Chase Briscoe, driver of the #19 Freebird Spring Water Toyota, poses with the winner sticker on his car in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway – (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Chase Briscoe wins back-to-back races for the first time in his career
CONCORD, N.C. (October 11, 2026) – Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell
battled to the line with the Indiana-native coming on top by mere inches
to win consecutive races for the first time in his Cup Series career.
Briscoe took the lead on the final pit stop and drove away on the final
restart. With a tire going down, he battled through it in the final laps
to hold off his teammate, Bell, at the line.
Joe Gibbs Racing had a strong day with Briscoe, Bell and Denny Hamlin
(fifth) finishing in top-five, while Tyler Reddick was scored in eighth.
Toyota Development Driver Corey Heim drove from 37th starting position
to 11that the finish.
For Toyota, it was the 17th victory of the season, which is the
second-most victories in a single season (19 – 2019). Toyota looks to
clinch its fourth Manufacturers’ title, and first since 2019, in
Phoenix.
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Race 32 of 36 – 400.5 miles, 267 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, CHASE BRISCOE
2nd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
_3rd, Ryan Blaney*_
_4th, Josh Berry*_
5th, DENNY HAMLIN
8th, TYLER REDDICK
11th, COREY HEIM
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Freebird Spring Water Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
_How special is this victory today?_
“Very, very special. I think this is only the second ever time that
all of us have been at a win. Super special to be able to experience
these type of things with family. It is awesome when you win, but they
are on the grind with us and for them to be here and experience this is
memories that will be forever for me. Really cool day to get to victory
lane with them here, my grandparents are here and I don’t think they
have been to a race since 2019. Really cool just to have everyone here.
Really cool to be here at home – a lot of our crew guys, their
families are here – pit crew guys families are here. There is just a
lot of pride winning here, amazing day. Super cool to get Free Bird in
victory lane. They’ve only done three races so to get them in victory
lane on the third time – I’m pretty thankful. This Camry looked
great out there.”
_How close did the end feel? _
“Yeah, when Christopher (Bell) got into me off of (turn) four, I kind
of got sideways, and I thought I was going to wreck. I’m like I am
going to get beat to the line, so I assume he got really sideways too.
My right front was coming apart. Another lap I thought we were going to
blow a right front tire. I’m glad that we won, but I wish they
weren’t so stressful. I don’t have very much hair to begin with, but
I’m definitely losing it really quickly. Just an awesome day and
really cool to end up in victory lane.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
_How do you come to terms with how that race finished then?_
“I got a lot closer than I thought I was going to.”
_Is this the missed opportunity you guys needed to go for the title, or
will you have opportunities as we head to Phoenix and beyond?_
“I mean, we should be really good at the next couple of races. Yeah,
hopefully we can keep bringing these fast race cars and see what
happens.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Insurance Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
_What were you fighting with the race car at the end?_
“Just the long run speed and obviously tanked there the last 15 laps
or so. Just didn’t have the long run speed that we needed. I thought the
short run was okay. It was decent. But I felt like we were a lot better
when it was daytime, and then once it cooled off and the track got a
little bit faster, we just lost the edge that we had.”
_What was going on with your placement of the car in the pit stall?_
“Just putting on the sign there. Not really sure, but I feel like
just I wish we would have qualified. I certainly felt like we could have
got a little better pit selection there and wouldn’t have had the 88.
But they worked with us the whole race, Connor (Zilisch) and his team
pitted the second time by a couple times. I appreciate that. Yeah, we’ve
got to pick up the performance.”
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