Chase Briscoe celebrates aft winning a NASCAR Cup Series car contention Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, successful Las Vegas. Photo by: Sam Morris / Associated Press
By Kirk Kern, Associated Press
Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026 | 8:29 p.m.
Chase Briscoe held disconnected a last-lap complaint from points person Kyle Larson to triumph the NASCAR Cup Series contention connected Sunday astatine Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Briscoe swept each 3 stages connected the 1.5-mile way to gain the maximum 75 playoff points. Larson mislaid power connected the last stretch, deed the partition and collided with Tyler Reddick, who slid into the infield but inactive recovered to decorativeness third.
“I saw Kyle charging hard down maine connected those last laps,” Briscoe said. “He was pushing arsenic hard arsenic helium perchance could connected the precocious line, and I conscionable tried to instrumentality to my antiaircraft marks, enactment smooth, and support the bottom. When you’re driving for a guaranteed spot successful the Championship 4, cipher is going to springiness an inch.”
It was Briscoe’s archetypal vocation Cup Series triumph successful Las Vegas, wherever helium led a race-high 175 laps. Briscoe besides moved up to sixth successful The Chase standings.
Denny Hamlin, who entered 2nd successful the playoff standings, finished 16th and was unopen retired of signifier points. Hamlin is inactive second, but fell 40 points down Larson.
“I cognize everyone looks astatine the points pb and talks astir the buffer we have, but I don’t presumption the spread similar that astatine all,” Larson said. “There are inactive a batch of points connected the table, a batch of restarts left, and thing tin hap down the stretch.”
Briscoe takes 2nd stage
Briscoe drove backmost from 3rd spot to walk Austin Cindric precocious successful the 2nd signifier for the win. Cindric finished 2nd successful the stage, followed by Christopher Bell successful third.
Larson salvaged a signifier constituent by finishing 10th, portion Hamlin was unopen retired of signifier points successful 14th.
Briscoe gambles for archetypal signifier points
Briscoe won the opening signifier up of Bell and Ryan Blaney. Briscoe elected not to pit for tires during a precocious green-flag pit cycle, holding disconnected the tract connected the restart to unafraid the signifier victory.
Hamlin led the archetypal 39 laps and was moving 3rd erstwhile helium spun 3 laps earlier the extremity of the stage. Although helium avoided large harm and continued, the deficiency of a caution emblem caused him to autumn backmost to 28th astatine the signifier break.
Hamlin acceptable the fastest thigh of the signifier astatine 29.572 seconds connected the 3rd lap.
“We had the velocity to tally up front, we showed that connected the rod tally and aboriginal successful Stage 1,” Hamlin said. “But erstwhile you suffer 25 spots, you walk fractional the contention conscionable moving your mode backmost to wherever you belong.”
Larson, who started sixth, endured a 26-second green-flag pit halt portion his pit unit made rear suspension adjustments. After dropping to 32nd place, helium worked his mode backmost to 24th by the extremity of the stage.
Though helium concisely fell disconnected the pb lap, Larson regained it connected thigh 45 erstwhile a caution flew for a Zane Smith spin.
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