Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will travel to Upstate New York for the circuit’s annual visit to Watkins Glen International on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The contest will be the second road-course event of the O’Reilly season and the 13th points-paying race of 2026.

ENTRY LISTS: Cup Series | O’Reilly Auto Parts Series | Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Cup Series full-timers Connor Zilisch (No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet), Shane van Gisbergen (No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet) and Ross Chastain (No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet) will race in the O’Reilly event, with all three doing triple duty this weekend.

Thirty-eight cars are entered into the event.

MORE: Weekend schedule | How to watch NASCAR on The CW 

View the full entry list here:

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

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.

Alex Bowman drives at Texas.
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media

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.

Daniel Suárez sits on pit wall at Texas.
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media

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.

Riley Herbst and Tyler Reddick race at Texas.
James Gilbert | Getty Images

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.

Kyle Larson races at Texas.
James Gilbert | Getty Images

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.

Ty Gibbs on pit road at Texas.
James Gilbert | Getty Images

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.

Damage on Christopher Bell's no. 20 car after a crash at Texas.
Patrick Vallely | For NASCAR Digital Media
Posted on by Staff Report

Chase Elliott delighted in the novelty of it, checking off a career first in his 11th season of NASCAR Cup Series racing, especially at a track that’s historically been a love/hate venue for him. Back in March, Elliott marked his earliest scratch of the win column with a Martinsville Speedway triumph. Sunday brought another first-time feat, reaching multiple-winner status at another career-earliest point.

The accomplishment was a source of pride for Elliott and his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports group, and he noted how each facet of the team effort was “elevated” in his Sunday march to victory at Texas Motor Speedway. Though the largely seamless execution may have made those matters look easy, Elliott boiled it all down to simplest terms: “It’s hard to win.”

Several usual front-runners learned just how difficult that proposition was in the Lone Star State, where one of the diciest of NASCAR’s intermediate tracks chewed up champions and would-be contenders in the Würth 400. The Cup Series standings shuffled accordingly, but Elliott solidified his spot in its upper reaches.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas

Though he admitted that his organization had opened the year at a perceived deficit, Elliott is now just one of two drivers with multiple Cup Series wins this season, the other being five-time victor and series points leader Tyler Reddick.

“In the last couple of weeks, I think all those things, you start putting pieces together and improving and getting to a good place,” said Elliott, who led a race-high 87 laps. “Then you combine that with just a really good day of execution for our team in particular and wound up with a great result. Really proud of that.”

Several others found the wrong end of Texas’ wrath, which adheres to the “Don’t Mess With …” statewide trope of being bigger, badder, what have you. The 1.5-mile Fort Worth track has always had a bit of swagger in its marketing, dating back to the “Shut up and race” bravado that answered critics from its earliest days. It’s also never quite fit the mold of other intermediate-sized circuits, with design quirks that have set it apart as it has evolved.

Sunday, those treacherous deviations snagged the sweaters of some of NASCAR’s best. Kyle Larson lost it all on his own exiting Turn 2 midway through, finding trouble in roughly the same place that Bubba Wallace cracked the wall in a solo incident in practice the day before. Christopher Bell found his way to the top of the leaderboard, but then critically erred on what he called a toss-up decision on accident avoidance. Joey Logano was out early, too, though his No. 22 Ford’s demise was owed less to Texas’ turbulent traits and more to an especially disorderly pit road, where his pointblank contact with Cole Custer‘s stopped car forced an early retirement.

All three stars took significant hits in the season-long points count-up, with each losing multiple positions in the Cup Series standings. Logano’s two-spot drop held extra significance, as he now sits in 17th place — seven points behind the provisional cut-off for The Chase’s 16-driver postseason field.

MORE: Cup Series standings | All of Chase Elliott’s Cup wins

Elliott’s stock, though, has stabilized if not increased as the first year of this new-look points format takes shape. Now 11 races into the 26-race regular season, the six drivers who have won this year all reside in the top seven in the standings, and Elliott rides a respectable third.

There’s perhaps an imbalance of power near the top, however, since two drivers have won nearly two-thirds of the events. Reddick finished fourth Sunday at Texas, maintaining his three-digit standings advantage — 109 points over runner-up Denny Hamlin and 117 over Elliott — and his bead on the Regular Season Championship and the bonus that comes with it when the points are reset 15 races from now.

Alan Gustafson, crew chief of Elliott’s No. 9 Chevy, said the postseason re-rack has the potential to be a great equalizer. Reddick’s hot streak put him 100 points clear of his nearest challengers in a 10-race span to start the year. The 10-race Chase stretch that closes the season will have a 16-driver field, also with a 100-point separation from first to 16th. “Do the math,” Gustafson says, suggesting anything could happen in the season’s home stretch.

“I do think, look, everybody wants as many points as you can get,” the veteran crew chief added. “Certainly the best teams are going to position themselves towards the top, but I’m not sleeping on anybody. I mean, somebody can figure something out and get hot. I don’t think 100 points makes anybody safe.”

One of the few safe passages Sunday belonged to Elliott, who parried when the pandemonium flared up. Texas was the site of his breakthrough O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory, a triumph that helped launch his star and served as a springboard to the 2014 series championship as an 18-year-old rookie.

When Texas underwent a repave and reconfiguration in 2017, his opinion of the Fort Worth facility turned. “I’ve trashed this place for years,” Elliott admitted, saying his growing disregard for Texas synced with a drop in his performance there.

Two Texas wins in three years tend to sway those prevailing thoughts. When Gustafson pointed out “Two-time winner at Texas, baby,” on the No. 9 Chevrolet’s cool-down lap, Elliott said he mulled it over in his mind. “I thought, I’ll be damned,” Elliott said. “I’d have never thought.”

Running better has helped Texas grow on him, Elliott said. A welcome post-race reception from a sold-out crowd helped, too.

“You know, for as hard of a time as I’ve given it, for some reason it likes me,” Elliott said. “It loved me back. I didn’t like it, but it liked me. So I’m learning to come around a little bit.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The 2026 NASCAR All-Star Race treks to Dover Motor Speedway for the first time in event history on May 17 (1 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), and you still have the chance to vote one driver into the exciting contest.

RELATED: Never too late — vote now! | Buy All-Star Race tickets

As of May 4, the top 10 vote-getters in alphabetical order are as follows: AJ Allmendinger, Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher, Noah Gragson, Erik Jones, Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suárez and Connor Zilisch.

The voting period opened Monday, April 13, and will close Sunday, May 17, at 9 a.m. ET. The fan vote winner will be revealed on May 17 before engines fire for the main event.

Fans can vote up to five times per day, per unique email address. NASCAR Fan Rewards members will receive a one-time 25-point bonus for their first vote.

MORE: How All-Star Race format works

Notable past winners of the fan vote include Ken Schrader, who was first to receive the honor in 2004. Additional winners include Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2011), Danica Patrick (2013, ’15) and Clint Bowyer (2020). Noah Gragson has won the award each of the last three seasons (2023-25). Kasey Kahne (2008) currently stands as the sole fan vote winner to win the All-Star Race.

Posted on by Staff Report

An incident between Ryan Preece and Ty Gibbs ultimately ended Gibbs’ day early Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway and carried into post-race discourse.

Tight-quarters racing led Preece to Gibbs’ rear bumper, which sent Gibbs into the wall in Turns 3 and 4 at Lap 101, his No. 54 Toyota spinning sideways and slamming the SAFER barrier.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Though the spin may not have been intentional — “Never touched him,” Preece radioed — Preece said Gibbs’ earlier on-track actions built up frustration. An aggressive move by the 23-year-old Gibbs angered Preece entering Turn 1 as Gibbs made a late charge to Preece’s left. When the two raced near each other again on a Stage 2 restart, Preece surged to the rear bumper of Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota, resulting in a ride for Gibbs.

“I’ll be honest with you. I hate that he wrecked, but decisions you make on the race track, there are repercussions,” Preece told Frontstretch after the race. “And I try to race everybody with an amount of respect that I’d like in return. And when you don’t do that, I’m not gonna cut you a break. And that’s what happened.”

RELATED: SVG reacts to Gibbs, Preece

The Turn 1 dive triggered an eventual rant over the in-car radio from Preece: “What a [expletive] idiot that kid is. He is so lucky his car is so [expletive] fast. … All right, when I get to that 54, I’m done with him. [Expletive] idiot. That car is so [expletive] fast, [expletive] pisses me off. Stupid. I’m gonna vent for 15 seconds. I can’t stand when idiots like him have fast race cars that they can do stupid [expletive] and get away with it. End of rant.”

Gibbs briefly continued and made minimum speed, but eventually drove to the Texas garage and retired from the race as the damage to his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was too severe.

WATCH: In-car cameras, team radios during incident

“I haven’t seen the replay. It broke one of the little welds on the front clip, so it probably wasn’t the best decision to go back out,” Gibbs said. “We weren’t going to be fast, so we’ll go racing next week.”

Upon seeing Preece’s rant transcribed on social media, Gibbs was less than impressed.

“Hmm, at least he is honest,” Gibbs wrote on X, adding an eye-roll emoji and a cheers. He also reposted video of Preece’s in-car radio rant.

Ultimately, Preece continued to finish 14th while Gibbs finished 36th, his first DNF on a non-drafting track this season but his second consecutive crash-out after a Talladega wreck last weekend.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action next Sunday, May 10, at Watkins Glen International (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Dustin Albino

FORT WORTH, Texas — Aside from winning crown-jewel races, capturing the checkered flag at Texas Motor Speedway ranks high on Chris Buescher’s wish list.

The native cowboy, billed from 50 miles northeast of the Lone Star State’s 1.5-mile track, has never seen the fruits of the No. 17 team’s labor at TMS. In 16 prior starts, he had never cracked the top 10 in the final rundown, scoring a best finish of 14th in 2023.

Before hitting the track for practice on Saturday, Buescher oozed confidence. The intermediate program for RFK Racing has shone brightly early in 2026, with the No. 17 car having a pair of top 10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway. And though Texas is a vastly different cookie-cutter, he thought the same principles would apply.

Boy, did they.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas

Buescher was in the hunt throughout the duration of Sunday’s Würth 400 presented by Liqui Moly, tallying four stage points and leaving home soil with a fifth-place finish.

“We have run this well here; we just haven’t finished here,” Buescher told reporters after scoring consecutive top-five finishes. “We’ve had poor luck, bad decisions — whatever it may be. If it’s a hometown curse, we at least broke through that this go around.”

Four cautions over a 33-lap period plagued the end of the opening stage and the beginning of Stage 2. Strategy was all over the board, including for Buescher’s RFK teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece, who stayed out to earn more stage points on the day than the leader of the company’s clubhouse.

With the laps winding down, Buescher thought he was at worst a third-place car, trailing only Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin. But another late caution dropped his finishing position two spots.

“We felt good coming into this thing,” Buescher declared. “Felt like we were going to be in the hunt for a win and was just shy of truly being in the hunt to win it. Certainly, a top-five day and probably a top-three day without the last caution. Great execution on everybody’s part. Now it’s time to figure out how to up it a few more.

“It’s not a win, but it’s the result that we’ve deserved at a place that we’ve ran well all day long.”

MORE: Race recap | Race Rewind

Despite the No. 17 team operating like a well-oiled machine at intermediate tracks in 2026, he remains unconvinced it represents their strongest point. No matter the layout or track type, he’s unfazed, believing that RFK is among the best organizations currently.

There is one uncertainty on the horizon, however, at a famed road course where he popped champagne at just two seasons ago.

“I feel like all of our programs are really strong right now,” Buescher added. “The only question I have right now at this point is Watkins Glen. I have a ton of confidence going in that it’s going to be good; COTA wasn’t as strong as we wanted to be. I feel really good about Watkins Glen coming up. Obviously, that’s been a good one through the years.”

Buescher leapt a pair of spots in the Regular Season Championship battle at Texas. He ranks fifth in points, with a 110-point buffer over the cutline.

Posted on by Dustin Albino

FORT WORTH, Texas — Whenever the Cup Series has hit an intermediate venue in 2026, Toyota almost immediately rockets to the top.

So it was no surprise when Denny Hamlin needed a mere 20 laps to take the lead from Carson Hocevar after starting the race fourth. That early show of performance foreshadowed another solid runner-up finish Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, just 0.407 seconds behind winner Chase Elliott.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos: Texas

From the drop of the green flag, it appeared like it was going to be another Toyota runaway. Not far behind Hamlin early on were his Joe Gibbs Racing allies Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell. At one point in the opening stage, JGR ran first through third with Ty Gibbs nearby in sixth.

“I thought at the very beginning, yes,” Hamlin told reporters, on whether he felt he had the best car. “We went that second stage from 17th to second. Yes, selfishly, I thought we were the best car.”

But like any Texas race in the last number of years, the treacherous 1.5-mile track bit some of the competitors. First to fall was Bell, who was clipped by a sliding Todd Gilliland in the waning laps of the opening stage. Hamlin was on the heels of the No. 20 car, chasing down his teammate, but slipped through the carnage.

Hamlin thought: “It was a 50/50 call and we got lucky there.”

When the field jumbled for the start of the second stage, Hamlin sprung forward from a mid-pack restart. He collected seven points in Stage 2, placing fourth, behind Elliott, Tyler Reddick and Brad Keselowski.

But then Elliott controlled the pace of the race in the final stage. The No. 9 car and Reddick scooted away from Hamlin, though the No. 11 car was in close pursuit until a caution flew with 11 laps remaining.

With the Goodyear tires having slight wear, Hamlin radioed to the No. 11 team that he wanted to restart on the front row, no matter what. So Hamlin skipped the trip to pit road.

“The only way to guarantee to be on the front row for myself, personally, was to stay out,” Hamlin added. “Looking at the lap times, we were running what we ran on new tires. I don’t think I would have been able to carry enough throttle, even if I would have started [third] on two tires.”

MORE: Cup Series standings

In a four-lap dash, Elliott cleared Hamlin and hung on for his second triumph of the season. It’s the earliest Elliott has ever scored a second victory in his 11 full-time seasons.

Hamlin has finished second in both of Elliott’s wins this year. In Hamlin’s lone win this season at Las Vegas, Elliott was the runner-up.

While Hamlin thought he had the best speedster, he credited Elliott for controlling the race.

“The 9, you have to give them props on how fast they were when they got out front,” he said. “That was all that we had to try to be able to keep up in that third stage. It comes down to when we have these restarts and you lose one spot here, one spot there, next thing you know, the guys you were really battling on speed are two cars ahead of you and now you have to try to pass cars that are more equal on speed. We weren’t that dominant to be able to do that.”

With Reddick driving to fourth in the final four laps, Hamlin trimmed only one point off his deficit in the standings, now 109 markers behind.

Posted on by Staff Report

A promising run for Kyle Busch in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race turned sour after contact with John Hunter Nemechek on the next-to-last lap at Texas Motor Speedway.

Busch finished in 20th place in Sunday’s Würth 400 presented by Liqui Moly, losing seven positions in the final two laps after his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet tangled with Nemechek’s No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas

Busch and Nemechek made contact as the two squeezed off Turn 2 and into the backstretch wall in a contest for 12th place on Lap 266 of 267. The two came together again in Turn 3, with Nemechek getting the worst of it and taking significant right-side damage against the outside barrier.

“Why did he do that?” Nemechek asked over the No. 42 radio. He gingerly drove to pit road and the race finished under green-flag conditions.

Busch was in his first race since a crew chief change on his No. 8 RCR team, with Andy Street taking over from Jim Pohlman. Busch was scored as the final car on the lead lap. Nemechek finished 21st, the first driver one lap down.

WATCH: On-board cameras, team radios of incident

Both took to social media post-race to share their sides of the incident.

 


The two have connections that go back to different phases in their NASCAR careers. Nemechek scored seven Craftsman Truck Series wins over two seasons (2021-22) for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Posted on by Staff Report

Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson went to the garage with damage after a single-car crash knocked him from contention Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Larson lost control of his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on Lap 160 of 267 in the Würth 400 Presented by Liqui Moly, knocking the outside wall near the exit of Turn 2. Larson was running 18th in the 38-car field at the time of the incident.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas

Larson limped the car back to pit road, struggling with steering issues. His No. 5 team later directed him to the garage area for more extensive repairs.

The 33-year-old veteran returned to the race on Lap 245, and his participation in the final 22 laps allowed him to overtake Cole Custer for a 34th-place finish and one extra point in the Cup Series standings.

Sunday marked Larson’s second consecutive race with a crash. He was forced out of the previous weekend’s event at Talladega Superspeedway and saddled with a 40th-place result. After Texas, Larson dipped two positions to eighth in the Cup Series points.

Larson’s day was not trouble-free to that point. During a Lap 95 pit stop, Larson’s car was entering its stall when Chase Briscoe’s No. 19 Toyota made contact as it attempted to leave the pits. Both continued.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

FORT WORTH, Texas — In an event that spelled disaster for a handful of the NASCAR Cup Series’ established stars, Chase Elliott ran an impeccable race — and was rewarded with victory in Sunday’s Würth 400 Presented by Liqui Moly at Texas Motor Speedway.

Elliott didn’t lead until Lap 152 of 267, when Corey Heim brought his Toyota to pit road for fuel on an off-cycle strategy. From that point on, the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet controlled the race with an iron fist, thanks in part to a pit crew that performed its three fastest pit stops of the season on Sunday.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas

After Heim spun in Turn 4 to cause the seventh and final caution of the race, however, Elliott had to survive a restart with four laps left. But with a push from teammate and third-place finisher Alex Bowman, he cleared runner-up Denny Hamlin off Turn 2 and pulled away to win by 0.407 seconds.

The victory was Elliott’s second at Texas, his second of the season and the 23rd of his career. He joins fourth-place finisher Tyler Reddick (five victories) as a multiple winner this season. Elliott also is the first repeat winner in the last 10 races at Texas.

“I wasn’t really sure whether to go top or bottom,” Elliott said of the final restart. “You know, the bottom had been winning out on a lot of the restarts. I felt like, man, if I didn’t get clear off of (Turn 2), I was going to be in a lot of trouble.

“Fortunately, Alex gave me a great push. Was able to execute Turns 1 and 2, get clear, and then just kind of manage the last few laps… Yeah, man, just crazy. You know, to say as much as we struggled out here to have won two races here now in the last few years is pretty wild.”

Elliott led a race-high 87 laps to 69 for Heim, who finished 31st.

Hamlin rued the caution that interrupted his pursuit of Elliott with 11 laps left, but he got a strong launch on the final restart.

“Yeah, I thought I got a good restart there at the end side-by-side,” said Hamlin, who finished second to Elliott for the second time this season (the first at Martinsville). “But then, you know, just the way the side-draft works there into Turn 1, with him getting the push from the 48 (Bowman), it just allowed his momentum to pick up a little bit quicker than mine.

“I tried to hang on to the side, but I was just getting tighter the closer I was getting to him. So good, decent day. Just one short.”

SHOP: Winner’s gear

Reddick pitted for two tires before the final restart and charged from ninth to fourth at the finish.

“All in all, it was a solid day,” said Reddick, who leads the series by 109 points over second-place Hamlin and 117 over third-place Elliott. “It was nice to go for it there on the two tires.

“Just had a couple of passes that took a little longer than they needed to, and that was the difference between… I don’t know if we would have got back to the lead, but I think if we played it perfectly, we could have got second. All in all, it was a good day.”

Chris Buescher finished fifth in the fastest Ford. Daniel Suárez, pole winner Carson Hocevar, William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney completed the top 10.

Rookie Connor Zilisch recorded both his best qualifying effort of the season (12th) and his best Cup finish on an oval track (16th).

Throughout the race, attrition eliminated potential contenders.

Christopher Bell’s star-crossed season continued without abatement at Texas Motor Speedway. Bell had just fought off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Hamlin to retain the lead when Todd Gilliland spun in front of Bell’s Toyota off Turn 4 on Lap 68.

Bell took evasive action toward the bottom of the track but clipped Gilliland’s Ford just enough to send Bell’s Camry rocketing into the outside wall, severely damaging the right-side suspension components.

MORE: Bell, Gilliland collide | Alternate angles

The diagnosis of Bell’s car was terminal, and he exited the race in last (38th) place.

“It was another one of those 50-50 calls,” Bell said of his split-second decision to try to dodge Gilliland’s car. “Me and Denny were side-by-side, and I saw him (Gilliland) spinning and Denny lifted, and I thought that I could shoot the gap on the bottom.

“And I thought I did shoot the gap on the bottom, but I got clipped.”

Defending race winner Joey Logano fared no better. During pit stops under caution on Lap 94, Cole Custer slowed to allow Ty Gibbs to exit his stall. Logano slammed into Custer’s car, peeling back the left-front fender of Logano’s Mustang like a can opener.

With the left-front tire of his car skewed out of proper orientation, the three-time champion retired from the race.

“I’ll just keep digging and go to the next one,” Logano said philosophically.

Seven laps after Logano’s demise, Bristol winner Ty Gibbs slammed into the Turn 3 wall off the bumper of Ryan Preece’s Ford and fell out of the race in 35th.

Reigning series champion Kyle Larson wasn’t immune from calamity either. On Lap 160, he spun in Turn 2 and clobbered the wall with the driver’s side of his No. 5 Chevrolet.

“I just lost it,” said Larson, who took the car to the garage, his hopes for a second Texas victory dashed.

What Kyle Busch lost was his temper. After qualifying sixth, Busch ran consistently in the top five and earned points in the first stage. He was set for a top-10 finish until he tangled with the Toyota of John Hunter Nemechek after the final restart.

Busch took out his frustrations with two laps remaining, knocking Nemechek’s car sideways. Busch faded to 20th on a day that started with promise and ended in disappointment.

Stage 1 winner Erik Jones finished 12th ahead of Brad Keselowski in 13th. Trackhouse Racing teammates Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen finished 16th and 17th, respectively. Chase Briscoe was 23rd, one lap down.

The NASCAR Cup Series travels next to Watkins Glen International for next Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Stage 2 recap

Chase Elliott earned the Stage 2 victory Sunday in a one-lap dash to the green-checkered flag at Lap 165.

Elliott surged past Brad Keselowski on fresher tires after a late caution set up the charge to stage end. Tyler Reddick, Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suárez, Chris Buescher, Riley Herbst, Carson Hocevar and Alex Bowman completed the top 10.

Keselowski and Preece opted not to pit when the caution waved at Lap 160 for a single-car spin by Kyle Larson in Turns 1 and 2. Larson was running 18th when his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet snapped loose in the center of the corner. Elliott was first off pit road under the yellow flag ahead of Hamlin, Buescher, Reddick and Suárez.

The first 20 laps of Stage 2 were full of action as intensity ramped up.

A spin by William Byron exiting Turn 4 at Lap 92 triggered the third caution flag of the event as his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet broke loose on corner exit. Joey Logano barely avoided Byron’s sideways car, but trouble found Logano soon after anyway.

Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford was destroyed on pit road when Cole Custer stopped in front of him during the cycle under caution at Lap 93. Custer was about to miss his box and brought his No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet to a halt as Ty Gibbs was exiting a stall before Custer’s. Logano had no time to avoid Custer and incurred heavy damage to his left front, ending Logano’s day. Custer also brought his car to the garage for repairs.

During the same round of pit stops, Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson collided on pit road. Briscoe took two tires and was leaving his stall as Larson was entering his, leading to a collision between Briscoe’s right front and Larson’s left front. Briscoe backed up for repairs while Larson returned for repairs on the next lap. Denny Hamlin also took two tires but had to check up to avoid rookie Connor Zilisch coming into his pit box.

The race resumed at Lap 98, but the yellow flag waved again for the fourth time at Lap 101. Ty Gibbs spun into the wall in Turns 3 and 4 after slight contact from Ryan Preece. Gibbs briefly continued and made minimum speed but reported his right front was severely damaged with a “mega vibration.” Gibbs brought his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to the garage for repairs, and his race was determined to be over shortly after.

Part-time driver Corey Heim emerged with the lead after a strategy play for the 23XI driver left the No. 67 Toyota on track at the front of the field. Heim, the defending Craftsman Truck Series champion, led 57 laps before surrendering the lead at Lap 151. Heim was lapped but received the free pass after Larson’s spin.

Byron recovered from his earlier spin to finish 12th in Stage 2 ahead of Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace and John Hunter Nemechek. Stage 1 winner Erik Jones was 22nd in Stage 2.

Stage 1 recap

Erik Jones won Stage 1 of Sunday’s race after a six-lap sprint to the stage end.

Jones stayed out with four other drivers as the caution waved late in the opening segment of the 267-lap feature, earning the stage win over Carson Hocevar, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, AJ Allmendinger, Chase Elliott, William Byron and Denny Hamlin. Stenhouse and Allmendinger also stayed out under the first yellow flag.

The first caution of the day waved at Lap 68 when race leader Christopher Bell was collected in a crash off Turn 4.

Bell was fending off a charge by teammate Denny Hamlin for the top spot when Todd Gilliland spun in front of them, returning to the frontstretch. Gilliland slid down the track and caught the right-rear of Bell’s No. 20 Toyota at pit exit, sending his car sliding before hitting the outside SAFER barrier flush with the right side of the car. Bell drove the vehicle back to the garage but was unable to continue while Gilliland raced on.

Hocevar led the opening 19 laps of the event before Hamlin surged to the lead at Lap 20, signaling the strength of the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas. At one point, Bell, Hamlin and Briscoe ran 1-2-3, and all three have led laps.

Fifth-place starter Daniel Suárez fell to 15th at the stage end while Bubba Wallace, who started from the rear, finished 16th in the stage. Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick finished the stage 18th, 19th and 20th, respectively. Ryan Blaney, who started 31st, was 28th at the conclusion of Stage 1.

Note: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming Elliott as the race winner. No cars will be taken to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further inspection.

Contributing: Staff report