Chase Briscoe Agrees He Got Lucky at Chicagoland

{{readername | Hey NASCAR Fans}},

After a memorable debut year driving the No. 19 car last year, Chase Briscoe hit a bump in 2026. He had the speed, but that didn’t convert into a win; that changed at Chicagoland. It wasn’t an easy win by any means, as he had to fend off his own teammates and a few HMS Chevys. 

A return to oval racing has also led to big changes in points standings and pressure on those who are outside the Chase bubble. 

Starting from the pole, it looked like Denny Hamlin was set to bag another win for himself. While the likes of William Byron and Kyle Larson looked strong, it was Chase Briscoe who went head-to-head with his teammate. The battle was so intense that even Hamlin lost his cool on the radio: “I mean, we can play grab-ass and wreck each other, or he can get the fuck out of the way.”

The dynamics of the race changed heading into the final stage, and Briscoe once again was the lead JGR car behind the No. 24. A strategic call by his crew chief, James Small, proved vital in taking the lead of the race. But the cat-and-mouse chase was only just beginning as Christopher Bell mounted a late charge.

By the final lap of the race, Bell was on the back bumper of the No. 19 car, but Briscoe put on a defensive masterclass. Now, Bell’s approach would’ve been different if the lead car hadn’t been from JGR. But in the end, Briscoe would have his first win of the 2026 season.

There was an element of luck in this win, which Briscoe was happy to acknowledge. “I kind of got lucky having lapped cars. I was struggling pretty bad. Christopher was certainly coming. Out of all the people to race against, I knew Christopher was going to be clean with me.”

A bigger achievement for the entire JGR organization was that it secured the podium. Bell finished runner-up, while Hamlin came home third, giving JGR a 1-2-3 finish.

Tyler Reddick was running away with the regular-season title after winning five races to start the season. However, halfway through the season, all the momentum and hype seemed to have worn off. It’s not that the No. 45 team doesn’t have speed, but luck hasn’t been on its side.

At Chicagoland, the No. 45 car developed issues after completing a green-flag pit stop. The car was leaking oil, and Reddick had to bring it back to pit road and then to the garage. It was a bizarre sight to see the car leaking oil on the pit road.

A manufacturer spokesperson said that a splitter from another car went through the radiator and punctured the oil cooler. The team got to work, repaired the radiator, and got the car back on track. But when the checkered flag flew, Reddick finished 36th.

That is a huge blow considering the regular-season title race. Just one point separated him and Denny Hamlin after San Diego, but a strong result by the No. 11 team put Hamlin 44 points ahead.

Not just Reddick, a lot of drivers now find themselves in a similar predicament in terms of points after the race in Joliet.

Shane van Gisbergen isn’t someone who loses his cool on the racetrack and wrecks his rivals. But it looks like he finally had enough of Austin Hill’s antics and decided to get payback at Chicagoland.

On lap 47, SVG made contact with the No. 33 car, spinning it into the wall. Apparently, this was payback for last week’s crash that ended SVG’s run at San Diego. “It was payback for California,” replied Childress on the team radio.

The two drivers have a history dating back to the O’Reilly Series, and it looks like it is continuing at the Cup level. Now, intentional wrecking can lead to penalties from NASCAR, but the Trackhouse Racing driver pleaded his innocence.

“I was shooting for the bottom trying to get clean air. I was so tight, and he just chopped my nose and got in the wall. So sorry about that. Sorry to his guys, they're always nice people, and it happens,” SVG said after the race.

It will be interesting to see how NASCAR views this and whether it penalizes SVG for his actions.

* Briscoe got the big boost after his win and climbed three spots, standing 8th in the points standings. 

* Austin Cindric and Erik Jones have got themselves back inside the Top 16; meanwhile, Logano is still playing catch-up. 

* Brad Keselowski has slipped down in the standings and is placed 20th after Sunday’s race. 

Check out the updated points standings here. 

Denny Hamlin

Hamlin had better tires and was closing the gap on the leaders at the end of the race. But he ran himself into the wall, and he had to settle for a third-place finish. Despite this setback, the veteran driver accomplished his target and opened a big gap on Tyler Reddick.

“You know, we just lost the balance there in stage 3. I got loose, lost ground, lost a couple of seconds. Then we went long and came out 9 seconds back, and I thought it was going to be really close to get there, but I just pushed it too far into the wall there with a few laps to go and had to settle for third.”

William Byron

Despite leading a race-high 94 laps, Byron couldn’t hold his own against JGR Toyotas. He had the speed, but he wasn’t able to catch them back once the field recycled after the green flag stopped.

“We got jumped by (Chase Briscoe) there on that last green flag pit cycle, but I just didn’t quite have the pace that last run to keep up with him, and then those other guys had fresher tires at the end. Just thank you to Chevrolet and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports for working super-hard.”

Alex Bomwan

A top 5 finish was a big result for the No. 48 team. Bowman didn’t have the pace like the #24 car, but his team executed the race really well to get the points.

“We didn’t start the day how we wanted to. We were super-tight taking off on those first couple of restarts. But at the end of Stage Two until the end of the race, I felt pretty good about the Chevrolet. Hats off to the entire No. 48 team. We just needed a good, normal day. It feels like a win with how the season has gone, but we just have to keep digging every week.”

Check out the full post-race interviews by your favorite drivers here.

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