TC Daily Pit Stop: Chase Elliott Holds Off Denny Hamlin For Texas Win On Late-Race Restart; Bell and Logano See Days End Early
TC Daily Pit Stop: Monday, May 4, 2026
Chase Elliott Holds Off Denny Hamlin For Texas Win On Late-Race Restart
Chase Elliott led a race-high 87 laps in Sunday’s Wurth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, and while we’ll never know how a green flag run would have played out to end the race, Elliott had to endure a late-race restart with four laps to go.
And on that restart, Denny Hamlin, who had been catching Elliott on track prior to the caution, got a phenomenal initial jump. As Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota began to nose ahead of Elliott down the frontstretch, Elliott got a little bit of a boost.
Alex Bowman, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, gave Elliott a shove heading into Turn 1. This allowed Elliott to carry extra speed through Turns 1 and 2, which allowed him to clear Hamlin on the exit of Turn 2.
From there, Elliott just had to keep one eye on the mirror and one eye on the road ahead. Elliott would cross the finish line to take his second win of the season, and 23rd career win, over Hamlin by a margin of 0.407 seconds.
This is the earliest in a season that Elliott has ever notched multiple wins in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Alex Bowman finished third, Tyler Reddick, who took two tires on the final caution of the race, finished fourth, and Chris Buescher was the highest-finishing Ford in fifth.
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OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS
RACE HIGHLIGHTS
Christopher Bell Crashes From Lead After Being Clipped By Gilliland
Christopher Bell’s horrendous luck in 2026 continued Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. After leading 22 of the opening 68 laps of the Wurth 400, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota crashed from the lead when Todd Gilliland, a lapped car, spun out in front of him.
Bell attempted to squeeze by, but Gilliland barely clipped his right rear, which sent Bell into the wall and out of the race.
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Defending Texas Winner Logano Done For Day After Pit Road Crash
As Joey Logano exited his pit stall, and attempted to blend into the outside lane of cars trying to exit pit road, Cole Custer came to a stop ahead of him as he noticed Ty Gibbs exiting his pit stall.
Logano couldn’t react in time, and slammed into the back of Custer’s car, which ended his day early.
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UPDATED CHASE GRID
With 15 races remaining until the start of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase for the Championship, Tyler Reddick continues to hold a seemingly insurmountable point lead. Chase Elliott climbed to third in the standings with his win on Sunday at Texas.
Chase Briscoe suffered a disappointing 23rd-place finish, but it was still enough to move him inside of the Chase cutline by seven points. Joey Logano, who finished 37th after a pit road crash, fell outside of the top-16 at Texas.
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