CONCORD, N.C. — In a race that had a profound effect on the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1, Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell banged fenders within sight of the finish line.
Briscoe‘s No. 19 Toyota got there first to win Sunday’s Bank of America 400, just 0.029 seconds ahead of Bell in the second-closest finish in Charlotte Motor Speedway history and the closest in the series this season.
With his second straight victory in the Chase, Briscoe vaulted two spots into fourth place in the postseason standings, 65 points behind leader Kyle Larson, who finished sixth on Sunday, ending his string of five straight top-fives in 2026 Chase races.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Charlotte
“I don’t know what it is about these finishes,” said Briscoe, who has run second, first and first by close margins in the last three races. “I’ve got to quit making it so exciting at the end. Just an amazing car. So cool to get (sponsor) Free Bird into Victory Lane …
“And, yeah, what an amazing run we’ve been on. Should be three in a row. Amazing job to this team. This pit crew has just been unbelievable. My hero is Tony Stewart. He made a pretty unbelievable run (to the 2011 Cup championship), and hopefully we can do the same thing.”
The 0.029-second margin of victory spelled the difference between Bell climbing to second in the standings, within 35 points of Larson, and remaining third with a 51-point deficit to the leader.
Bell was crestfallen at the narrow loss.
“I got a lot closer than I thought I was going to,” said Bell, who gained just four points on Larson with his runner-up finish. “I’m surprised that he (Briscoe) fell off as bad as he did at the end. It was a great day, but it’s a great day that didn’t get us much.”
SHOP: Winner gear
Bell took the lead in a dramatic three-wide pass after a restart on Lap 173, but a caution for Gray Gaulding‘s spin slowed the field on Lap 205, and Briscoe‘s crew got the No. 19 Camry out of the pits first for a restart on Lap 211.
“They’ve been an absolute key to it,” Briscoe said of his pit crew, which has excelled during the Chase. “When you can come down pit road and know you’re going to gain spots every time — or if you’re in the lead, not lose the lead — it just makes your job so much easier as a race car driver.”
Briscoe stayed out front the rest of the way, logging 61 of his 62 laps led on the final run. Bell, however, closed dramatically over the final five laps as Briscoe encountered lapped traffic and felt he had a tire losing air. After the late contact in the tri-oval, Briscoe prevailed — by the slimmest of margins.
“When I got that final pack of lapped cars with five or six to go, I mean, I just felt like I was going to knock the wall down at any point,” Briscoe said. “It just quit turning.”
Larson, who won the first stage and finished fourth in the second, increased his advantage over second-place Denny Hamlin from 40 to 49 points. Hamlin finished fifth on Sunday but failed to score points in the first stage after incurring a safety violation on his first pit stop of the race under a competition caution.
“I was not in a position of power,” Larson said of the final run, during which he fell from fourth to sixth in the running order. “I was hanging on. Yeah, honestly, I thought I was going to manage that run well. The top two (Briscoe and Bell) pushed really hard, and I could see Denny kind of settled in, so I was settling in just to try to make my tires live.
“Yeah, just got really, really loose on that run. Just not sure if maybe me not pushing enough kind of made the balance shifted rearward, using the rears too much, and I was just hanging on the last 15, 18 laps. Happy to still come in with a sixth and extend the points lead, but there was a couple other guys that kind of closed that gap a little bit.”
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Ryan Blaney finished third and leaves Charlotte fifth in the Chase standings, 85 points behind Larson. Non-Chase driver Josh Berry trailed Blaney in fourth at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway.
Larson took the lead from the pole and led five times for 97 laps, including the first 45. Bell led three times for 93 laps and won the second stage handily over Blaney.
The race was a disaster for two Chase drivers, through no fault of their own. On Lap 77, the No. 48 Chevrolet of non-Chase driver Alex Bowman broke loose underneath the Toyota of Bubba Wallace near the Turn 2 exit, sending both cars hurtling hard into the outside wall.
The No. 24 Chevy of William Byron also sustained terminal damage in the wreck.
READ: More info about the wreck
The No. 54 Toyota of Chase driver Ty Gibbs suffered a broken right rear toe link after an accident on Lap 41. Gibbs lost eight laps under repairs on pit road and finished 34th.
Joey Logano ran ninth but scored no stage points and fell two positions to sixth in the standings, 92 points behind Larson.
The Cup Series returns next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway with four races to determine the 2026 champion (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Stage 2 recap: Bell claims the second stage
Christopher Bell won Stage 2 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race is the sixth of 10 in The Chase presented by Mobil 1.
Ryan Blaney finished second, followed by Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick. Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Chase Elliott and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10 and points earners. Berry was the only non-Chase driver to earn points in the frame.
MORE: Full Stage 2 results | Watch Bell win Stage 2
Larson fired back to the lead on the stage restart on Lap 86, holding that advantage for the next 21 circuits. Bell passed him for his first lead of the afternoon on Lap 107, wheeling away from the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet until a Lap 117 yellow.
That caution was for John Hunter Nemechek, who spun through the infield ballfield in his No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota. His car appeared to have no damage at first, but amid rushing his Toyota back to pit road, a right-front tire went down, tearing up that corner of his ride.
After a Stage 1 pit-road penalty, Hamlin climbed to sixth before that yellow. He gained two more spots on pit road as the lead lappers stopped for service, restarting fourth. Then attempting to fill a gap three-wide middle, Hamlin contacted Larson’s right-rear, sending Larson up the track and down to seventh.
Bell maintained his lead for the rest of the stage, scoring 10 crucial points as he looks to track down Larson and Hamlin atop the Cup standings.
Stage 1 recap: Larson wins opening frame
Kyle Larson won Stage 1 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Chase Briscoe finished second, followed by Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric and Tyler Reddick. Daniel Suárez, Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar, Chris Buescher and Ryan Blaney completed the top 10 and points earners.
MORE: Full Stage 1 results
Larson led every lap in the opening 35-lap stint until NASCAR displayed a scheduled competition caution. The yellow was necessitated after rain washed out practice and qualifying on Saturday.
Denny Hamlin climbed from a 12th-place starting position to sixth during the first run. But while on pit road for tires and fuel, he was penalized for a safety violation after a tire from his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team rolled into Connor Zilisch’s box in front of him.
Hamlin needed to restart from the rear, along with Blaney and Chase Elliott. Blaney was too fast on pit road, while Elliott needed to make a second stop to retighten the left-front tire.
Hamlin rebounded to finish the stage 15th.
On the restart, Tyler Reddick moved up the track in Turns 1 and 2 from the sixth position, boxing Ty Gibbs in behind him. Gibbs slid up into the wall and immediately suffered damage, plummeting through the field before finally spinning in Turns 3 and 4 and collecting Brad Keselowski. Gibbs fell several laps down while his team assessed the damage.
During the melee, Joey Logano suffered nose damage, piling into Gibbs’ limp No. 54 Toyota. He needed to visit pit road for repairs, marking five Chase drivers with issues in the opening 42 circuits.
The race restarted on Lap 47 — which featured the first lead change of the afternoon. Wallace darted past Larson, leading 11 laps before Larson quickly regained the top spot on Lap 59.
With three laps to go in the stage, Alex Bowman lost control of his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, hooking right into Bubba Wallace. Wallace then slid down the backstretch, backing into the inside wall. William Byron also suffered damage.
WATCH: In-car cameras capture crash | Hear from Bowman | Hear from Wallace
Wallace was slow to exit his No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota but climbed out and walked away under his own power.
The crash ended the stage.
Contributing: Staff report