Briscoe holds off Bell in NASCAR’s
return to Chicagoland Speedway
[July 06, 2026]
By JAY COHEN
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — Chase Briscoe was on an offseason bonding trip
to the United Kingdom with crew chief James Small when the NASCAR
driver discovered chocolate buttons, a popular British treat. He
bought some online after he returned to the U.S., but he said it
wasn't the same.
Small purchased some on a return trip to the U.K., and he promised
to share if Briscoe won on the crew chief's birthday. That made
Sunday night's victory pretty sweet.
Briscoe held off Christopher Bell in NASCAR’s return to Chicagoland
Speedway, racing to his first Cup Series win of the season. And
Small delivered the chocolates to Briscoe moments after it was over.
“They were pretty dang good,” Briscoe said.
Briscoe was followed closely by Bell in the final laps on the
1.5-mile oval about 50 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. But Bell
was unable to run down his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.
The 31-year-old Briscoe, an Indiana native, celebrated his sixth
career win with a burnout before standing on his car and waving to
the sellout crowd.
“This has been a place that I've always loved coming to, back when
we used to, and I've missed it,” Briscoe said. “It's always been one
of my top-five tracks.”
It was Bell’s fourth runner-up finish this season. He was wearing a
splint on his arm as he continues his recovery after breaking his
left wrist in a crash at Michigan on June 7.
“I think he’s handled that as well as you can handle it,” team owner
Joe Gibbs said. “He’s got a burning desire to stay in there and win.
I think he had, you know — he had a real good car tonight, too.”
Denny Hamlin, who started on the pole, was third. William Byron, who
won two stages while leading a race-high 94 laps, and Alex Bowman
rounded out the top five.
“I thought I was in control early on, even though I wasn’t leading,”
Hamlin said. “I felt in control and probably got a little lazy on
some restarts and things like that. Just taking for granted that
I’ll just go up there and get it.”
NASCAR ran 19 Cup races in Joliet before pulling out after the 2019
season. It tried to build interest in the event in a crowded sports
market, but the race struggled with attendance.
After racing on a street course in downtown Chicago each of the
previous three years, NASCAR decided to go back to Chicagoland —
eager to see how the Next Gen cars would do on the rough and bumpy
asphalt at the facility. Rain on Friday and Saturday caused some
parking issues, but the racing was compelling.
Led by Briscoe, Bell and Hamlin, Toyota accounted for seven of the
top 10 cars for the first time in a Cup Series race — continuing a
strong season for the manufacturer.
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Chase Briscoe (19) drives to the track after making a pit stop
during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in
Joliet, Ill., Sunday, July 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
“Yeah, Toyotas are fast,” Bell said.
Driving a “Space Jam”-themed car in honor of the 30th anniversary of
the Looney Tunes movie, Bubba Wallace was sixth in his No. 23 Toyota
Camry. Wallace is part of the 23XI Racing team that is co-owned by
Michael Jordan, one of the stars of the 1996 movie.
Ryan Blaney was seventh in his seventh consecutive
top-10 finish. Ty Gibbs, Corey Heim and Riley Herbst completed the
top 10.
Tyler Reddick’s championship hopes were damaged by an oil leak with
about 32 laps left in Stage 2. There was a long caution while
Reddick’s 23XI Racing crew worked on his No. 45 Toyota in the
garage, replacing the radiator because of a hole.
Reddick, who won the first three races of the season, finished 36th.
He trails Hamlin by 44 points at the top of Cup standings after he
was down by one going into the weekend.
Kyle Larson also had a rough day after qualifying second behind
Hamlin. He was in third place when he spun out of Turn 4 on Lap 93.
He drove his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into the wet
infield grass and had to be pulled out of the mud.
Larson finished 34th, extending his winless drought to 43 races. He
finished second in each of the previous two Cup races at Chicagoland.
Updating the In-Season Challenge
Briscoe, Bell, Hamlin and Blaney were among the winners in the
second round of NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge. Byron, Chase Elliott,
Todd Gilliland and Alex Bowman also moved on.
The winner of the five-race, bracket-style tournament receives $1
million.
Briscoe eliminated Ty Gibbs, who won the inaugural competition last
year. Byron defeated Larson, his teammate with Hendrick Motorsports.
Up next
The Cup Series is at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, next
weekend. Reddick won the February stop at the track.
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