Chase Briscoe captured his first victory of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season last Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. In order to do so, the driver of the No. 19 had to hold off one of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates.
Christopher Bell was breathing down the back bumper of Briscoe in the waning laps of the 400-mile race. Ultimately, Briscoe fended off the hard-charging driver of the No. 20 to secure the win.
On the heels of his sixth career Cup Series victory, Briscoe reflected on the late-race teammate duel.
Briscoe on battle Bell: ‘I was glad it wasn’t another lap’
One week prior to his Chicagoland triumph, it was Briscoe who was playing the chasing game late in the going at Sonoma Raceway.
The Indiana native was hunting down Shane van Gisbergen in the closing laps of the Toyota/Save Mart 350. While Briscoe threatened in the late laps, it was SVG hanging on for victory.
The Chicagoland win felt like redemption for Briscoe. While the JGR driver said he needed one more lap to catch SVG at Sonoma, he was pleased Chicagoland did not go one more lap.
“Definitely feels like a little redemption. Last week, I felt like I let one slip away and needed, honestly, one more lap last weekend. Glad this weekend wasn’t an extra lap,” Briscoe said.
That is because, as he told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Briscoe knew Bell was closing the gap and appeared to have the faster car between the two of them.
After cycling past William Byron for the top spot on the final pit cycle of the race, courtesy of a great call by crew chief James Small, Briscoe did not expect any troubles securing the win.
That was until Bell overtook Byron for the runner-up spot and began cutting into the 31-year-old’s lead. Fortunately for Briscoe, there was not one more lap in the race.
“I thought it was going to be relatively smooth sailing until the end and then Christopher got by William and was just absolutely flying. I was glad it wasn’t another lap, that’s for sure,” Briscoe said.
Briscoe adds to Toyota 2026 dominance with Chicagoland victory
Through 19 races, the 2026 Cup Series season has been one for the Toyotas. Following Briscoe’s win at Chicagoland, Toyota has been the victor of 12 of the 19 races this season.
In addition, Briscoe becomes the third of the four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers to reach victory lane in 2026. Denny Hamlin has four wins on the season, while Ty Gibbs captured a win at Bristol last April for his first career Cup win.
Bell remains the only JGR driver to not record a win this season.
Outside of the JGR camp, 23XI Racing has posted half of the wins for Toyota in 2026. Tyler Reddick has posted five victories, while developmental driver Corey Heim upset the field at the Coronado Street Course with his first career win.
Briscoe’s win helped him jump up three spots in the points standings from 11th to eighth. With seven regular season races remaining, Briscoe has a 131-point barrier over The Chase cut line.
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