This past weekend the long anticipated return of “The Chase” began in Darlington South Carolina. Mother Nature ended NASCAR’s effort to qualify and as a result Tyler Reddick led Daniel Suarez and the rest of the field to the green flag. Denny Hamlin made aggressive moves in the first few laps to go from 4th place to the lead. Reddick charged back and retook the lead on lap 29 and held it until the competition caution on lap 35.
Reddick led the field back to green before Hamlin made his way back past him on lap 45 with the better short run speed. Green flag pit stops began on lap 71 with Christopher Bell being one of the earliest takers and Bubba Wallace being one of the last on lap 78. This tire advantage helped Wallace make it to the second position behind Reddick who had gotten past Hamlin with his superior long run speed. The stage ended early after contact between Brad Keselowski and Carson Hocevar sent the former spinning across the apron.
Stage One Results:
- Tyler Reddick
- Bubba Wallace
- Denny Hamlin
- Christopher Bell
- Ryan Blaney
- Chase Briscoe
- Ryan Preece
- Austin Cindric
- William Byron
- Ty Gibbs
Ryan Preece had issues during the stage break pit stops and had to come down a second time to tighten a loose wheel. Tyler Reddick led the field to green to start the second stage as Hamlin spun his tires and fell to third place. The pit stop cycle started on lap 143 with Joey Logano pitting from just outside the top ten. After the pit cycle completes Wallace is able to get past his teammate Reddick to take the lead of the race. The second pit cycle of the stage began on lap 186 and Reddick had issues as he had to back back into his stall after his left front wheel was not tightened completely. This cost him several positions on track. After pit stop cycles completed Chase Briscoe was the new leader having passed Wallace just after they both pitted. Christopher Bell used a slight tire advantage to run down and pass his JGR teammate and win the second stage.
Stage Two Results:
- Christopher Bell
- Kyle Larson
- Denny Hamlin
- Chase Briscoe
- Bubba Wallace
- Ryan Blaney
- Josh Berry
- William Byron
- Tyler Reddick
- Austin Cindric
Ryan Preece was able to get the free pass at the end of the second stage and Briscoe had to pit on a closed pit road as he ran out of fuel before they opened. Kyle Larson won the race off pit road over Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney after both Bell and Hamlin had issues on their right side tires.
Kyle Larson led the field to green to start the final stage. A mere four laps into the final stage calamity struck as Michael McDowell drove through Hamlin and put him in the wall severely damaging Hamlin’s car, Hamlin stayed on track albeit over a second off the pace. Pit stop cycle began on lap 277 with Daniel Suarez and Hamlin who had fallen a lap down both pitting. McDowell brought out the yellow on lap 283 after spinning Zane Smith trying to make a three wide move on the front stretch, he was in position for but not rewarded the free pass after he was deemed to be involved in the incident.
Kyle Larson led the field back to green and held that position until his teammate William Byron brought out the caution on lap 316. Christopher Bell won the race off pit road and led the field back to green for a few short laps before the race was stopped for rain. The delay was only about ten minutes long. After which all the lead lap cars except for Larson, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, and Ryan Preece pitted. Chase Elliott had issues on pit road after a miscommunication caused him to try to leave before he got all four tires on his Chevrolet.
Kyle Larson led the field to green and put up a good fight but the tire disadvantage proved to be too much as Bell was able to get by him and hold on to win his first race of 2026 at one of the most prestigious crown jewels on the schedule.
Final Results:
- Christopher Bell
- Ty Gibbs
- Tyler Reddick
- Ryan Blaney
- Kyle Larson
- Chase Briscoe
- Josh Berry
- Bubba Wallace
- Joey Logano
- Ryan Preece
Photo Credit: @JoeGibbsRacing on Twitter
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