A pit road stack-up at the Stage 2 break sent Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece and Joey Logano back for repairs in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series 2026 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The tangle came after Kyle Larson clinched the title in Stage 1, so the championship was settled. His fourth-place finish in the opening stage, won by Tyler Reddick, made him a three-time Cup champion. Still, the pileup reshuffled the field behind Denny Hamlin, the Stage 2 winner, who held the lead through the stops.
Chase Elliott Questions Pit Road Stack-Up
The trouble started behind Austin Cindric’s No. 2 Ford. Cindric said he was “stuck between gears,” as quoted by reporter Peter Stratta, who added that the Nos. 9, 7 and 48 were among the cars damaged.
Early live coverage from Motorsport.com called it “quite the stack-up” and saw no major damage to anyone. Four cars still came back to pit road for repairs.
Cars bumped nose to tail while the setting sun glared in the eyes of drivers, and Keselowski took a tap from behind while hunting for space. The pit walls at Homestead rise 31 inches, among the tallest of the season.
Elliott wanted answers.
“Did they stop or did I f*** something up? I need to understand here,” he said on his team radio, as quoted by reporter Jordan Bianchi.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. They were playing games; it’s like the 12 is trying to check everybody up or something,” his team replied. The No. 12 belongs to Ryan Blaney, and “checking up” is racing slang for slowing abruptly, which can send an accordion effect through a line of cars.
Elliott later described the scene in more detail.
“Scared as f*** to death to be on the left of somebody to see up the road, and plow into the back of the people stopped,” he said, as quoted by reporter Dalton Hopkins. He was explaining the fear of hitting stopped cars he could not see beyond.
Hamlin Holds Lead as Field Scrambles
Hamlin led the field to the Stage 3 restart on lap 172, according to VAVEL USA. Christopher Bell, Reddick, Cindric and Blaney ran second through fifth at the end of the stage, according to NASCAR. William Byron, Alex Bowman, Elliott, Zane Smith and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10. Elliott started the race seventh, and Cindric started fifth.
Earlier in the race, Larson pitted with a flat right-rear tire on lap 118 after contacting the wall, and Elliott pitted for Stage 2 service moments later, according to NASCAR. Blaney finished second in Stage 1, with Cindric fifth and Elliott 10th.
Elliott’s day got harder from there. He was penalized for too many crew members over the wall on the stop, and Michael McDowell drew an uncontrolled-tire penalty in the same sequence. Elliott, who ended the stage eighth, was already back on pit road for damage repairs.
NASCAR posted video of the stack-up, and a clip from NASCAR on USA showed the chaos from the broadcast side.
The finale also marked the end of Keselowski’s five-year stint at RFK Racing, and he has no ride secured for 2027.
With the title decided, the race win remained the big prize. Stage 2 ended on lap 165 of 267, so Preece, Keselowski, Elliott and Logano had roughly 100 laps to make up ground, while Hamlin and the front runners kept the track position they carried onto pit road.
NASCAR Championship Race Erupts in Chaos After Wild Pit Row Incident: VIDEO