NASCAR’s Chase Opens With a Win for Christopher Bell

Darlington Raceway, Darlington, SC — September 6, 2026

The Chase begins today. The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series postseason kicks off at Darlington Raceway with the Cook Out Southern 500, where several drivers come in with a history of success at the Lady in Black. Denny Hamlin is a five-time Darlington winner, Tyler Reddick captured the spring race earlier this year, and Chase Briscoe is looking to make it three straight Southern 500 victories.

NASCAR could not have picked a better place to test the mettle of the 16 drivers that will contend for the 2026 Championship. Points reset after the regular season, and here is how the standings stack up heading into the first of 10 Chase races.

• Four of the 16 Chase drivers are Cup champions, accounting for seven combined championships
• Two drivers are making their first Chase appearance: Carson Hocevar and Ryan Preece
• Eight of the 10 Chase tracks hosted a race prior in 2026, all but St. Louis and Homestead
• Joe Gibbs Racing (four) and Team Penske (three) are the only teams with all of their drivers in the Chase
• Eight Chase standings positions changed following Daytona, including 3rd-6th
• All four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers are in the top-six in points
• Spire Motorsports has two cars in the Chase, their first in team history
• Denny Hamlin is the leading points scorer at the track types hosting five of the first six Chase races (four intermediates, one
  concrete

Darlington Facts

• This is the 77th running of the Southern 500 and the 131st Cup race held at Darlington
• This is the seventh time Darlington hosted a Chase race, and the sixth time it’s hosted the opening race
• Last March’s Darlington race had four cautions , the fewest for a Darlington Cup race since March 1999
• Last year’s Southern 500 had two DNFs, tied for the fewest ever at Darlington (March 1999, May 2008)
• Five of the last nine Darlington races had a caution in the first six laps, including three of the last four
• The final green flag stretch was less than 17 laps in only two of the last 12 Darlington races
• The Southern 500 hasn’t ended in overtime since 201
• Denny Hamlin (three) and Chase Briscoe (two) are the only repeat winners in the last 13 Darlington races
• Chase Briscoe led 309 laps in last year’s Southern 500, the most in a Darlington race since April 1986 (Dale Earnhardt – 335)
• Chase Briscoe can join Jeff Gordon (with four straight between 1995-98) as the only drivers to win three consecutive
  Southern 500’s

Today’s Race

The Cook Out Southern 500 is scheduled for 501.32 miles around the 1.366-mile asphalt oval of Darlington Raceway. The Stages are set for 115/115/137 laps. Qualifying was washed out, so the NASCAR rulebook set the starting lineup. Tyler Reddick is on the pole with Daniel Suarez lining up next to him for the start. Favorites Denny Hamlin (4th) and Chase Briscoe (7th) line up in the top ten.

Stage One

Daniel Suarez(7) edged ahead of Tyler Reddick(45) at the drop of the green flag. But his time at the front of the pack was short-lived as Denny Hamlin(11) asserted himself and began to drive away from the field. The number one seed in The Chase wasted no time establishing himself as a favorite in race one of the NASCAR Postseason.

Reddick was the only driver that could hang with Hamlin as the laps wound down to the competition caution that was scheduled for lap 35. Suarez began to slide down the top ten as Ryan Preece(60), Austin Cindric(2), and Christopher Bell(20) rounded out the top five.

A few laps before the caution, Hamlin’s tires began to go away, and Reddick moved back to the front. In addition to the starting line-up being set by the rulebook matrix, pit stall selections followed the same order. It will be a crowded pit road as everyone comes in for a fresh set of Goodyear tires and adjustments to improve handling on the raw racetrack cleaned off by the weekend storms.

Reddick and Hamlin were the first cars off pit road, and they lined up on the front row for the restart. This time, Reddick took the lead, and just like at the start of the race, Hamlin drove around to retake the top spot. Chase Briscoe(19) joined the lead pack in third with Preece and Bell staying up front.

Green flag pit stops began with 44 laps to go in the Stage. Hamlin returned to the lead after pit stops cycled through.

With three laps to go in Stage One, Brad Keselowski(6) was tapped by Carson Hocevar(77) and spun to the bottom of the track. This is the first occasion since NASCAR instituted the rule that a caution during the final ten laps of a Stage ends the Stage at the point the yellow flag is displayed. It should come as no surprise that the drivers earning Stage points in this first Stage of The Chase are all Chase participants.

Results of Stage One

Position	Car	Driver	Laps	Behind	Stage Points
1	45	Tyler Reddick (C)	107	—	10
2	23	Bubba Wallace (C)	107	1.290	9
3	11	Denny Hamlin (C)	107	1.863	8
4	20	Christopher Bell (C)	107	4.069	7
5	12	Ryan Blaney (C)	107	5.564	6
6	19	Chase Briscoe (C)	107	6.097	5
7	60	Ryan Preece (C)	107	6.760	4
8	2	Austin Cindric (C)	107	7.380	3
9	24	William Byron (C)	107	8.170	2
10	54	Ty Gibbs (C)	107	9.286	1

(C) Chase Drivers

Stage Two

Reddick, Bubba Wallace(23), Hamlin, Blaney, Bell and Briscoe led the field back to the green flag. The running order remained the same as drivers settled into a rhythm trying to conserve tire wear. Still, green flag pit stops began after just 29 laps into the Stage. Brad Keselowski spun trying to enter pit road, but was able to right the car and continue without bringing out the caution flag. Wallace was the first of the leaders to come in after 44 laps. The rest of the leaders followed, trying to split the Stage into thirds.

Wallace was the new leader after all stops were completed, followed by Reddick and Briscoe. Blaney has a fast car, but as has happened so many times this year, his pit crew costs him track position. He and Hamlin were near the bottom of the top ten when they returned to the track.

With 161 laps on the board, the lights are on, the sun is setting, and the track is cooling down somewhat. How that factors into tire wear remains to be seen.

Green flag stop began anew with 44 laps to go in Stage Two. The leaders all came in within a few laps of each other. Tyler Reddick had an issue on his stop. His jackman dropped the car before the left rear wheel was tight. Fortunately, his crew stopped Reddick before he sped away from his pits. He backed up, they re-jacked the car, and finished tightening the lug nut.

Chase Briscoe was the new leader when all cars returned to the track. Reddick was mired back in the eighth position after his problem on pit road. One driver having a good day is Josh Berry. He has been running in the top ten most of the evening, posting consistent lap times. The rumor mill is spinning fast as the season works towards its culmination. Berry is said to be headed to the Legacy Motor Club to replace John Hunter Nemechek in the #42 car.

With 15 laps to go in the Stage, Christopher Bell passed his teammate Briscoe to take the lead. Briscoe’s crew failed to fill his car with fuel on their last pit stop, and he is having to conserve Sunoco Racing Gasoline to make it to the next Stage break.

Kyle Larson(5) moved into the top five as the laps wind down to the green and white checkered flag.

Results of Stage Two

Position	Car	Driver	Behind	Stage Points
1	20	Christopher Bell (C)	—	10
2	5	Kyle Larson (C)	1.296	9
3	11	Denny Hamlin (C)	4.517	8
4	19	Chase Briscoe (C)	4.567	7
5	23	Bubba Wallace (C)	6.057	6
6	12	Ryan Blaney (C)	6.520	5
7	21	Josh Berry	8.117	4
8	24	William Byron (C)	8.902	3
9	45	Tyler Reddick (C)	9.458	2
10	2	Austin Cindric (C)	9.871	1

(C) Chase Drivers

The Final Stage

Both Bell and Hamlin had tires try to get away from crewmen during their stops. No penalties were earned, but the stops were slower than normal as a result. Briscoe ran out of fuel on the final lap and had to come in for gas before the pits were open. This forced the #19 car to start from the rear of the field for the Final Stage.

Larson, Wallace, Blaney, and Reddick led the pack back to green. Hamlin and Michael McDowell(71) played bumper tag and then banged again as Hamlin’s car was off the pace. Denny complained that he believed the toe-links were bent as he slowly slid back to 20th, the last car on the lead lap.

With 100 laps to go, Larson put Hamlin a lap down. Hamlin’s crew is trying to hold out for a caution so they can bring the car in for repairs. However, they have now indicated they will call Denny in when he drops out of the free pass position.

Larson has stretched his lead over Reddick to four seconds. Ty Gibbs(54) is a new name in the top five, running third. Josh Berry is fourth, and Bell holds down fifth ahead of Wallace, Blaney, William Byron(24), Cindric, and Joey Logano(22). Green flag pit stops began as lap 285 went up on the board.

During the pit stop cycle, Zane Smith (38) was turned down the front stretch by McDowell, and the caution was displayed. Todd Gilliland(34) was in the lead, having not made his pit stop yet. Several drivers that had already been in came to pit road a second time to take advantage of fresher tires.

Hamlin took advantage of the caution period to have the alignment on his car adjusted; no parts were replaced.

Larson, Berry, Reddick, Blaney, Bell, and Hocevar led the pack to the restart with 70 laps to go.

Bell was the car on the move as he moved to second, almost two seconds behind Larson in the lead. After running out of fuel at the end of Stage Two, Briscoe returned to the top five as lap 300 was completed. On Lap 313, Gibbs passed Berry for the fifth position.

On lap 318, William Byron spun after complaining of a tire going soft. The caution period will allow the entire field to come to pit road for fresh tires and fuel.

The race off pit road went to Bell. Followed by Briscoe, Larson, Reddick, and Gibbs. Amid the caution, smoke began to roll out from under the hood of William Byron’s car as a mechanical issue forced the #24 behind the wall and into the garage. In addition, a light sprinkle of rain began to fall.

The extended caution period will close the pit window and likely allow the race to conclude without another pit stop, unless driver aggression creates a caution. The race restarted with 37 laps to go.

Bell and Briscoe ran a full lap before Briscoe pulled in front. Gibbs moved up to join the fight as three JGR cars led the field. Larson sat fourth, Berry in fifth, and Reddick in sixth. The caution was waived with 32 laps to go as rain returned, and drops began to appear on the windshields.

The radar shows a small cell just exiting the track area. NASCAR expects to restart the race as they bring the cars down pit road and put out the red flag with 30 laps to go.

The red flag was lifted shortly. Tyler Reddick needed a push from Chase Elliott (9) to get his car fired. His 23XI teammate, Bubba Wallace, also needed assistance as Ryan Blaney gave him a push start. As the cars circled the racetrack, the pit road opened, and most of the field opted to come in.

Larson, Cindric, Logano, and Preece opted to stay on the track. Did the tires cool enough during the stoppage to give those four drivers a chance to hold off the pack with fresh rubber?

Larson jumps out to a big lead on the drop of the green flag. Bell quickly moves to second, but can’t make the pass on Larson. Gibbs and Briscoe move up to join the fight for the win with 20 laps to go. The interval between Larson and Bell is a quarter of a second with 15 laps to go. Gibbs and Briscoe fade slightly.

With 12 laps to go, Bell takes the lead, and Gibbs closes in. Gibbs makes the pass for second with eight laps to go. Reddick and Blaney get around Briscoe, making it highly unlikely the three-peat will occur. With the tire disadvantage, Larson drops to fifth.

Bell takes the white flag with a 1- second advantage over Gibbs and holds on for his first win of the season after finishing second 7-times in 2026.

The victory comes at an appropriate time as Bell jumps to second in The Chase standings just 12 points behind Hamlin. The points leader gutted out a tough night, finishing 18th.

NASCAR Chase Standings

POSITION	CAR #	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	11	Denny Hamlin	2135	0
2	20	Christopher Bell	2123	-12
3	12	Ryan Blaney	2119	-16
4	45	Tyler Reddick	2111	-24
5	19	Chase Briscoe	2098	-37
6	54	Ty Gibbs	2096	-39
7	5	Kyle Larson	2086	-49
8	9	Chase Elliott	2063	-72
9	22	Joey Logano	2063	-72
10	23	Bubba Wallace	2054	-81
11	17	Chris Buescher	2047	-88
12	77	Carson Hocevar	2046	-89
13	7	Daniel Suárez	2041	-94
14	2	Austin Cindric	2033	-102
15	60	Ryan Preece	2031	-104
16	24	William Byron	2021	-114

Results of the Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway

Position	Car	Driver	Laps	Behind
1	20	Christopher Bell (C)	367	—
2	54	Ty Gibbs (C)	367	1.038
3	45	Tyler Reddick (C)	367	2.533
4	12	Ryan Blaney (C)	367	3.367
5	5	Kyle Larson (C)	367	3.932
6	19	Chase Briscoe (C)	367	4.310
7	21	Josh Berry	367	5.240
8	23	Bubba Wallace (C)	367	7.787
9	22	Joey Logano (C)	367	8.548
10	60	Ryan Preece (C)	367	9.201
11	77	Carson Hocevar (C)	367	9.591
12	48	Alex Bowman	367	10.088
13	2	Austin Cindric (C)	367	12.509
14	9	Chase Elliott (C)	367	13.123
15	43	Erik Jones	367	13.830
16	34	Todd Gilliland	367	14.954
17	71	Michael McDowell	367	15.714
18	11	Denny Hamlin (C)	367	15.897
19	67	Corey Heim	367	16.355
20	17	Chris Buescher (C)	367	16.714
21	7	Daniel Suarez (C)	367	16.765
22	16	AJ Allmendinger	367	17.502
23	6	Brad Keselowski	367	18.617
24	42	John Hunter Nemechek	367	19.017
25	38	Zane Smith	367	21.305
26	97	Shane Van Gisbergen	366	1 lap
27	1	Ross Chastain	366	1 lap
28	33	Austin Hill	366	1 lap
29	3	Austin Dillon	366	1 lap
30	35	Riley Herbst	366	1 lap
31	10	Ty Dillon	366	1 lap
32	4	Noah Gragson	366	1 lap
33	41	Cole Custer	366	1 lap
34	88	Connor Zilisch	365	2 laps
35	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	363	4 laps
36	51	Cody Ware	363	4 laps
37	24	William Byron (C)	319	OUT
38	66	Chad Finchum	243	OUT

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