Chase Elliott Scores Second Win Of 2026 With Texas Win

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.

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.”

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.

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.