What Happened?
After seven runner-up finishes this season, Christopher Bell finally returned to victory lane with his crown jewel win in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday night (Sept. 6).
Bell took the lead from Kyle Larson with 12 laps to go, using fresher tires to get around the defending champion.
Ty Gibbs finished second while Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Larson completed the top five.
Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano and Ryan Preece finished in the sixth to 10th positions.
What Really Happened?
Stop me if you’ve heard this before in 2026: the Toyotas dominated the night.
Five different Toyota drivers led 256 of the 367 laps in the race, and despite Larson’s best efforts to end his winless drought, it was Bell who broke his 33-race winless streak instead.
With Bell’s win, combined with Denny Hamlin‘s difficult night as he battled back from damage he got after contact with Michael McDowell, the gap is only 12 points between the two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates.
Like Justin Allgaier in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on Saturday night (Sept. 5), Hamlin kept the points lead, but a disappointing result saw his 25-point margin shrink after the opening race of The Chase.
Shifting the focus back to Bell, he came into The Chase as the No. 6 seed, and if some of those runner-up finishes turned into wins, his regular season could’ve looked a whole lot different.
So now that he has finally broken through, can Bell go on an absolute tear and win several more races over the next nine weeks to win the championship?
It is absolutely possible considering how close Bell has gotten to winning it all in the previous format (which clearly had its flaws).
This format rewards consistency, as well as winning. Bell has been consistent all season, and if he starts adding the extra 15 points that come with winning, plus stage points too, he’ll have all the ingredients to put together a championship-caliber Chase run.
I don’t want to overreact after one Chase race. There’s still a lot of racing left, but it seems likely that a Toyota is going to win it all this season.
The Fords are too inconsistent outside of Blaney, and the Chevrolets are having quite the down year.
The results every week show several Toyota drivers across the top five and 10 finishers, and with the lineup of tracks the rest of the way, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
Also, three of the next four Chase races were won by Toyota drivers last season, so all signs and trends are pointing up for JGR and 23XI Racing in the coming weeks, and Bell is right at the top of drivers to watch out for.
Who Stood Out?
Outside of the Toyota dominance, Berry kept his top-10 streak going as he continues to look for another Cup Series ride in 2027.
Preece also fought back after losing track position earlier in the event to nab a 10th-place run, following up his win at Daytona International Speedway last weekend.
Carson Hocevar just missed out on a top 10, but he was the second-highest finishing Chevrolet in 11th.
However, it was another race where it saw him ruffle some feathers out on the track. This time he got together with 2012 Cup champion Brad Keselowski.
After hearing what Keselowski had to say after the race, we’ll have to see if Hocevar’s on-track actions come back to bite him down the stretch, as it could potentially end his Chase hopes earlier than expected.
Who Fell Flat?
Three Chase drivers finished 20th or worse in the Southern 500 and find themselves in early holes to dig out of in the standings.
Chris Buescher had a solid night going when he made a rare mistake and slapped the wall off Turn 4, damaging his car and taking him off the lead lap.
On the bright side, he partially recovered by getting back on the lead lap and ultimately ending up in 20th.
Daniel Suarez benefitted from qualifying being canceled, but plummeted during the first run of the race, going from second down to 18th before coming home in 21st.
Lastly, William Byron‘s snake-bitten season continued. After he ran in the sixth to 10th range all night, he spun out during the final stage.
At first, Byron thought a tire went down but it spiraled into something much more severe. After he left pit road, his left front starting smoking, and Byron reported that his car was blowing up.
Byron retired from the race and finished way back in 37th.
Paint Scheme of the Race
Logano and the No. 22 team brought Pennzoil back to the track this weekend, but instead of their usual yellow and red-based paint scheme, their Ford Mustang graced a different look.
It was only right to bring a primarily black race car to The Lady in Black, as Logano put together a solid ninth-place run in the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum car.
Logano currently sits 72 points behind Hamlin, tied with Chase Elliott for eighth in the standings.
What’s Next?
Race two of The Chase is at World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) as the Cup Series will head to the St. Louis, Mo. area.
Coverage of the Enjoy Illinois 300, the 28th race of the season, will begin at 3 p.m. ET on USA. Hamlin is the defending winner at the track.
Michael Bellifemini joined Frontstretch in February 2026 as a contributor. Bellifemini was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University. He called Seton Hall men's and women's basketball games for their college radio station, 89.5 FM WSOU, and continues to broadcast in the area. Outside of covering NASCAR, Bellifemini is also an avid baseball, football, basketball, and hockey fan and enjoys watching different sports leagues on a daily basis.
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