Chase Elliott posts second NASCAR Cup Series win of 2026 at Texas
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images
FORT WORTH, Texas—In an event that spelled disaster for a handful of the NASCAR Cup Series’ established stars, Chase Elliott ran an impeccable race—and was rewarded with victory in Sunday’s Würth 400 Presented by LIQUI MOLY at Texas Motor Speedway.
Elliott didn’t lead until Lap 152 of 267, when Corey Heim brought his Toyota to pit road for fuel on an off-cycle strategy. From that point on, the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet controlled the race with an iron fist, thanks in part to a pit crew that performed its three fastest pit stops of the season on Sunday.
After Heim spun in Turn 4 to cause the seventh and final caution of the race, however, Elliott had to survive a restart with four laps left. But with a push from teammate and third-place finisher Alex Bowman, he cleared runner-up Denny Hamlin off Turn 2 and pulled away to win by 0.407 seconds.
The victory was Elliott’s second at Texas, his second of the season and the 23rd of his career. He joins fourth-place finisher Tyler Reddick (five victories) as a multiple winner this season. Elliott also is the first repeat winner in the last 10 races at Texas.
“I wasn’t really sure whether to go top or bottom,” Elliott said of the final restart. “You know, the bottom had been winning out on a lot of the restarts. I felt like, man, if I didn’t get clear off of (Turn 2), I was going to be in a lot of trouble.
“Fortunately, Alex gave me a great push. Was able to execute Turns 1 and 2, get clear, and then just kind of manage the last few laps… Yeah, man, just crazy. You know, to say as much as we struggled out here to have won two races here now in the last few years is pretty wild.”
Elliott led a race-high 87 laps to 69 for Heim, who finished 31st.
Hamlin rued the caution that interrupted his pursuit of Elliott with 11 laps left, but he got a strong launch on the final restart.
“Yeah, I thought I got a good restart there at the end side-by-side,” said Hamlin, who finished second to Elliott for the second time this season (the first at Martinsville). “But then, you know, just the way the side-draft works there into Turn 1, with him getting the push from the 48 (Bowman), it just allowed his momentum to pick up a little bit quicker than mine.
“I tried to hang on to the side, but I was just getting tighter the closer I was getting to him. So good, decent day. Just one short.”
Reddick pitted for two tires before the final restart and charged from ninth to fourth at the finish.
“All in all, it was a solid day,” said Reddick, who leads the series by 109 points over second-place Hamlin and 117 over third-place Elliott. “It was nice to go for it there on the two tires.
“Just had a couple of passes that took a little longer than they needed to, and that was the difference between… I don’t know if we would have got back to the lead, but I think if we played it perfectly, we could have got second. All in all, it was a good day.”
Chris Buescher finished fifth in the fastest Ford. Daniel Suarez, pole winner Carson Hocevar, William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney completed the top 10.
Rookie Connor Zilisch recorded both his best qualifying effort of the season (12th) and his best Cup finish on an oval track (16th).
Throughout the race, attrition eliminated potential contenders.
Christopher Bell’s star-crossed season continued without abatement at Texas Motor Speedway. Bell had just fought off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Hamlin to retain the lead when Todd Gilliland spun in front of Bell’s Toyota off Turn 4 on Lap 68.
Bell took evasive action toward the bottom of the track but clipped Gilliland’s Ford just enough to send Bell’s Camry rocketing into the outside wall, severely damaging the right-side suspension components.
The diagnosis of Bell’s car was terminal, and he exited the race in last (38th) place.
“It was another one of those 50-50 calls,” Bell said of his split-second decision to try to dodge Gilliland’s car. “Me and Denny were side-by-side, and I saw him (Gilliland) spinning and Denny lifted, and I thought that I could shoot the gap on the bottom.
“And I thought I did shoot the gap on the bottom, but I got clipped.”
Defending race winner Joey Logano fared no better. During pit stops under caution on Lap 94, Cole Custer slowed to allow Ty Gibbs to exit his stall. Logano slammed into Custer’s car, peeling back the left front fender of Logano’s Mustang like a can opener.
With the right front tire of his car skewed out of proper orientation, the three-time champion retired from the race.
“I’ll just keep digging and go to the next one,” Logano said philosophically.
Seven laps after Logano’s demise, Bristol winner Ty Gibbs slammed into the Turn 3 wall off the bumper of Ryan Preece’s Ford and fell out of the race in 35th.
Reigning series champion Kyle Larson wasn’t immune from calamity either. On Lap 160, he spun in Turn 2 and clobbered the wall with the driver’s side of his No. 5 Chevrolet.
“I just lost it,” said Larson, who took the car to the garage, his hopes for a second Texas victory dashed.
What Kyle Busch lost was his temper. After qualifying sixth, Busch ran consistently in the top five and earned points in the first stage. He was set for a top-10 finish until he tangled with the Toyota of John Hunter Nemechek after the final restart.
Busch took out his frustrations on the white-flag lap, knocking Nemechek’s car sideways. Busch faded to 20th on a day that started with promise and ended in disappointment.
The NASCAR Cup Series travels next to Watkins Glen International for next Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 11
Race Results for the W?rth 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY - Sunday, May 3, 2026
Texas Motor Speedway - Fort Worth, TX - 1.5 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 267 Laps - 400.5 Miles
Stage 1 Stage 2
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Pos Pos Status Tms Laps
1 14 9 Chase Elliott Amazon Prime Chevrolet 267 8 1 69 Running 4 87
2 4 11 Denny Hamlin Progressive Insurance Toyota 267 10 4 43 Running 5 21
3 9 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 267 10 35 Running
4 8 45 Tyler Reddick ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK Toyota 267 2 42 Running
5 3 17 Chris Buescher Fifth Third Ford 267 7 36 Running
6 2 7 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 267 6 36 Running
7 1 77 Carson Hocevar Spectrum Chevrolet 267 2 9 41 Running 5 40
8 15 24 William Byron Valvoline/Heavy Duty Chevrolet 267 9 31 Running
9 37 23 Bubba Wallace Chumba Casino Toyota 267 28 Running
10 31 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Knauf Ford 267 27 Running 1 5
11 18 35 Riley Herbst FRE Nicotine Pouches Toyota 267 8 29 Running 1 1
12 21 43 Erik Jones AdventHealth Toyota 267 1 35 Running 1 13
13 25 6 Brad Keselowski Body Guard by Fastenal Ford 267 3 32 Running 2 4
14 20 60 Ryan Preece Kroger/Ball Park Buns Ford 267 5 29 Running
15 13 2 Austin Cindric Freightliner Ford 267 22 Running
16 12 88 Connor Zilisch # Choice Privileges Chevrolet 267 21 Running
17 30 97 Shane Van Gisbergen SuperFile Chevrolet 267 20 Running
18 38 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Winchester AA White Chevrolet 267 19 Running
19 22 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Onin Staffing Chevrolet 267 3 26 Running
20 6 8 Kyle Busch zone Watermelon x Circle K Chevrolet 267 6 22 Running
21 33 42 John Hunter Nemechek Dollar Tree Toyota 266 16 Running
22 34 38 Zane Smith Speedy Cash Ford 266 15 Running
23 5 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 266 5 20 Running 1 4
24 35 10 Ty Dillon Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 266 13 Running
25 26 16 AJ Allmendinger Celsius Chevrolet 266 7 16 Running
26 16 1 Ross Chastain Kubota Chevrolet 266 11 Running
27 19 71 Michael McDowell Modo Casino Chevrolet 266 10 Running
28 28 4 Noah Gragson Rush Truck Centers Ford 266 9 Running
29 24 21 Josh Berry WURTH Ford 266 8 Running
30 29 51 Cody Ware Parts Plus/Costa Oil Chevrolet 265 7 Running
31 17 67 * Corey Heim(i) Robinhood Toyota 254 0 Accident 2 69
32 32 34 Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 254 5 Running
33 36 66 * Chad Finchum(i) Cooper & Hunter Ford 223 0 Running
34 11 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 180 3 Running
35 27 41 Cole Custer Haas/Andy's Chevrolet 173 2 Running
36 10 54 Ty Gibbs Interstate Batteries Toyota 110 4 8 Accident 1 1
37 23 22 Joey Logano Discount Tire Ford 95 1 Accident
38 7 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 68 1 Accident 1 22
,Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 56 Mins, 17 Secs. Average Speed: 136.315 MPH Margin of Victory: .407 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 43, 77, 47, 54, 19, 8, 16, 9, 24, 11
Stage 2 Top 10: 9, 45, 6, 11, 60, 7, 17, 35, 77, 48
Race Comments: Chase Elliott has won the W?rth 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY at Texas Motor Speedway, his 23rd victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: No. 23 (Backup Car) and No. 3 (Engine).
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 7 for 40 laps; Laps: 69-74 (#20, 34 Incident Turn 4 [97]); 82-88 (Stage 1 Conclusion [51]); 93-98 (#24 Spin Turn 4 [None]); 102-106 (#54, 60 Incident Turn 3 [66]); 161-164 (#5 Incident Turn 2 [67]); 167-172 (Stage 2 Conclusion [38]); 258-263 (#67 Incident Turn 4 [47]).
Lead Changes: 23 among 11 drivers; C. Hocevar 1-19; D. Hamlin 20-35; C. Hocevar 36-41; B. Keselowski 42; C. Briscoe 43-46; C. Bell 47-68; D. Hamlin 69-70; E. Jones 71-83; C. Hocevar 84-88; T. Gibbs 89; C. Hocevar 90-94; *. Heim(i) 95-151; C. Elliott 152-160; D. Hamlin 161; B. Keselowski 162-164; C. Elliott 165-214; D. Hamlin 215; R. Herbst 216; C. Hocevar 217-221; R. Blaney 222-226; *. Heim(i) 227-238; C. Elliott 239-262; D. Hamlin 263; C. Elliott 264-267.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: May 10, 2026 - Watkins Glen International
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
CURRENT NASCAR CUP SERIES STANDINGS
THrough May 3, 2026
UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL
1. Tyler Reddick 45 11 0 526 0 0 5 0
2. Denny Hamlin 11 11 0 417 -109 109 1 3
3. Chase Elliott 9 11 1 409 -117 8 2 1
4. Ryan Blaney 12 11 -1 371 -155 38 1 1
5. Chris Buescher 17 11 2 345 -181 26 0 0
6. Carson Hocevar 77 11 2 333 -193 12 1 0
7. Ty Gibbs 54 11 -2 330 -196 3 1 1
8. Kyle Larson 5 11 -2 318 -208 12 0 3
9. Brad Keselowski 6 11 1 311 -215 7 0 2
10. William Byron 24 11 1 308 -218 3 0 1
11. Bubba Wallace 23 11 1 304 -222 4 0 2
12. Ryan Preece 60 11 1 298 -228 6 0 1
13. Christopher Bell 20 11 -4 291 -235 7 0 2
14. Daniel Suarez 7 11 0 271 -255 20 0 0
15. Austin Cindric 2 11 1 248 -278 23 0 1
16. Chase Briscoe 19 11 1 242 -284 6 0 0
17. Joey Logano 22 11 -2 235 -291 7 0 0
18. Ross Chastain 1 11 0 216 -310 19 0 2
19. Shane Van Gisbergen 97 11 0 215 -311 1 0 0
20. AJ Allmendinger 16 11 1 199 -327 16 0 0
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