Chase Briscoe won Sunday’s (July 5) NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland, scoring his first victory of 2026 after holding off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell in the final laps in the first Cup race at the Joliet, Ill., track since 2019.
Briscoe came out ahead of William Byron, who swept the stages, after the final round of green flag pit stops. From there, Byron slipped as Briscoe had enough pace to fend off Bell, who surged through the field over the final 10 laps to get to the runner-up spot.
“How about that race? What an unbelievable weekend,” Briscoe told TNT Sports. “I feel so American winning in the red, white and blue Bass Pro car, Fourth of July weekend, 250 years. Did not see this coming.”
Bell, Denny Hamlin, Byron, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Corey Heim and Riley Herbst rounded out the top-10 finishers.
Hamlin started from the pole but brushed the wall late in the race and couldn’t get up to Bell or Briscoe.
“I thought I was in control early on,” Hamlin said. “Even though I wasn’t leading I felt in control. Got a little lazy on some restarts. Briscoe and Bell got their cars really good at the second half of the race, Byron as well. Just lost the balance in Stage 3. I thought it was going to be really close to get there.”
Bell now has four runner-up finishes on the season.
“I just need to replay that last run,” Bell said. “I was really struggling with the handling of my car early in the race but I still had a lot of pace. They made a great adjustment and got the car driving great the last run. I was soft on my green flag entry for sure, which gave up a little bit of time. Great day.
On lap one, Ryan Preece spun while Connor Zilisch hit the backstretch wall, knocking the latter out of the race.
On lap 32, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar tangled, with Hocevar hitting the outside wall and Smith making slight contact with the rear of his car.
Austin Hill backed into the wall hard on lap 45, hitting the fence in turns 3 and 4 after contact from Shane van Gisbergen.
Kyle Larson spun on lap 94 and got stuck in the infield grass, necessitating a tow truck to pull him out of the grass and push him until he was able to get going.
The caution flew again on lap 133 after Tyler Reddick had an engine issue and leaked fluid onto the racetrack. Reddick’s gap to Hamlin in the points standings is now 44 points going into Atlanta.
Cup Series at Chicagoland Race Results
The Cup Series will return at EchoPark Speedway on Sunday, July 12. Race coverage will begin at 7 p.m. ET on TNT.
A member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Samuel also covers NASCAR for Yardbarker, Field Level Media, and Heavy Sports. He will attend the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2025.
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