Chase Briscoe won his first NASCAR race of the 2026 season on July 6, finishing ahead of Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin at Chicagoland Speedway.
The driver made up time on pit road and led a 1-2-3 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing.
What happened?
Chase 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.
The competition
Christopher 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.
Post-race reaction
Chase Briscoe said, "I honestly did not see this coming," of his sixth career win, which vaulted him two spots to eighth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.
The win marked a successful weekend for Toyota, which won for the 12th time in 19 races this season.
Denny Hamlin, who started from the pole, finished third and saw his three-race winning streak on oval tracks come to an end.
The bigger picture
Chase Briscoe's win is a significant boost to his season, which had been struggling in practice and qualifying.
The driver credited his crew chief, James Small, and the team for doing a great job.
Chase Briscoe finished ahead of William Byron and Alex Bowman, who rounded out the top five.
The race was marked by several cautions, including one on lap one when Connor Zilisch's poor rookie campaign took another hit.
Tyler Reddick, the 2026 series wins leader with five, hit debris on the racing surface and saw his No 45 Toyota sustain radiator damage at the race's midpoint.
Kyle Larson outran Denny Hamlin for the early lead in stage 1, which featured 80 trips around the track.