Christopher Bell opened The Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series by earning his first victory of the 2026 season. After passing Kyle Larson for the lead with 12 circuits remaining, Bell captured the victory in Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway.
It was Bell’s first Darlington win, first victory of the 2026 season and 14th career Cup win overall. The win was huge for Bell’s championship hopes as he moved into the second position in the standings, 12 points behind leader Denny Hamlin.
It was a trying evening for Hamlin, who entered the Chase as the top seed. In the final stage, contact between Hamlin and Michael McDowell caused toe link damage on the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
The contact forced Hamlin to go a lap behind. The 45-year-old gained his lap back and ultimately finished 18th. Going into Darlington, Hamlin had a 25-point lead over second place Ryan Blaney. Now, the JGR driver has a 12-point edge over Bell.
William Byron had a difficult evening at Darlington as he posted a DNF of 37th place. The driver of the No. 24 suffered a flat tire in the final stage, then suffered an engine failure on the subsequent restart.
Tyler Reddick returned to form to kick off the Chase. The driver of the No. 45 started on the pole, won the opening stage and led 74 laps en route to finishing third.
Kyle Larson came up shy in his bid for his first win of the 2026 season. On older tires, the driver of the No. 5 was unable to fend off Bell for the top spot. Ultimately, the two-time and defending Cup champion finished fifth after leading a race-high 99 laps.
Josh Berry was the only non-Chase driver to finish top 10 as he came home in the seventh position. It was the driver of the No. 21 car’s sixth straight top-10 finish in the Cup Series.
Full NASCAR Cup Series Darlington Southern 500 results
Winner
Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing)
Stage Winners
Stage 1: Tyler Reddick
Stage 2: Christopher Bell
Top-10 Finishers
- Christopher Bell (Chase)
- Ty Gibbs (Chase)
- Tyler Reddick (Chase)
- Ryan Blaney (Chase)
- Kyle Larson (Chase)
- Chase Briscoe (Chase)
- Josh Berry
- Bubba Wallace (Chase)
- Joey Logano (Chase)
- Ryan Preece (Chase)
Key NASCAR Cup takeaways from New Hampshire
- Stage 1 ended with Brad Keselowski spinning out after contact with Carson Hocevar
- Tyler Reddick won Stage 1 and finished third.
- Reddick lost ground during Stage 2 after a pit road miscue
- Christopher Bell won Stage 2, earning 10 points.
- Hamlin suffers toe link issue after contact with Michael McDowell in the final stage
- Zane Smith spun out on Lap 283, triggering a caution
- William Byron suffered an engine failure in the final stage and finished 37th
- The race start time was bumped up 10 minutes due to the threat of rain
- The race had a brief red flag for rain with 30 laps remaining
The NASCAR Cup Series Chase continues next Sunday at the World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis. Coverage of the Enjoy Illinois 300 can be watched on USA Network or listened to on the Motor Racing Network.
The green flag for the 240-lap event is scheduled to drop at 3 p.m. Eastern time.
Who Won The NASCAR Cup Series Southern 500 at Darlington? Full Race Results