Chase Briscoe locks up Championship 4 spot with Talladega win
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
TALLADEGA, Ala.—In a typically dramatic push to the Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway checkered flag, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe made a last lap pass on the frantic-field to claim victory in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race and earn his first-ever career shot at the season title.
The 29-year old Indiana-native Briscoe will join his JGR teammate Denny Hamlin, who won last week at Las Vegas, leaving the final two positions in the Championship 4 to be decided in next week’s regular season finale at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Briscoe thanked another JGR teammate, however, 23-year old Ty Gibbs for the push forward on the final lap Sunday that resulted in his first ever superspeedway win – .145-second over Front Row Motorsports’ driver Todd Gilliland and Gibbs, neither who are among the current eight-driver Playoff field.
The runner-up showing was a career best for Gilliland. 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and Haas Factory Team’s Cole Custer rounded out the top-five.
“Ty Gibbs, just an incredible teammate there,’’ said an emotional Briscoe, who stood on his No. 19 JGR Toyota waving his arms 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.”
“It’s not hit me, we’re going to Phoenix,’’ a grinning Briscoe said of the championship opportunity he now has after leading only 16 laps Sunday, but the most important final one.
“Absolutely [a dream come true]. So thankful that the Lord’s blessed me, opening doors and closing door 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.’’
Another JGR driver, Christopher Bell joined Briscoe as the only other Playoff competitor to finish among the top 10 Sunday, crossing the line eighth in the frantic three-wide four rows deep finish that has long characterized the 2.66-mile Talladega high-banks – NASCAR’s largest track. With Hamlin and Briscoe in the title race thanks to victories, Bell now holds the top points position, 37 points above the cutoff line.
As good of a day as it was for the Gibbs team to be able to claim half the championship race eligibility and position Bell atop the points standings, it was a disappointing afternoon for the other two organizations also racing for a shot at the title – Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske.
Hendrick had two cars running among the top five for the overtime restart only to have Kyle Larson drop back from the lead after running out of fuel. William Byron get spun out from behind only yards in front of the finish line while running top-10. They finished 25th (Byron) and 26th (Larson).
Larson is ranked fourth, a point below Bell in the standings – 36 points above the cutoff line. Byron – the regular season champion – is now fifth, 36 points below the line.
Penske’s two Playoff drivers, reigning series champion Joey Logano and 2023 series champ Ryan Blaney also experienced similar late-race frustration after positioning themselves up front in the waning laps. Logano’s No. 22 Ford actually led the most laps (35) on the day and turned in the longest single stint out front (16 laps) in a race that featured an incredible 77 lead changes among 27 drivers.
Ultimately neither could move forward in the closing pair of laps, however. Logano finished 16th and Blaney was 23rd – after both had to pit during the overtime caution period to top off on fuel.
“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,’’ said reigning series champion, Logano. “It’s frustrating but we know what we’ve got to do now, it’s pretty simple.’’
Sunday’s results leave Logano ranked sixth among the eight Playoff drivers, 38 points below the cutoff line. Blaney is seventh, 47 points back. Both now need a victory at Martinsville to return to the championship race. Blaney has won the last two Playoff races at the half-mile Martinsville track and Logano won it in 2018.
NASCAR’s perennial “Most Popular Driver” and a huge Talladega crowd favorite Chase Elliott was the first Playoff driver to have trouble Sunday, collected in an eight-car accident near the front of the field only 51 laps into the 193-lap race, resulting in a last place finish in the 40-car field.
Elliott had started the race ranked sixth in the Playoff standings, only 23 points below the cutoff line and has now fallen to eighth among the eight drivers, 62 points out of Playoff contention and also needing to win next Sunday at Martinsville – something he’s done before, claiming the 2021 Playoff finale there.
“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, adding, “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.’’
Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, Bell, Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith and Roush-Fenway-Keselowski owner-driver Brad Keselowski rounded out Sunday’s top-10.
The final round to set the 2025 Playoff field is Sunday afternoon’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 34
Race Results for the YellaWood 500 - Sunday, October 19, 2025
Talladega Superspeedway - Talladega, AL - 2.66 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 193 Laps - 513.38 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 10/19/2025 @ 06:05 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 19 Chase Briscoe (P) Bass Pro Shops Toyota 193 1 50 Running 7 16 6
2 27 34 * Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 193 7 39 Running 6 11
3 18 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 193 1 6 49 Running 2 4 1
4 10 23 * Bubba Wallace Columbia Toyota 193 5 39 Running 3 5
5 12 41 Cole Custer Sysco RaceTrac Ford 193 32 Running
6 32 77 Carson Hocevar Modo Casino Chevrolet 193 9 3 41 Running
7 15 45 * Tyler Reddick The Beast Toyota 193 2 39 Running 1 3
8 7 20 Christopher Bell (P) DEWALT Toyota 193 10 5 36 Running
9 23 38 * Zane Smith Benebone Ford 193 7 32 Running 1 2
10 20 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford 193 27 Running 2 7
11 31 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # WeatherTech Chevrolet 193 26 Running
12 26 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 193 25 Running 1 2
13 24 1 Ross Chastain Busch Light Hunting Chevrolet 193 24 Running 2 3
14 28 42 John Hunter Nemechek Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 193 3 9 33 Running 3 11
15 5 60 Ryan Preece Trimble Ford 193 22 Running 1 1
16 16 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 193 6 26 Running 6 35
17 1 71 Michael McDowell Carolina Handling Chevrolet 193 8 24 Running 4 5
18 40 66 * Casey Mears SI Yachts Ford 193 0 Running
19 3 8 Kyle Busch Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet 193 18 Running 11 26
20 29 10 Ty Dillon Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 193 17 Running 1 2
21 38 62 * Anthony Alfredo(i) LIL' DUDE Wipes Bubble Bum Chevrolet 193 0 Running 1 2
22 33 33 * Austin Hill(i) United Rentals Chevrolet 193 0 Running
23 8 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Menards/Dutch Boy Ford 193 4 8 24 Running 2 3
24 17 11 Denny Hamlin (P) National Debt Relief Toyota 193 13 Running 1 3
25 13 24 William Byron (P) Raptor Chevrolet 193 4 19 Running 1 4
26 19 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 193 2 20 Running 6 6
27 21 3 Austin Dillon Breztri Chevrolet 191 10 Running
28 39 78 * BJ McLeod(i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 187 0 Running
29 11 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 187 10 9 Running
30 14 17 Chris Buescher Kroger/Thomas' High Protein Bagels Ford 186 7 Accident 2 4
31 35 51 Cody Ware Arby's Steak Nuggets Ford 165 6 Engine 3 5
32 9 35 * Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota 141 5 Engine 1 1
33 6 21 Josh Berry Eero Ford 133 4 Drivetrain 7 27
34 4 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 77 3 Running 1 2
35 30 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 55 2 Accident
36 36 4 * Noah Gragson Rush Truck Centers Ford 51 1 Accident 1 2
37 34 16 AJ Allmendinger Black's Tire Chevrolet 51 1 Accident 1 1
38 37 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JackLinks Non-Vegan Chevrolet 51 1 Accident
39 22 7 Justin Haley Gainbridge Assets Chevrolet 51 1 Accident
40 25 9 Chase Elliott (P) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 51 1 Accident
Fastest Lap Bonus: # 71 lap 119 / 48.704
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 26 Mins, 29 Secs. Average Speed: 149.178 MPH Margin of Victory: .145 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 54, 45, 42, 12, 23, 22, 38, 71, 77, 20
Stage 2 Top 10: 19, 5, 77, 24, 20, 54, 34, 12, 42, 48
Race Comments: Chase Briscoe won the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, his fifth NASCAR Cup Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: Nos. 35, 42, 43 (unapproved adjustments).
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 6 for 28 laps; Laps: 53-58 (#4, 7, 3, 47, 43, 16, 9, 17, 2 incident turn 3 [78]); 62-65 (Stage 1 Conclusion [3]); 113-116 (#88 stopped on track [66]);
122-126 (Stage 2 Conclusion [88]); 167-171 (#51 spin turn 1 [66]); 188-191 (#24, 17 incident backstretch [11]).
Lead Changes: 77 among 27 drivers; M. McDowell 1; J. Berry 2-3; K. Busch 4; *. Wallace 5-7; J. Berry 8-15; R. Preece 16; K. Busch 17-22; J. Berry 23-27; C. Ware 28; J. Nemechek 29-31; J. Berry 32-33; D. Hamlin (P) 34-36; K. Busch 37; B. Keselowski 38-42; K. Busch 43; B. Keselowski 44-45; A. Cindric 46-47; R. Blaney (P) 48; A. Allmendinger 49; *. Gragson 50-51; J. Logano (P) 52-58; T. Gibbs 59-61; D. Suarez 62-63; T. Dillon 64-65; C. Buescher 66-68; J. Berry 69-73; K. Busch 74-77; *. Alfredo(i) 78-79; C. Briscoe (P) 80; M. McDowell 81; K. Busch 82-83; M. McDowell 84-85; C. Ware 86-88; K. Busch 89; C. Ware 90; K. Busch 91; M. McDowell 92; K. Busch 93-97; J. Berry 98-101; K. Busch 102-103; J. Berry 104; K. Busch 105-106; C. Briscoe (P) 107-110; *. Reddick 111-113; C. Briscoe (P) 114-117; K. Larson (P) 118; C. Briscoe (P) 119-122; R. Chastain 123-124; J. Nemechek 125-131; T. Gibbs 132; *. Herbst # 133; J. Logano (P) 134-149; R. Chastain 150; J. Logano (P) 151-156; *. Gilliland 157-158; J. Logano (P) 159-160; *. Gilliland 161; J. Logano (P) 162; *. Gilliland 163-164; J. Logano (P) 165-167; J. Nemechek 168; R. Blaney (P) 169-170; *. Gilliland 171-173; K. Larson (P) 174; *. Gilliland 175; K. Larson (P) 176; *. Smith 177-178; *. Gilliland 179-180; K. Larson (P) 181; C. Briscoe (P) 182; K. Larson (P) 183; C. Briscoe (P) 184; *. Wallace 185; C. Buescher 186; W. Byron (P) 187-190; K. Larson (P) 191; *. Wallace 192; C. Briscoe (P) 193.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: October 26, 2025 - Martinsville Speedway
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CURRENT NASCAR CUP SERIES PLAYOFF STANDINGS
POS NO. DRIVER MFR +/-
1 19 Chase Briscoe 1 ROUND OF 8 PLAYOFF WIN - 2 PLAYOFF WINS - 3 TOTAL WINS
2 11 Denny Hamlin 1 RUND OF 8 PLAYOFF WIN - 2 PLAYOFF WINS - 6 TOTAL WINS
3 20 Christopher Bell Toyota +37 1 PLAYOFF WIN - 4 TOTAL WINS + ALL-STAR RACE WIN
4 5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet +36 3 TOTALWINS
CUTOFF LINE - FOUR DRIVERS TO BE ELIMINATED AFTER MARTINSVILLE (OCT. 26)
5 24 William Byron Chevrolet -36 2 TOTAL WINS
6 22 Joey Logano Ford -38 1 TOTAL WIN
7 12 Ryan Blaney Ford -47 1 PLAYOFF WIN - 3 TOTAL WINS
8 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet -62 1 PLAYOFF WIN - 2 TOTAL WINS + BUSCH LITE CLASH WIN
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