- Chase Briscoe claimed victory at Talladega Superspeedway after a dramatic last-lap pass.
- The Joe Gibbs Racing driver thanked teammate Ty Gibbs for the decisive push that secured the win.
- The result sends Briscoe to the Championship 4 alongside teammate Denny Hamlin, leaving two spots open ahead of Martinsville.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe sealed his place in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 with a spectacular last-lap victory in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
The 30-year-old Indiana native earned his first-ever superspeedway win, and his first shot at the series title, after a perfectly timed move to the front of a frantic pack, crossing the finish line just 0.145 seconds ahead of Front Row Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland and teammate Ty Gibbs.
Briscoe becomes the second Joe Gibbs Racing driver to book a place in the Championship 4, joining Denny Hamlin, who clinched his berth a week earlier in Las Vegas. The remaining two spots will be decided at next week’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway.
“Ty Gibbs, just an incredible teammate there,” said an emotional Briscoe, standing on top of his No. 19 Toyota and waving to the cheering crowd. “I honestly would not have won that race without Ty. It was an amazing team effort. I can’t believe I won a superspeedway race. I’ve never done it at any level.”
Briscoe led only 16 laps on the day, but his timing proved flawless. “It’s not hit me, we’re going to Phoenix,” he said with a grin. “Absolutely [a dream come true]. So thankful that the Lord’s blessed me, opening doors and closing doors at times, but certainly opening an incredible door for me here at Joe Gibbs Racing. … Even today, I just had such a ‘peace’ and normally I’m scared to death, nervous around this place, but today, just had such a peace.”
Gilliland’s runner-up finish marked a career best, while Bubba Wallace and Cole Custer rounded out the top five. Another JGR driver, Christopher Bell, finished eighth, the only other playoff contender in the top ten. Bell now sits 37 points above the cutoff line, holding the strongest non-winner position heading into Martinsville.
For Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske, the day brought heartbreak. Both Hendrick drivers were in contention late, only to see their races unravel. Kyle Larson ran out of fuel while leading on the overtime restart, and William Byron spun just before the finish line. Byron and Larson finished 25th and 26th respectively, leaving Larson fourth in the standings, 36 points above the cutoff, and Byron fifth, 36 points below.
Penske’s Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney also saw their chances fade. Logano led 35 laps, the most of any driver, but after having to pit for fuel during overtime, he finished 16th, while Blaney ended the day 23rd.
“Really, really frustrating because you’re so close and you see in front of you what you’ve got to do and you can’t do anything about it,” Logano said. “It’s frustrating, but we know what we’ve got to do now, it’s pretty simple.”
Logano now sits sixth in the standings, 38 points below the cutoff, with Blaney in seventh, 47 points back. Both will need a victory at Martinsville to qualify for the Championship 4.
NASCAR fan favorite Chase Elliott endured the toughest day of all, collected in a nine-car crash just 51 laps into the race. The incident dropped Elliott to last place and severely dented his playoff hopes.
“I saw somebody get turned sideways just like normal, and you hope you can get slowed down in time, but I got turned sideways there somehow, someway and hit some more stuff after that,” Elliott said. “We just did not execute that well as a group and put ourselves in the back of the pack, unfortunately, and got caught up in the mess.
“Stage points are so crucial right now, and I wasn’t super surprised everybody was starting to get super aggressive, and unfortunately, I didn’t make it through.
“Unless we won today, we were already likely in a very similar situation next week. I hate it. I don’t know what you do in those situations. We weren’t back there doing anything wild or crazy. I just got turned sideways and slid up into the wreck. Thinking about it, I wish I could have done something different, but I don’t really know what I would have done. Looking forward to Martinsville. Got one more shot at it.”
The top ten was rounded out by Carson Hocevar, Tyler Reddick, Bell, Zane Smith, and Brad Keselowski.
The playoff field will be finalized next Sunday at Martinsville Speedway in the Xfinity 500, which airs at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
