LAS VEGAS – Chase Briscoe left nothing to chance in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon — the Joe Gibbs Racing driver sweeping both stage victories, leading a race best 175 of the 267 laps and ultimately besting the field by 1.376 seconds to take his second NASCAR Cup Series trophy of the season under temperatures in the mid-90s – one of the hottest race days of the season.
The dominating win over the series championship leader, Kyle Larson, comes a week after Briscoe just missed beating Larson in the closing laps at Kansas Speedway. It moves Briscoe up two positions in the Chase championship standings with five races remaining in the season. It was redemption for him and the team, he conceded.
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“I don‘t think I‘d be able to get on the [team] plane [if I didn‘t win],” the 31-year-old Indiana native and driver of the No. 19 JGR Toyota said with a smile, referring to last week‘s race outcome.
“So thankful to get this Toyota back in Victory Lane,” he added. “It‘s been … not a rough year, but just not the results we necessarily want. So, glad to get all our partners back in Victory Lane.”
The margin of victory Sunday was larger and a bit misleading, as Larson and 23XI Racing‘s Tyler Reddick had chased Briscoe down in the closing laps — cutting his lead to less than four-tenths of a second with a lap remaining, only to have Larson hit the wall directly in front of Reddick on the final lap, final corner push toward Briscoe for a victory.
Larson settled his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet enough to maintain his second-place position behind Briscoe. And after tagging Larson‘s bumper in the incident, Reddick was also able to regroup and manhandle his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota after it slid across the infield grass onto pit road — ultimately maintaining his third-place position.
SHOP: Winner gear
“It was a fight,” said a smiling Larson, who increased his championship points lead from 26 points to 40 over Briscoe‘s JGR teammate Denny Hamlin, who finished 16th. “I was surprised how far off we were that first run [of the race].
“My car got better but track position was so important, and we just chipped away at it all race long,” Larson added. “Just tried to stay patient, but my tires were pretty much burnt off by the time I got there [to Briscoe]. Just tried to do what I could to try to win. Felt like I moved up at the right time and did a decent job with it; just was trying to push hard in [Turns] 3 and 4 to build some momentum out, and I don‘t know, and just got really loose and overcorrected in the wall. Thankfully, I was able to limp it home, and Reddick was able to come away third as well. That got exciting.
“I wish we could have won in this paint scheme honoring [Las Vegas native] Kyle [Busch],” Larson said of the first race back in Busch‘s hometown after the late two-time series champion passed away in May.
Team Penske teammates Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five. Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott were sixth and seventh, followed by 23XI Racing‘s Bubba Wallace, Trackhouse Racing‘s Shane Van Gisbergen and Team Penske‘s Joey Logano. Van Gisbergen is the only top-10 finisher not Chase-eligible.
The JGR driver Hamlin, who won the previous two Las Vegas races and started Sunday from pole position, rallied from a mid-race spin and finished 16th. His teammate, Ty Gibbs — whose 24th birthday was Sunday — finished 17th after starting on the front row. An early pit penalty forced him into playing catch-up. Their teammate, Christopher Bell, who also led laps in the No. 20 JGR Toyota, finished 23rd, forced to wrangle his Camry without power steering the second half of the race.
READ: More on Hamlin’s issues
“Was just trying to get back track position that we lost and just went up there got into the marbles and spun out,” Hamlin said of his incident. “Obviously damaged the car, so it was nothing like it was before.
“Just got to go on to the next race and see if we can‘t find a way to win. Charlotte will be good for us, but today certainly didn‘t live up to what we expected.”
Bell maintained his third place in the championship standings, but is now 55 points off the reigning series champ Larson‘s pace. Logano is fourth, 71 points back, and Blaney is fifth, 80 points off the pace.
Five races remain to settle the 2026 trophy. The series returns to action next weekend with the Bank of America 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Charlotte Motor Speedway, marking the first time the fall event will be held on the oval since 2017, when Martin Truex Jr. won the race. Daniel Suarez won the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 on the oval in May.
Note: Post-race inspection was completed in the Cup Series garage with no issues, confirming Briscoe as the Las Vegas winner.
Stage 2 recap: Briscoe sweeps the stages
Chase Briscoe motored past Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott and William Byron — who all had much older tires — to win Stage 2 of Sunday‘s Cup Series race at Las Vegas (live on USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The race — the South Point 400 — is the fifth of 10 in The Chase presented by Mobil 1.
Cindric finished second, followed by Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace. Joey Logano, Elliott, Byron, Chris Buescher and Kyle Larson completed the top 10.
Chase drivers made up 15 of the top 16 spots. Ryan Preece of RFK Racing was the only outlier in 28th. Notably, Denny Hamlin climbed back to 14th after a spin at the end of Stage 1.
After Stage 1 ended, the pit cycle was plenty eventful. Tyler Reddick pitted from fourth on a closed pit road after previously indicating radiator issues on his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. Cindric‘s No. 2 Team Penske crew had a slow stop after a trip-up by the jackman. Bubba Wallace and the No. 23 23XI Racing team were penalized for equipment interference with the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team of Austin Dillon.
Briscoe returned to the lead early in Stage 2, prevailing in a pair of restarts with a debris caution sandwiched in between at Lap 93.
That yellow resulted in a mix of strategies. Fifteen cars stayed out, including Hamlin, as he hoped to regain track position after his spin at the end of Stage 1. He reported a tight condition after the second restart, running 20th at the time.
MORE: Full Stage 2 results | Briscoe wins Stage 2
Green flag pit stops began Lap 125 with Brad Keselowski, who announced earlier in the week that he is departing RFK Racing after 2026. Briscoe left the racing surface at Lap 129 for his scheduled service and cycled back ahead of the other cars that pitted.
Bell pitted one lap behind Briscoe and cycled to second. But moments after his stop was completed, he radioed to his team and said he was losing power steering and that it was fading “very quickly.” He hung on, though, to score key Stage 2 points as the rest of the frame stayed green.
Stage 1 recap: Briscoe wins opening frame
Chase Briscoe won Stage 1 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, leading 35 of 80 laps.
Christopher Bell finished second, Ryan Blaney third, Tyler Reddick fourth and Austin Cindric fifth. Daniel Suárez, Bubba Wallace, Carson Hocevar, Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell completed the top 10 and points earners.
MORE: Full Stage 1 results
Denny Hamlin, who earned the Busch Light Pole Award on Saturday, fired to the lead on the initial start. All four Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas ran 1-2-3-4 after qualifying that way until they made pit stops at Lap 36 under green. After the cycle was complete, Hamlin returned to the lead. Ty Gibbs, who ran second before service, was penalized for speeding and returned to serve a pass-through.
After starting sixth, Kyle Larson dropped eight positions during the opening stint and was the first driver to dart for pit road. He spent 26 seconds stopped in his stall for massive adjustments and ultimately fell a lap down once the pit cycle completed.
The first caution came out at Lap 45, when Zane Smith spun from 28th after an apparent tire issue. He clipped the Turn 4 outside wall with his right-rear fender but continued after visiting pit road for repairs.
Seven lead-lap cars stayed out, including Briscoe and Bell. Hamlin and his 23XI Racing drivers Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace were the first drivers to pit road, and they rejoined the field ninth through 11th. Larson also stayed out, allowing him to wave around to the lead lap.
With three laps to go in the stage, Hamlin spun by himself in Turns 3 and 4, coming to rest on the apron after keeping his No. 11 Toyota off the wall. The race remained green and Hamlin stayed on the lead lap, finishing the frame 28th. He led 39 of the first 80 laps.
Contributing: Staff report