Posted on October 12, 2026October 13, 2026 by Zach Sturniolo

CONCORD, N.C. — At Charlotte Motor Speedway’s checkered flag, a duo of Joe Gibbs Racing teammates were fighting for the win in Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell, while Denny Hamlin escaped with another top five.

Behind them, Kyle Larson walked away without a top-five finish for the first time this year in The Chase presented by Mobil 1. The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet took the checkered flag a postseason-worst sixth … which serves as a reminder of how blindingly fast the defending champions have been through The Chase so far.

JGR is trying to claw away at Larson’s points lead, particularly on the heels of Briscoe’s second consecutive victory: Larson extended his lead over Hamlin to 49 points, while Bell and Briscoe now trail by 51 and 65 points, respectively. In theory, that’s a healthy margin ahead of the competition considering second place pays just 35 points. But with four races remaining, Larson knows better than to feel safe out front.

“I won’t feel comfortable until it’s over,” Larson said. “I mean, obviously, like Briscoe winning and having a good day, like you can take big chunks out if you win. We’re gonna go to some tracks where others are really good at here coming up, and just got to keep putting in days like we did today when we weren’t the fastest but still get good points.”

Larson has been the class of the field throughout the opening 60% of The Chase, claiming two wins and posting an absurd 2.8 average finish. The team rallied from a sluggish start at Las Vegas and was strong early in Sunday’s Bank of America 400 at Charlotte, leading a race-high 97 laps. But Larson wasn’t able to overcome Toyota’s strength once his Chevrolet was caught in traffic.

Cliff Daniels, crew chief of Larson’s No. 5 team, saw Sunday’s result as a helpful look inside the true battle for this year’s NASCAR Cup Series championship.

“I mean the Toyotas were really fast, and honestly, a good reality check for us,” Daniels told NASCAR.com. “I think that they’re pushing hard and we have to continue to push ourselves really hard. Up front earlier, our car was OK. I think Stage 2, we weren’t bad. Stage 3, when we got back in traffic, we just weren’t quite as strong, and we’ll certainly pick through what we could have done better to try to keep up with the track, with the car. Kyle, talking to me after the race, said, ‘Man, I just didn’t feel that bad. Just need a little bit of this or that.’ So again, good reality check for how fast those guys are, and yeah, we’ve just got to keep pushing hard for the next four.”

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

Joe Gibbs, team owner and namesake of Joe Gibbs Racing, sees good prospects ahead for his top three teams. And all he needs is an opportunity.

“I’m just really thrilled where we are as an organization, and I think we do have three that are sitting there probably 50 to (65) points behind,” Gibbs said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen, but hey, with four races to go, all you can ask for in pro sports is to have a chance, and I think we have a chance.”

For a moment at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 27, Briscoe seemed destined for victory after passing Larson for the race lead late in the going — a win that would have marked the first of three consecutive victories for the No. 19 Toyota. Instead, Briscoe’s handling built too loose late and Larson surged back by him for the race win. No. 19 crew chief James Small was furious that afternoon. Now, in consecutive weeks, Briscoe has held off fierce charges late — at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, against Larson; at Charlotte, against Bell — and cut his deficit to Larson’s points lead from 123 points (eighth) to 65 (fourth) in just two weeks.

“I think we’ve got to step on their throats while we can,” Small said. “You’ve got to keep winning. It’s still a big gap, and if they just consistently score points and answer, even if we go and win the next three, it’s still very hard to close that gap. So yeah, I’m not going to let off the throttle pedal right now.”

Briscoe is admittedly not a guy who carries a step-on-their-throats kind of demeanor. Actually, “definitely not,” Small said, but that’s a balance Briscoe is still managing.

“I mean, you can step on their throat. You can be a nice guy, though, outside of the race car,” Briscoe said. “But in the race car, I think you’ve got to be a killer. And yeah, I think for us, that’s the whole approach is just going, and I mean just trying to dominate races. Like I was saying earlier, that’s the only way you’re going to cut into the gap is by winning races. If you just run second or third and Larson runs second or third with you, you’re not going to gain 65 points in four weeks. So yeah, just have to go win races and just have to be ultra aggressive, truthfully. …

“Compared to Kansas, [the championship] feels a little more realistic. But I mean, the gap honestly still feels huge and just feels like a missed opportunity. Like I said, there’s four laps I can count on my hand where I’ve gave up 75 points. So, from that standpoint, it feels like a little bit of a missed opportunity. Just the gap still feels huge, but yeah, you’re at least still in the mix.”

Somewhere in this equation lies Denny Hamlin, the No. 1 seed entering The Chase, who has been OK but not quite to his winning standard throughout NASCAR’s postseason. His fifth-place finish Sunday at Charlotte was his second-best result behind a third-place run at Kansas two weeks ago. After starting the 10-race run to a championship with a 55-point advantage over Larson, Hamlin now trails him by 49 points and hasn’t won since June 14 at Pocono Raceway.

“It just seems like we’re pretty good, just not really top two right now,” Hamlin said. “So we’ve just got to improve performance and figure out where we’ve got to improve. I felt good about where I was all day and just until the very end right there.”

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

For a moment, Hamlin seemed to have his mojo back. Ripping through the field after a Lap 36 pit penalty, Hamlin keyed his radio at Lap 92 after passing Daniel Suárez for seventh place: “You let these [expletives] know I’m on my way!” That attitude continued as he moved Larson out of the way inside the top five on a Lap 123 restart. But that surge of bravado eventually faded.

“Well, our run stopped there unfortunately, so I shouldn’t have opened my mouth on that one,” Hamlin said. “But I just felt like we had a race-winning car for the first 100 (laps) and then after that, just got stuck in that third (or) fourth range and just couldn’t do anything with it, especially when the track cooled off. I was trying to make up a lot of the time that we had lost in that first stage by going to the back.”

Bell was just 0.029 seconds shy of taking the win away from Briscoe, a swing in points that would have put Bell just 31 points behind Larson and Briscoe 85 out. Sitting third in points, the No. 20 driver wasn’t interested in any silver linings Sunday night.

But as it stands, three JGR Toyotas are now hot on Larson’s heels heading to a track where he knows he needs to improve: “I mean, Phoenix is difficult for us here lately.”

For Cliff Daniels, the focus remains solely on his No. 5 team, regardless of JGR’s progress or any other competitor’s.

“I feel like it’s us against us, and it’s always been that way,” Daniels said. “You have to stay focused on your game and the things that you have to do to improve yourself. We know how good those guys are. I mean, the whole world knows how good those guys are. So to spend time thinking about how good they are would just be a waste of brain cells, really. We’ve just got to go focus on the things that we’ve got to do to be strong from here on out.”

Posted on October 12, 2026October 12, 2026 by Cameron Richardson

CONCORD, N.C. — After remnants of Hurricane Isaias postponed Saturday’s Blue Cross NC 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway to late Sunday evening, the cream of the O’Reilly crop gave the fans who stayed after the Cup Series race late-night fireworks as Corey Day secured a second consecutive victory.

Jesse Love and Justin Allgaier also contended for victory under the lights at the 1.5-mile oval, but a late restart with 10 laps to go helped Day leapfrog both pilots, with the pair left with second- and fourth-place results, respectively.

Love, driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, said losing the aerodynamic and lane advantages to Day on the final restart made it difficult to regain the lead.

“Feel like I ran a good race and did a lot of things right, and then made a mistake on the restart and kind of washed up a little bit,” Love said. “Feel like I was still in a fine spot, but without the control of the air in the front and not having any traffic to really navigate, and my car kind of only working in one lane — when he kind of took it away from me, it was pretty hard to put the air (on Day). It is what it is. If I could redo it, I would.”

Day, Love and Allgaier swapped the lead all night, and all three showed the speed to separate themselves from everyone else.

Allgaier, who led 54 laps and won Stage 2, had one of the strongest cars on the long run, but ultimately didn’t have enough time after the final restart to get his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet going before the checkered flag.

“Just disappointing from my standpoint,” Allgaier said. “We did a lot of really good things tonight. Had a really good car. Great in the long run, and I think that’s what makes that last run so disappointing. That last set of tires just didn’t react the same. I fired off tight and got even tighter, and that wasn’t really the case of what we fought all night.”

During the final stage, Allgaier brushed the wall and surrendered the lead to Love as Day joined the battle.

It didn’t fully hamper Allgaier’s night, but made the No. 7 vulnerable until the finish.

WATCH: Allgaier rehashes Charlotte finish

“The incident with the wall — I mean — it was kind of insult to injury at that point,” Allgaier said. “I already knew we were in trouble. First thing I did was look at the front tires to see if we had any cording or anything like that because I felt like we really abused them there on that last run and just came up short.”

While the coveted win bonus wasn’t in the cards for either Love or Allgaier, they both cut into Sheldon Creed’s points lead with four races to go.

Love sits just two points behind Creed for the championship lead heading to Phoenix Raceway on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), while Allgaier gained 15 points on the No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet driver — an important bounce back for the 2024 O’Reilly champion after wrecking out at Las Vegas Motor Speedway the previous weekend.

Four unique venues await a championship battle that sees four drivers separated by just 15 points.

MORE: O’Reilly Auto Parts Series standings | O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule

“Got a good track for us in Phoenix coming up and probably not a great one for a lot of people, so looking forward to that,” Love added. “But at the same time, try to get in the best points position possible because the last couple of races are going to be pretty hectic. Homestead and Martinsville, you’re kind of weighing risk, reward and what you want to do. I feel like I have somewhat of a good enough reputation with most of the guys in the garage to kind of help my case at Martinsville. But we can go in there and get wrecked at Talladega again, get wrecked at Martinsville, so again, just gotta try to be smart, and then go to Homestead with a shot.”

“We got a lot of racing to go,” Allgaier said. “That’s been kind of our motto at the shop is like we were down, but there’s so much racing left to go, and there’s so many places, so many different styles of racing that we still have left. I think everybody’s got strengths. Obviously, Jesse and I had a great battle tonight. I think that everybody in that top four has a shot at it. Even Carson being 40 back. I mean, I was 30 back when the night started, and we’re only 15 back. So one good night can really change the game for everybody. I think we’re all going to go down to the end at Homestead and hopefully do a good job.”

Posted on October 11, 2026October 12, 2026 by Reid Spencer

CONCORD, N.C. — A gutsy three-wide pass on the backstretch gave Corey Day his second straight victory in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase and put the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver within striking distance of the series lead.

With 10 laps left in Sunday’s rain-postponed Blue Cross NC 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Day steered his car beneath the No. 2 Chevy of defending series champion Jesse Love and the No. 7 Camaro of Justin Allgaier and surged into the lead.

Pursued closely by Love for the remainder of the race, Day crossed the finish line 0.728 seconds ahead of the Richard Childress Racing driver. Series leader Sheldon Creed passed Allgaier on the final lap to secure third place.

With his first victory at Charlotte, his fourth of the season and fourth of his career, Day climbed two positions to third in the Chase standings, seven points behind Creed, who leads second-place Love by a mere two points.

With consecutive wins at Las Vegas and Charlotte, Day has made up 85 points on the series lead in the two outings.

“I think the 2 got really loose from what I could see up there in front of the 7, and that kind of messed them both up,” Day said of the winning pass in the middle of the backstretch at the 1.5-mile track. “That was just enough for me to get a good run (off Turn 2) and take my run.

“That was crucial. I think if I don’t do that, I don’t win the race.”

After winning the first stage, Day rallied from a penalty for driving through too many pit boxes during the stage break. He restarted 30th on Lap 54, but by the end of the second stage (Lap 90), he had charged through the field to seventh.

“What a job by my guys,” Day said. “I screw up and (go through) too many boxes on entry and just have the car to do that (drive back to the front).”

With Love and Day chasing him, Allgaier held the lead from a restart on Lap 164 until Lap 183. But his car tightened up on his last set of tires, and Allgaier scraped the outside wall in Turn 4 with 17 circuits left, allowing both Love and Day to pass.

Brent Crews slammed the wall on Lap 186 to cause the seventh and final caution, setting up the final restart on Lap 191 and Day’s dramatic pass for the win, after he fell briefly to third behind Love and Allgaier in the first two corners of the restart lap.

Love thought he had a better car at the end of the race but couldn’t find a way around Day.

WATCH: Hear from Creed | Hear from Allgaier

“At the end, the 17 was not quite as good as we were, but just good enough that, when he took my air away, it was really hard to make up ground,” Love said. “I wish I could have had that one back, but I’m still proud of myself for driving really hard and doing a lot of things right tonight.”

Creed recovered from early contact with the wall and a lengthy repair under caution to secure the third spot. Behind Allgaier in fourth, non-Chase driver Carson Brown made a late charge into fifth.

Brandon Jones, Austin Hill, Anthony Alfredo, Taylor Gray and Brennan Poole completed the top 10.

Polesitter Carson Kvapil, who came to Charlotte 19 points behind Creed in second place, suffered a cut right rear tire and contact with the outside wall. Kvapil finished 32nd, 29 laps down, and dropped three spots to fifth in the standings, 40 points behind Creed.

The O’Reilly Series Chase continues next Saturday with the Timberland PRO 200 at Phoenix Raceway (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series garage, confirming Day as the Charlotte winner. The Nos. 26 and 39 each had one lug nut not safe and secure, resulting in the loss of pit selection at Phoenix. There were no other issues.

Posted on October 11, 2026October 11, 2026 by Cameron Richardson

CONCORD, N.C. – A NASCAR Cup Series classic saw Christopher Bell finish just short of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe in a photo finish to end Sunday’s Bank of America 400 Chase race presented by Mobil 1 – a highly anticipated fall return to Charlotte Motor Speedway’s oval.

On Wednesday leading into Charlotte, Bell called his shot, saying, “If we can go out and win three of the next five, I think I’ll be the champion.”

However, the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver missed his target Sunday by a mere 0.029 seconds at the checkered flag of The Chase midpoint.

“I think I’m just in shock right now,” Bell said. “I didn’t think it was going to end like that.

“I was just out there logging laps. I stayed with him pretty good, and then I had a couple moments where I slid really bad and let him get away.”

Briscoe and the No. 19 JGR Toyota held off Bell’s No. 20 machine in the waning laps, the Hoosier getting the better of the Oklahoman in the closest Cup Series finish so far in 2026 and the second-closest finish in Charlotte Cup history. The top mark came over two decades ago, when Jimmie Johnson beat Bobby Labonte on May 29, 2005, in the Coca-Cola 600.

Bell was more than two seconds behind Briscoe with under 10 laps to go.

Lapped traffic halted the No. 19’s progress, and Briscoe wasn’t going to take a risk on the longest green-flag run of the day. But parking the bus to Victory Lane nearly granted Bell one of the biggest steals in recent memory.

“I just didn’t expect to get there,” Bell said. “Whenever I got beside of him, I thought I stalled him, and then I kind of got out of shape. I guess I should have stayed into him a little bit harder and tried to nose him to the line.

Even with a long run to the finish, No. 20 crew chief Adam Stevens said there wasn’t even a mention of fuel saving until the final laps. He said the difference in what would’ve been a second win in The Chase happened during the final caution with 60 to go, when an 8.696-second pit stop for Briscoe put him out in front for the final restart.

“We just lost the lead on pit road, man,” Stevens told NASCAR.com. “We can’t lose the lead on pit road and have it go green the rest of the day.”

For fellow Chase driver Bell, the finish is the No. 20 pilot’s eighth runner-up result in 2026. Bell led 93 laps during Sunday’s effort, with that brisk speed garnering valuable stage points thanks to third- and first-place finishes in Stages 1 and 2, respectively.

Bell – who entered Sunday third in The Chase standings, 55 points behind leader Kyle Larson – shaved four points off his deficit, collecting 53 markers on the afternoon.

Despite cutting into Larson’s championship lead and keeping pace in the title hunt with four races to go, Bell leaves Charlotte frustrated after what could’ve been a rally that gave the No. 20 driver the most momentum heading west.

MORE: Cup Series standings | Cup Series schedule

“It doesn’t do any good in the grand scheme of things,” Bell said of his eighth runner-up result in 2026. “I came in negative-55 (to Larson), and I’m leaving negative-51. So that ain’t gonna do it.”

The Cup Series competes at Phoenix Raceway next Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Bell is a two-time winner at the Arizona track, with victories there in the spring of 2024 and 2025.

Posted on October 11, 2026October 11, 2026 by Staff Report

A pair of NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1 drivers were involved in a huge wreck to end Stage 1 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

With three laps to go in Stage 1 of the Bank of America 400, Bubba Wallace, in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, and Alex Bowman, in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, made contact, with Bowman getting loose in Turn 2 and slamming into Wallace while battling for fifth.

Wallace hit the outside wall before sliding down the backstretch, then backing into the inside wall before his car came to rest. He suffered significant rear-end damage. Wallace sat in his car for several minutes while track personnel tended to him, before exiting under his own power.

“No warning. I saw it in the last second — the 48 (Alex Bowman) come up and clip us,” Wallace said. “No hard feelings, that is just racing. I was starting to drop, and it gets into a tight spot. To get on pit road smooth, we wanted to stay in front of him. He just got loose and got us. The first hit wiped our brakes out. The second hit got me good. But we are good. Still got nine fingers and nine toes (laughter), so we are fine.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Bowman said. “I had run down there a lot and been really tight on exit, and yeah, as soon as I touched the throttle, it snapped, and it really, obviously, caught me off guard, and I overcorrected, and just did a [expletive] job, and we ruined some guys’ days. So I hate that for William and Bubba. It’s on me. Should be better than that. But yeah, just not really sure why it snapped as bad as it did. We had been down there so much and been really tight on exit, but should have been ahead of it better than that.”

WATCH: Wallace describes wreck | Bowman: ‘It’s on me’ | Byron on getting caught in incident

William Byron, another Chaser, was also involved in the wreck, his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy receiving right-front damage.

“It looks like the No. 48 (Alex Bowman) just got loose and overcorrected it into the wall,” Byron said. “I was running the top, and I lifted right away, but I couldn’t get low enough because he kind of came back off the wall. I hate it for this No. 24 Valvoline Blood Cancer United Chevrolet team. We had a top-five run going, so it’s just unfortunate.”

All three drivers saw their day end following the incident, with Wallace, Bowman and Byron scored 37th, 38th and 39th, respectively. They were all evaluated and released from the infield care center.

Wallace entered Charlotte action 10th in The Chase standings, 137 markers behind points leader Kyle Larson. Byron ranked 12th in points entering Sunday’s race, 160 points behind the leader.

Posted on October 11, 2026October 14, 2026 by Reid Spencer

CONCORD, N.C. — In a race that had a profound effect on the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1, Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell banged fenders within sight of the finish line.

Briscoe’s No. 19 Toyota got there first to win Sunday’s Bank of America 400, just 0.029 seconds ahead of Bell in the second-closest finish in Charlotte Motor Speedway history and the closest in the series this season.

With his second straight victory in the Chase, Briscoe vaulted two spots into fourth place in the postseason standings, 65 points behind leader Kyle Larson, who finished sixth on Sunday, ending his string of five straight top-fives in 2026 Chase races.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Charlotte

“I don’t know what it is about these finishes,” said Briscoe, who has run second, first and first by close margins in the last three races. “I’ve got to quit making it so exciting at the end. Just an amazing car. So cool to get (sponsor) Free Bird into Victory Lane …

“And, yeah, what an amazing run we’ve been on. Should be three in a row. Amazing job to this team. This pit crew has just been unbelievable. My hero is Tony Stewart. He made a pretty unbelievable run (to the 2011 Cup championship), and hopefully we can do the same thing.”

The 0.029-second margin of victory spelled the difference between Bell climbing to second in the standings, within 35 points of Larson, and remaining third with a 51-point deficit to the leader.

Bell was crestfallen at the narrow loss.

“I got a lot closer than I thought I was going to,” said Bell, who gained just four points on Larson with his runner-up finish. “I’m surprised that he (Briscoe) fell off 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.”

SHOP: Winner gear

Bell took the lead in a dramatic three-wide pass after a restart on Lap 173, but a caution for Gray Gaulding’s spin slowed the field on Lap 205, and Briscoe’s crew got the No. 19 Camry out of the pits first for a restart on Lap 211.

“They’ve been an absolute key to it,” Briscoe said of his pit crew, which has excelled during the Chase. “When you can come down pit road and know you’re going to gain spots every time — or if you’re in the lead, not lose the lead — it just makes your job so much easier as a race car driver.”

Briscoe stayed out front the rest of the way, logging 61 of his 62 laps led on the final run. Bell, however, closed dramatically over the final five laps as Briscoe encountered lapped traffic and felt he had a tire losing air. After the late contact in the tri-oval, Briscoe prevailed — by the slimmest of margins.

“When I got that final pack of lapped cars with five or six to go, I mean, I just felt like I was going to knock the wall down at any point,” Briscoe said. “It just quit turning.”

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

Larson, who won the first stage and finished fourth in the second, increased his advantage over second-place Denny Hamlin from 40 to 49 points. Hamlin finished fifth on Sunday but failed to score points in the first stage after incurring a safety violation on his first pit stop of the race under a competition caution.

“I was not in a position of power,” Larson said of the final run, during which he fell from fourth to sixth in the running order. “I was hanging on. Yeah, honestly, I thought I was going to manage that run well. The top two (Briscoe and Bell) pushed really hard, and I could see Denny kind of settled in, so I was settling in just to try to make my tires live.

“Yeah, just got really, really loose on that run. Just not sure if maybe me not pushing enough kind of made the balance shifted rearward, using the rears too much, and I was just hanging on the last 15, 18 laps. Happy to still come in with a sixth and extend the points lead, but there was a couple other guys that kind of closed that gap a little bit.”

Ryan Blaney finished third and leaves Charlotte fifth in the Chase standings, 85 points behind Larson. Non-Chase driver Josh Berry trailed Blaney in fourth at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway.

Larson took the lead from the pole and led five times for 97 laps, including the first 45. Bell led three times for 93 laps and won the second stage handily over Blaney.

The race was a disaster for two Chase drivers, through no fault of their own. On Lap 77, the No. 48 Chevrolet of non-Chase driver Alex Bowman broke loose underneath the Toyota of Bubba Wallace near the Turn 2 exit, sending both cars hurtling hard into the outside wall.

The No. 24 Chevy of William Byron also sustained terminal damage in the wreck.

READ: More info about the wreck

The No. 54 Toyota of Chase driver Ty Gibbs suffered a broken right rear toe link after an accident on Lap 41. Gibbs lost eight laps under repairs on pit road and finished 34th.

Joey Logano ran ninth but scored no stage points and fell two positions to sixth in the standings, 92 points behind Larson.

The Cup Series returns next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway with four races to determine the 2026 champion (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Stage 2 recap: Bell claims the second stage

Christopher Bell won Stage 2 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race is the sixth of 10 in The Chase presented by Mobil 1.

Ryan Blaney finished second, followed by Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick. Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Chase Elliott and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10 and points earners. Berry was the only non-Chase driver to earn points in the frame.

MORE: Full Stage 2 results | Watch Bell win Stage 2

Larson fired back to the lead on the stage restart on Lap 86, holding that advantage for the next 21 circuits. Bell passed him for his first lead of the afternoon on Lap 107, wheeling away from the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet until a Lap 117 yellow.

That caution was for John Hunter Nemechek, who spun through the infield ballfield in his No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota. His car appeared to have no damage at first, but amid rushing his Toyota back to pit road, a right-front tire went down, tearing up that corner of his ride.

After a Stage 1 pit-road penalty, Hamlin climbed to sixth before that yellow. He gained two more spots on pit road as the lead lappers stopped for service, restarting fourth. Then attempting to fill a gap three-wide middle, Hamlin contacted Larson’s right-rear, sending Larson up the track and down to seventh.

Bell maintained his lead for the rest of the stage, scoring 10 crucial points as he looks to track down Larson and Hamlin atop the Cup standings.

Stage 1 recap: Larson wins opening frame

Kyle Larson won Stage 1 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Chase Briscoe finished second, followed by Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric and Tyler Reddick. Daniel Suárez, Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar, Chris Buescher and Ryan Blaney completed the top 10 and points earners.

MORE: Full Stage 1 results

Larson led every lap in the opening 35-lap stint until NASCAR displayed a scheduled competition caution. The yellow was necessitated after rain washed out practice and qualifying on Saturday.

Denny Hamlin climbed from a 12th-place starting position to sixth during the first run. But while on pit road for tires and fuel, he was penalized for a safety violation after a tire from his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team rolled into Connor Zilisch’s box in front of him.

Hamlin needed to restart from the rear, along with Blaney and Chase Elliott. Blaney was too fast on pit road, while Elliott needed to make a second stop to retighten the left-front tire.

Hamlin rebounded to finish the stage 15th.

On the restart, Tyler Reddick moved up the track in Turns 1 and 2 from the sixth position, boxing Ty Gibbs in behind him. Gibbs slid up into the wall and immediately suffered damage, plummeting through the field before finally spinning in Turns 3 and 4 and collecting Brad Keselowski. Gibbs fell several laps down while his team assessed the damage.

During the melee, Joey Logano suffered nose damage, piling into Gibbs’ limp No. 54 Toyota. He needed to visit pit road for repairs, marking five Chase drivers with issues in the opening 42 circuits.

The race restarted on Lap 47 — which featured the first lead change of the afternoon. Wallace darted past Larson, leading 11 laps before Larson quickly regained the top spot on Lap 59.

With three laps to go in the stage, Alex Bowman lost control of his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, hooking right into Bubba Wallace. Wallace then slid down the backstretch, backing into the inside wall. William Byron also suffered damage.

WATCH: In-car cameras capture crash | Hear from Bowman | Hear from Wallace

Wallace was slow to exit his No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota but climbed out and walked away under his own power.

The crash ended the stage.

Note: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Briscoe as the Charlotte winner.

Contributing: Staff report

Posted on October 11, 2026October 11, 2026 by Staff Report

All on-track activities for Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway were canceled due to inclement weather, NASCAR officials announced Saturday morning.

The Blue Cross NC 300, the fifth of nine Chase presented by Mobil 1 races in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, will now take place Sunday at 8 p.m. ET (The CW, ESPN Unlimited, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) following the NASCAR Cup Series race. The race was originally slated for a 4 p.m. ET green flag Saturday.

Cup Series practice and qualifying were washed out after a Friday announcement moved practice to 11 a.m. ET and qualifying to 12:05 p.m. ET, two hours earlier than originally scheduled. It was the fourth time in six Chase races that the lineup was set via the NASCAR Rule Book.

Sunday’s Cup race, the sixth of 10 in The Chase, took place as scheduled at 3 p.m. ET. Chase Briscoe was the winner.

NASCAR announced cancellations to O’Reilly Series practice and qualifying earlier Saturday morning. The lineup has been set via the NASCAR Rule Book.

Keep tabs on this page throughout the weekend for the latest weather-related developments and schedule adjustments.

RELATED: Full weekend schedule | Charlotte race hub

SUNDAY

8:48 p.m. ET — O’Reilly race goes green

The command to fire engines was given at 8:30 p.m. ET, and the Blue Cross NC 300 officially got underway 18 minutes later, kicking off the fifth of nine NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase presented by Mobil 1 contests.

8 p.m. ET — Pre-race ceremonies for O’Reilly race begin; track-drying underway

After a weather-free NASCAR Cup Series Chase race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Mother Nature in the Concord, North Carolina, area held serve for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series despite a few small showers. Track-drying efforts began in earnest.

Pre-race ceremonies began at approximately 8 p.m. ET, with coverage on The CW and ESPN Unlimited. The race is the fifth of nine Chase presented by Mobil 1 contests.

12:30 p.m. ET — Green flag for Cup set for 3:19 p.m. ET

The weather improved in the Charlotte area and green flag was set for 3:19 p.m. ET for the Bank of America 400, the sixth race in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Chase presented by Mobil 1. Driver intros were set to start promptly at 2:35 p.m. ET.

Pre-race ceremonies were expected to get underway shortly after 3 p.m. ET. Watch the Charlotte pre-race show on USA Network, starting at 2:30 p.m. ET and leading into their coverage of the race.

SATURDAY

11 a.m. ET — All Saturday sessions canceled

NASCAR officials announced Saturday morning that all on-track activities for the day have been canceled due to effects from Hurricane Isaias.

The Blue Cross NC 300 in the O’Reilly Series is now scheduled for 8 p.m. ET Sunday, following the NASCAR Cup Series race.

Cup Series practice and qualifying were canceled, marking the fourth time in six Chase races that the lineup has been set via the metric.

The Cup Series race remains scheduled for 3 p.m. ET Sunday on USA Network.

7:30 a.m. ET — O’Reilly practice, qualifying canceled

NASCAR officials announced that Saturday morning’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series practice and qualifying sessions at Charlotte Motor Speedway have been canceled.

The starting lineup for the Blue Cross NC 300 will be set per the NASCAR Rule Book. The race remains scheduled for 4 p.m. ET (The CW).

Cup Series practice and qualifying remain on schedule for 11 a.m. ET.

Posted on October 11, 2026October 12, 2026 by Staff Report

It’s a home game for the NASCAR industry as all three premier series take center stage this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series kicks off the action Friday night, followed by the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Saturday and the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday. Charlotte is the first of five straight tripleheaders to end the 2026 season as The Chase presented by Mobil 1 reaches crunch time. This weekend also marks the first time since 2017 that the fall festivities in the Queen City are on the 1.5-mile oval, rather than on the track’s Roval configuration. Bookmark this page and return often for your race-week essentials, from qualifying orders, pit stalls, results and more.

NASCAR Cup Series

Race day: Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Eleven total sets — eight new sets for the race, two for practice and one for qualifying that transfers to the race.

Entry List
Qualifying Order CANCELED
~~Practice Results~~ CANCELED
~~Practice Lap Averages~~ CANCELED
~~Practice Lap Times~~ CANCELED
Starting Lineup (SET PER RULE BOOK)
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

Race day: Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Six total sets — four new sets for the race, one for practice and one for qualifying that transfers to the race.

Entry List
Qualifying Order CANCELED
~~Practice Results~~ CANCELED
~~Practice Lap Averages~~ CANCELED
~~Practice Lap Times~~ CANCELED
Starting Lineup (SET PER RULE BOOK)
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Race day: Friday at 5 p.m. ET on FOX. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Five total sets — three new sets for the race, one for practice and one for qualifying that transfers to the race.

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Practice Results
Practice Lap Averages
Practice Lap Times
Starting Lineup
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results