Winners and losers from a thrilling NASCAR Cup return to Chicagoland

Next Gen cars raced at Chciagoland Speedway for the first time ever this weekend, and it was a truly thrilling race, even as the Toyotas once again prevailed over the field.

Hendrick Motorsports showed some might, and there was nonstop action throughout the field. It was also the first of three consecutive Sunday night races on the 2026 Cup schedule, really forcing teams to work hard to keep up with ever-changing track conditions.

Drivers were even dishing out payback around the intermediate oval, like it was a Saturday night short track race. At the checkered flag, less than three tenths separated race winner Chase Briscoe and runner-up finisher Christopher Bell.

Here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers from Chicagoland Speedway:

WINNER: Chase Briscoe and the birthday boy atop the pit box

Watch: Chicagoland celebration! Briscoe talks first victory of season

Briscoe is back in Victory Lane! He also can thank crew chief James Small for boxing him one lap early, allowing him to jump William Byron with the undercut. That clean air was invaluable, especially as Christopher Bell ran him down in the closing laps once he reached lapped traffic. It was also Small’s birthday, so what a gift for the leader of the No. 19 JGR Toyota. Briscoe’s win also made him the biggest mover in the standings, jumping three positions up to eighth.

LOSER: A very costly spin for Kyle Larson 

While running second with a definite shot at the race win, things went sideways for Larson … literally. He spun on his own at the exit of Turn 4 and got stuck in the muddy grass. With no air jack (which is optional) installed, he lost two laps under caution and tore up the sensitive diffuser. Larson finished 35th, falling down to sixth in the standings and continuing an unusual winless streak for the reigning champion.

WINNER: William Byron leads the Bowties and sweeps the stages

Watch: William Byron left wanting more after 94 laps led

It wasn’t all bad for Hendrick, as the entire organization showed great speed on Sunday. William Byron, who has felt weirdly absent most of this season, was back in proper form. The No. 24 Chevrolet won both stages and led the way for Team Chevy with a fourth-place finish. He was also leading the race before the final round of green-flag stops, but there wasn’t much he could do against the Toyota armada in the long run. He led 94 laps on Sunday, which is over twice as many as he had led in the previous 18 races combined. Byron’s finish also moved him away from the danger zone in the battle around the cut-line.

LOSER: Ryan Preece falls back below the cut-line

Ryan Preece towed from accident scene, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford

Photo by: Joseph Weiser of Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

It feels like one step forward and two steps back for the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford. After two strong races at San Diego and Sonoma, Preece was caught up in a Lap 1 melee at Chicagoland. While he lost four laps due to flat tires stranding him on the backstretch, the team impressively got all of them back within the first 100 laps. Unfortunately, the car was wounded and he still struggled to a 32nd place finish. That result dropped him back below the cut-line, just four points out. It’s going to be a dogfight for this team over the next two months to stay in Chase contention.

WINNER: Toyota with a record seven cars inside the top ten

Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing, Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing

Photo by: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Seven different Toyota drivers finished inside the top ten at Chicagoland, a new record for the manufacturer since joining the Cup Series almost two decades ago. What makes that even more impressive is the fact that there were only ten Toyota drivers in the entire field. Joe Gibbs Racing led the way with a 1-2-3 finish (and Gibbs 8th), but 23XI Racing also put three drivers in the top ten with Bubba Wallace, Riley Herbst, and even part-timer Corey Heim. Toyota has now won 12 of the first 19 races on the schedule, and it feels like nothing can stop them at this point.

LOSER: Tyler Reddick continues to (rapidly) fall after losing points lead

One of the only Toyota drivers who didn’t have a good day was Reddick. After leading the championship for each of the first 17 races of the year, his once massive 129-point lead is completely gone. Denny Hamlin entered Chicagoland one point ahead of Reddick, but a large piece of debris speared through the front of the No. 45 car, punching through both the radiator and the oil cooler! It appeared to be a diffuser stay in a terrible case of bad luck. He is suddenly 44pts behind Hamlin in the regular season standings as the series moves on to Atlanta.

WINNER: AJ Allmendinger moves closer in improbable Chase run

No OEM support, no problem. We’ve said this before, but we’ll say it again. What a quietly impressive season by AJ Allmendinger, as he led a double top 20 for Kaulig Racing, and is now just 16 points behind the Chase cut-line. He is tied with three-time series champion Joey Logano, but he also remains ahead of several better-connected Chevrolet drivers such as Ross Chastain (Trackhouse) and Michael McDowell (Spire). 

LOSER: Rookie Connor Zilisch with another Lap 1 crash

Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing

Photo by: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

It just keeps getting worse. After winning Stage 1 in the NASCAR O’Reilly race, Zilisch ran out of fuel, hit the wall, cut a tire, and spun. Unfortunately, that bad luck followed him into the Cup race on Sunday. The rookie driver desperately needs to just run some laps, but he didn’t even make it halfway through Lap 1 before spinning into the inside wall. He was attempting to avoid an incident ahead, but that wreck now means he has DNFed in five of the last seven races. Also, all of those wrecks happened on Stage 1.

BONUS LOSER: All four of the feuding drivers…for different reasons

Chicagoland felt like the official payback race for a little bit, as drivers settled vendettas in the midfield. Zane Smith wrecked himself while trying to wreck Carson Hocevar, which is just a bad look all around and hurt both drivers. At the other end of the spectrum, Shane van Gisbergen wrecked long-time rival Austin Hill after driving into the corner far deeper than usual (per SMT data) after Hill aero-blocked him. SVG recently blamed Hill for wrecking him at both Pocono and San Diego, even calling him a spud. And while he drove away unscathed (unlike Smith), Hill is not a driver SVG needs to be feuding with while trying to hang onto a Chase spot. If Hill seeks retribution, it could severely impact SVG’s hopes of making the Chase.

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– The Motorsport.com Team

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