Chase Briscoe made up time on pit road and led a 1-2-3 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing, holding off teammate Christopher Bell on Sunday to win for the first time in 2026 at the eero 400 in the NASCAR Cup Series’ return to Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.
Briscoe brought in his No. 19 Toyota one circuit before William Byron on Lap 52 then passed the No. 24 as both got up to speed.
However, the hard-charging Bell, racing with a fractured wrist, used his No. 20 to chop off a one-second deficit and chase down Briscoe but came up 0.276 seconds short.
JGR’s Denny Hamlin, who started from the pole, finished third and saw his three-race winning streak on oval tracks come to an end.
Byron and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five as Toyota won for the 12th time in 19 races this season.
Connor Zilisch’s poor rookie campaign took another hit on Lap 1 when Ryan Preece’s No. 60 received contact in a three-wide run. The Ford shot down the 1.52-mile track, which announced a sellout, and turned Zilisch’s No. 88 into the inside wall for the first caution.
Zane Smith’s No. 38 Ford and Austin Hill’s No. 33 Chevrolet brought out separate cautions after Kyle Larson outran Hamlin for the early lead in Stage 1, which featured 60 trips around the track as it hosted the NASCAR’s top series for the first time since 2019.
Byron moved his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet past Austin Cindric, who was on 10-lap older tires, to claim the segment’s top points. Larson finished second with Bubba Wallace, Cindric and Briscoe taking the top five.
However, after Wallace roared to the point on Lap 92, Larson spun all alone in Turn 4 and became stuck in the frontstretch’s muddy infield after multiple weekend downpours. The two-time series champ had to be towed out and circled the track with four flat tires.
Tyler Reddick, 2026’s wins leader with five, hit debris on the racing surface, suffered an oil cooler failure on his No. 45 Toyota at the race’s midpoint and went to the garage.
Byron swept the first two stages as his car had strong short-run speed up front. Briscoe, Hamlin, Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney followed behind.
