Chase Briscoe beats Christopher Bell at Charlotte Motor Speedway, WBTV reports
Chase Briscoe won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, beating teammate Christopher Bell by .029 seconds in the second-closest finish in the track’s history, WBTV reported.
Bank of America 400 Finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway
The finish came down to the final turn on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. Briscoe edged his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell by a margin of just .029 seconds. The pair of drivers combined to lead 155 of the race’s 267 laps during the Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Bell ran near the front for the second half of the event. A pit stop by Briscoe’s crew with roughly 60 laps remaining put the No. 19 car in the lead. Briscoe built a gap of more than two seconds before Bell closed the distance in the final laps. The two cars ran side-by-side out of the final turn, making slight contact after Bell got loose. Both drivers kept control, and Briscoe crossed the finish line a couple of feet ahead.
“I don’t know what it is about these finishes,” Briscoe said after the race. “I got to quit making it so exciting at the end. Yeah, just an amazing car … What an amazing run we’ve been on.”
The win marks Briscoe’s second in a row in the Cup Series, following a win the previous week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Standings and Points After Charlotte
The victory at Charlotte moved Briscoe to fourth place in The Chase standings. With four races remaining in the 2026 season, Briscoe trails points leader Kyle Larson by 65 points. Denny Hamlin sits second in the standings, and Bell sits third.
Larson led the first half of the race, pacing the field for 97 laps—the most of any driver in the field. He finished sixth, extending his points lead.
“[I’m] Happy to still come away with a sixth[-place finish] and extend the points lead,” Larson said postrace. “All in all a good day … It’s good but you want to be a little bit better.”
Larson, the 2021 and 2025 Cup champion, entered the Charlotte event with a 40-point lead over Hamlin. He closed the day with a 49-point advantage.
Upcoming Schedule for the 2026 Season
The NASCAR Cup Series heads next to Phoenix Raceway. Larson, Hamlin, Bell, and Briscoe have all previously won races at Phoenix.
Following the race in Phoenix, the 2026 season concludes with events at Talladega, Martinsville, and Homestead-Miami. Larson is pursuing his third Cup Series championship, while Hamlin, Bell, and Briscoe chase their first.