JOLIET, Ill. — Chase Briscoe held off Christopher Bell on Sunday night in NASCAR’s return to Chicagoland Speedway, racing to his first Cup Series victory of the season.
Briscoe was followed closely by Bell in the final laps on the 1.5-mile oval about 50 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. But Bell was unable to run down his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.
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The 31-year-old Briscoe, an Indiana native, celebrated his sixth career win with a burnout before standing in the window of his car and waving to the sellout crowd.
It was Bell’s fourth runner-up finish this season. He raced with a splint on his arm as he continues his recovery after breaking his left wrist in a crash at Michigan on June 7.
Denny Hamlin, who started on the pole, was third. William Byron, who won two stages while leading a race-high 94 laps, and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.
NASCAR ran 19 Cup races in Joliet before pulling out after the 2019 season. It tried to build interest in the event in a crowded sports market, but the race struggled with attendance.
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After racing on a street course in downtown Chicago each of the previous three years, NASCAR decided to go back to Chicagoland — eager to see how the Next Gen cars would do on the rough and bumpy asphalt at the facility. Rain on Friday and Saturday caused some parking issues, but the racing was compelling.
Driving a “Space Jam”-themed car in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Looney Tunes movie, Bubba Wallace was sixth in his No. 23 Toyota Camry. Wallace is part of the 23XI Racing team that is co-owned by Michael Jordan, one of the stars of the 1996 movie.
Ryan Blaney was seventh in his seventh consecutive top-10 finish. Ty Gibbs, Corey Heim and Riley Herbst completed the top 10.
Led by Briscoe, Bell and Hamlin, Toyota accounted for seven of the top 10 cars — continuing a strong season for the manufacturer.
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Tyler Reddick’s championship hopes were damaged by an oil leak with about 32 laps left in Stage 2. There was a long caution while Reddick’s 23XI Racing crew worked on his No. 45 Toyota in the garage, replacing the radiator because of a hole.
Reddick, who won the first three races of the season, finished 36th. He trails Hamlin by 44 points at the top of Cup standings after he was down by one going into the weekend.
Kyle Larson also had a rough day after qualifying second behind Hamlin. He was in third place when he spun out of Turn 4 on Lap 93. He drove his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into the wet infield grass and had to be pulled out of the mud.
Larson finished 34th, extending his winless drought to 43 races. He finished second in each of the previous two Cup races at Chicagoland.
