NASCAR Returns to Chicagoland Speedway Briscoe Gets the Win

Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, IL — July 5, 2026

Welcome back, Chicagoland! It’s been 2,562 days since the last Cup race at Chicagoland on June 30, 2019, won by Alex Bowman (the only first-time winner at Chicagoland). This will be the 20th Cup race at Chicagoland; the track annually hosted one race per year between 2001 and 2019.

A little Chicago history. Did You Know? Chicago hosted the nation’s first-ever auto race on Thanksgiving Day, 1895, the Chicago Times-Herald Race. Only 6 cars out of an expected 80 entrants started the race, which consisted of a 54-mile course between Chicago and Evanston, with the start-finish near where the Museum of Science and Industry now stands. J. Frank Duryea was the eventual winner and one of only two entrants to finish the race, clocking an average speed of 7 miles per hour. Both the Chicago Street Course and the original course for the Chicago Times-Herald Race share the same portion of Michigan Ave between Balbo and Jackson.

Chicago is a renowned sports town. It is one of 11 U.S. cities with teams from the five major American professional sports: baseball, football, basketball, hockey, and soccer.

Chicagoland Speedway is actually in Joliet, just south of “The Windy City.” The 1.5-mile, banked asphalt oval will host the “eero 400.”  The sponsor is a manufacturer of in-home WiFi hardware.

Since the last Cup race at Chicagoland:

• 10 other new tracks have hosted a Cup race
• 14 drivers that are currently full-time have not yet won their first race
• Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott had not yet won a Championship and Joey Logano was a one-time Champion
• Kaulig Racing, 23XI Racing, and Trackhouse Racing were not yet in the Cup series
• Seven drivers who were full-time have retired

2026 in the rearview mirror:

• Eight races remain before the Chase
• This is the second weekend of the five-week In-Season Tournament
• The final green flag stretch was four laps or less in six of the last 11 races this year
• The pass for the win came in the final eight laps in seven of the last 10 races
• Ford is winless in the last 14 races, their longest winless drought since 2015
• Only four of the 14 drivers with wins in 2025 have won in 2026
• Eight of the 18 races in 2026 were won by the driver starting first
• Including starting in the rear, seven of the 18 races in 2026 were won by drivers with an in-race infraction
• There have been three first-time winners in 2026 (Ty Gibbs – Bristol, Carson Hocevar – Talladega, Corey Heim – San Diego); there were a total of three first-time winners in 2023, 2024 and 2025 combined
• All three first-time winners in 2026 were 23 years old, the first time in Cup history that three or more drivers that young won their first Cup race
• 444 lead changes in 2026 are the fourth most all-time through 18 races

Today’s Race

Denny Hamlin sits on the pole position for the fourth time in 2026. The new Cup Series points leader will try to stretch his advantage over Tyler Reddick, who starts 13th today. Lining up next to Hamlin on the front row is Kyle Larson. Who’s current winless streak has stretched to 42 races.

Both Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith are making their 100th Cup Series start today at Chicagoland. Ty Dillon is making his 300th Cup start in today’s race.

Drivers are scheduled to run 400.5 miles, which is 267 Laps with Stages of 80/85/102 laps under the lights here tonight.

Stage One

Denny Hamlin(11) drove off into turn one and pulled away down the backstretch.

Off turn two, cars began to stack up, and drivers had to lift. Erik Jones(43) tapped the back of Ryan Preece(60), who spun down the track and collected Connor Zilisch(88). Both cars had to be towed to the garage. Preece was able to put on fresh tires and returned to the track four laps down.

Restarting on lap six, Kyle Larson(5) got a great jump and moved away with Chris Buescher(17) in close pursuit.

Hamlin settled into the third spot. Michael McDowell had to serve a penalty driving through pit road, at reduced speed, for multiple inspection failures. He did not lose a lap in the process, but the pack is closing in and will likely catch him if the race stays green.

Once the position battles settled down, Hamlin moved back to the front and opened up an interval on the leaders. Christopher Bell(20) ran fourth with Bubba Wallace(23) in fifth.

Hamlin passed McDowell on lap 29. The penalty for having to make that early green-flag pit stop did not last long, as Zane Smith (38) and Carson Hocevar (77) had a disagreement in turn four, with both cars getting loose and bringing out the caution a lap later.

The yellow flag allowed McDowell to exercise the “free pass, lucky dog rule” and return to the lead lap.

The green flag waved on Lap 37 with Hamlin and Larson on row one. Bell and William Byron(24) right behind them. Buescher and Chase Briscoe(19) in the third row. Larson, again, got a good start and returned to the point with his teammate Byron pushing the duo away from Hamlin in third.

Shane van Gisbergen(97)(SVG) tapped Austin Hill(33), and Kyle Busch’s replacement backed his car into the wall. Indications were that the incident was payback for last week, when the pair got together at Sonoma.

The resulting caution allowed some drivers to stay out and improve their track position. While others pitted and only took two tires. A minor incident on pit road cost two drivers valuable track positions. Bell was exiting his pit stall when Todd Gilliland(34) was coming into the adjacent stall. The two cars collided, spinning Gilliland around—fortunately, only minor damage to both cars.

Some new names appeared at the front of the pack with the varying pit strategies. Austin Cindric(2), Riley Herbst(35), Joey Logano(22), and AJ Allmendinger(16) lead the field back to green flag racing.

The drivers with four fresh Goodyear Tires made quick work of the guys who stayed out. William Byron drove to the front, replacing Cindric as the leader. Larson followed next, Wallace, Briscoe, and Bell battled to see who would be the next car to move forward.

Cindric was able to hold on and collect some Stage Points by staying out. Byron captured the green and white checkered flag for the Stage One victory.

Results of Stage One

The opening of pit road was delayed as track crews repaired a seam in the asphalt 3/4’s of the way down pit road.

Stage Two

Byron with Wallace, and Larson with Buescher make up the first two rows heading back to green flag racing on lap 88. Wallace clears the #24 car of Byron to take the lead.

As the leaders came off turn four to complete lap 92, Larson got loose and spun into the front stretch grass.

With all the rain the track has received this weekend, Larson is unable to move. Track crews pull him back onto the track instead of towing him to the garage.

Unfortunately, when Larson spun, he flattened tires. He had to drive around the entire track to get back to the pits for fresh tires. The damage to the undercarriage is going to make it difficult for Larson to make up the two laps he lost as a result of the incident.

Denny Hamlin fills the hole left among the leaders that Larson exited. Wallace continues to lead the pack. Green flag pit stops began with 40 laps to go in the second Stage, essentially splitting the Stage in half.

Tyler Reddick (45) had something go through the radiator on his race car, dropping fluid all over the track, bringing out the caution on lap 134, in the middle of the pit stop cycle. This will be a costly points day for Reddick.

Byron, Briscoe, Wallace, Hamlin, and Chase Elliott(9) are the top five heading back to green flag racing.

Reddick returned to the track 29 laps down. Byron held on for the Stage win.

Results of Stage Two

The Final Stage

The way they entered pit road for the Stage break is the same way they exited to begin the Final Stage. Byron and Briscoe look strong. Both are just outside the top 10 in points, and a win would be huge for either team.

The leaders began making green flag pit stops with 51 laps to go. That brought most of the field into pit road, with everyone trying to stay on the same tire cycle. When all stops had worked their way, Briscoe had moved into the top spot a full second ahead of Byron in second. Christopher Bell ran another five seconds back in third.

As the laps wound down, the interval between Briscoe and Byron remained the same. The fastest car on the track was Christopher Bell. With 10 laps to go, Bell passed Byron and was just over one second behind the leader. But time was running out.

Both drivers were having to work through lapped traffic over the final laps. With two laps to go, Bell was on the rear bumper of Briscoe. The two teammates put on quite a show as Briscoe held on for his first win of 2026.

Denny Hamlin made it a 1-2-3 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing, finishing just ahead of William Byron.

NASCAR Cup Series Points Standings

Results of the eero 400 from Chicagoland Speedway