Chase Briscoe Wins Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Chase Briscoe won the Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 11, 2026, edging Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell by 0.029 seconds in a thrilling photo finish. The victory marks Briscoe’s second consecutive win in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase, lifting him to fourth in the championship standings with four races remaining.

How Chase Briscoe Secured the Charlotte Victory in the Final Feet

What looked like a comfortable afternoon for Chase Briscoe turned into a frantic scramble over the final circuit at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Leading by more than a second with just a lap remaining, Briscoe tried to nurse his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota through Turns 3 and 4 while believing he had a tire going flat. That slight hesitation opened the door for teammate Christopher Bell.

Bell seized the bottom lane and surged from five car lengths back to pull door-to-door with Briscoe exiting the final turn. As both drivers scrambled for the stripe, Bell’s car got loose and bumped Briscoe’s machine at the exit of the final corner. Both drivers kept their cars pointed straight as Briscoe crossed the line a couple of feet ahead.

“I don’t know what it is about these finishes. I got to quit making it so exciting at the end. Yeah, just an amazing car … What an amazing run we’ve been on.”

Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing driver

The 0.029-second margin makes it the second-closest finish in the history of NASCAR Cup racing at Charlotte, trailing only the 2005 Coke 600 finish between Jimmie Johnson and Bobby Labonte, which stands at 0.027 seconds. Briscoe and Bell combined to lead 155 of the 267 total laps during the Bank of America 400.

Christopher Bell and Crew Chief Adam Stevens Left Reeling on Pit Road

Christopher Bell spent much of the afternoon setting the pace, leading 93 laps across the event. A lightning-fast final pit stop by the No. 19 crew had dropped Bell behind his teammate just before the closing stretch, but the runner-up finish left him searching for words while surrounded by media on pit road.

“I think I’m just in shock right now. I didn’t think it was going to end like that.”

Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing driver

While Bell held onto third place in the championship standings, missing out on the victory cost him vital ground. He entered the race 55 points behind leader Kyle Larson and left trailing Larson by 51 markers, having gained just four points on the day.

Kyle Larson Extends His Standings Lead Despite Missing Top Five

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson dominated the early stages of the race, leading a race-high 97 laps. Though a late slide dropped him to a sixth-place finish—his first finish outside the top five during the entire Chase—Larson still expanded his cushion atop the leaderboard.

“[I’m] Happy to still come away with a sixth[-place finish] and extend the points lead. All in all a good day … It’s good but you want to be a little bit better.”

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports driver

Larson padded his advantage over Denny Hamlin from 40 points up to 49 points with four races left on the 2026 calendar. Hamlin managed a fifth-place finish but lost nine more points to Larson over the course of the afternoon, citing a lack of long-run speed in his No. 11 Toyota.

Brutal Crashes Sideline Title Hopefuls Early at Charlotte

While the leaders battled for position near the front, several contenders saw their afternoons ruined by heavy wrecks. On the 77th lap, Bubba Wallace was running fifth when Alex Bowman lost control of his No. 48 Chevrolet in the lower lane underneath Wallace’s machine. Bowman skidded up the track, wiping out Wallace and dealing a heavy blow to other cars in the field.

“It looks like the No. 48 just got loose and overcorrected it into the wall. I was running the top, and I lifted right away, but I couldn’t get low enough because he kind of came back off the wall.”

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports driver

The crash ended the day prematurely for Wallace, Bowman, and Byron, effectively extinguishing any remaining championship aspirations for Wallace as he slipped to 37th place in the race results and fell 185 points back in the standings.

The Chase Standings and the Road to Phoenix

With consecutive victories following his win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Chase Briscoe has sliced his deficit behind Kyle Larson from 123 points down to 65 points. He now sits fourth in the championship grid behind Larson, Denny Hamlin, and Christopher Bell.

The 16 drivers vying for the title now look ahead to Phoenix Raceway, where Larson, Hamlin, Bell, and Briscoe have all previously visited Victory Lane. Following the stop in Arizona, the 2026 season concludes with races at Talladega, Martinsville, and Homestead-Miami.

Additional Contender Insights From the Charlotte Paddock

Following the conclusion of Sunday’s action, drivers throughout the field reflected on their respective afternoons on the 1.5-mile oval. Joey Logano, carrying the status of a three-time champion in the series, recognized that his path forward requires immediate wins after coming home ninth.

“We’ve got to win now. We’re 90-whatever something back. We’ve got to do some special stuff from here on out to make up the 100 points,”

Joey Logano, Team Penske driver

Logano pointed to early race damage as a hindrance that kept him from contending higher up the order. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney continued his streak of strong oval runs by piloting his Ford to a third-place finish, expressing deep confidence in his crew as the series shifts toward the desert.

“Yeah, myself and I think this whole group, they go into every weekend thinking we can win, just having confidence in yourself,”

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske driver

Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen also found success on the traditional oval layout, securing a seventh-place result a year after capturing the road course event at the venue. He noted that the organization’s base setup suits the Charlotte track well.

“Charlotte seems to suit us. We seem to have a good base setup for this track.”

Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing driver

Farther back in the finishing order, rookie Connor Zilisch placed 21st in the Red Bull Chevrolet, while Chris Buescher captured a 10th-place finish to secure his first top-ten result after eleven races outside the bracket.

“We’ve been needing a good, solid run, and we kind of inched up on it the last couple of weeks, but driving into the top ten, getting some stage points on the day – that’s some progress,”

Chris Buescher, RFK Racing driver

With the 1.5-mile intermediate track segment officially in the rear-view mirror, the garage turns its full attention toward the remaining short tracks and superspeedways left on the autumn slate.