They finally went back to Joliet. After six years of gathering dust, Chicagoland Speedway opened its gates, and the fans actually showed up. A total sellout. William Byron spent the first half of the night looking invincible, sweeping both stages like he owned the place. But NASCAR races aren’t won in the afternoon. By the time the lights took full effect, the whole deal devolved into an intra-squad brawl between the Joe Gibbs Racing stablemates.
Chase Briscoe parked the No. 19 Toyota in victory lane, securing his first trophy of the 2026 campaign at the eero 400. It wasn’t easy. Christopher Bell was hunting him down like a dog in the final laps, sporting by far the fastest machine on the track. Bell probably had him, too. Then came AJ Allmendinger. The lapped car of the veteran got right in Bell’s way, killing his momentum and handing Briscoe the breathing room he needed to survive.
Further back in the pack, the championship picture shifted. Denny Hamlin kept his nose clean and stretched his regular-season points cushion to a comfortable 44 markers over Tyler Reddick. Reddick’s night went sideways early when the No. 45 crew had to swap out a busted radiator under duress. Still, the night belonged to Briscoe, who finally got the monkey off his back.
Behind the lead trio of Briscoe, Bell, and Hamlin, William Byron settled for fourth, with Alex Bowman rounding out the top five. Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Corey Heim, and Riley Herbst filled out the rest of the top ten in a race that proved Chicagoland still has some teeth.
