Chase Elliott holds off Denny Hamlin to win Texas NASCAR Cup race

Hendrick Motorsports now has two wins in the 2026 season, and both are courtesy of Chase Elliott. The driver of the No. 9 HMS Chevrolet now has 23 career wins, and his second Texas win in the last three years.

He finished just ahead of Denny Hamlin in second and Alex Bowman in third. Tyler Reddick, who was charging with two fresh right-side tires, finished fourth, with Chris Buescher fifth.

Daniel Suarez, Carson Hocevar, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, and Ryan Blaney filled out the remainder of the top ten.

“Man, I think, first off, thanks, everybody, for coming out,” said Elliott. “You are awesome. Great crowd as always. I have not been a huge fan of this place, and I’ve made that very obvious, but you know, to continue to work hard, and I really think this is a testament to the whole team, but not just the 9 team, but everybody at Hendrick Motorsports.

“We have not been where we’ve wanted to be throughout portions of the season. Man, everybody has just been digging in very hard, from the engine shop to Hendrick Motorsports to all the setup shops, to everybody at Team Chevy. Appreciate our partners with Napa and Prime on the car this week. Really cool to have them back. Obviously they’re coming to Charlotte races in a few weeks, to Charlotte.

“Yeah, man, just crazy. You know, to say as much as we struggled out here to have won two races here now in the last few years is pretty wild. So just super grateful for all the people that helped make this possible. Yeah, looking forward to celebrating with them.”

Stage 1

Hocevar led the race from pole, but Hamlin and Briscoe passed him about 20 laps into the race.

About halfway through the stage, green-flag pit stops got underway, and Briscoe jumped Hamlin with an undercut.

After the pit stop cycle, it was a three-way fight for the lead between the Gibbs drivers. Ultimately, Bell passed both Hamlin and Briscoe, taking command of the race.

With just 12 laps left in the stage, a shocking incident unfolded as Todd Gilliland spun at the exit of Turn 4. He slid down the track in a terrible spot, clipping the race leader, Bell. Bell slammed the outside wall, ending his race.

Hocevar won the race off pit road with a two-tire call, but five cars opted to stay out in a big gamble for stage points.

Jones held the lead for the restart, and he had enough of a buffer to keep it. He held on to win Stage 1, followed by Hocevar, Stenhouse, Gibbs, Briscoe, Busch, Allmendinger, Elliott, Byron, and Hamlin.

Stage 2

At the start of the second stage, it was Hocevar vs. Gibbs for the race lead, with Hocevar clearing him.

Byron went spinning at the exit of Turn 4, and slid down the track like Gilliland earlier. This time, the field avoided him, including a lucky escape for Joey Logano.

Unfortunately, his luck ran out soon after. On pit road, Logano slammed into the back of Cole Custer, who had come to a near-stop while trying to get into his box. Larson and Briscoe also made contact in the pits.

The damage to Logano’s car was significant, resulting in a DNF for the defending Texas race winner.

The running order again got turned on its head, and Heim was now leading a group of cars that had stayed out.

The next incident was for Gibbs, who slammed the wall after contact from Preece.

Heim continued to control the race until he finally had to pit, giving the lead to Elliott.

With just a few laps left in the stage, Larson spun on his own and slammed the Turn 2 wall.

The entire field came down pit road, except for the RFK duo of Keselowski and Preece. They led the way for a one-lap dash, hoping to gain some stage points.

Elliott blew by, winning the stage over Reddick and Hamlin, while Keselowski held on for fourth and Preece fifth. It was then Suarez, Buescher, Herbst, and Hocevar.

Stage 3

Elliott led Reddick after the restart, and things calmed down out on the track. With 60 to go, another round of green-flag pit stops got underway.

Ross Chastain, who had driven up inside the top ten, was handed a speeding penalty, and the unforced error upended a decent day for the Trackhouse driver.

Elliott finally returned to the lead with 29 laps to go as Heim pitted from the lead.

With 11 laps to go, Heim backed into the wall, bringing the entire field back together.

Reddick, running third, was the first to pit. Elliott and Hamlin stayed out, with a total of eight lead lap cars deciding not to pit. Reddick, who only took fresh right-sides, restarted ninth.

The race resumed with just four laps left. Reddick immediately went three-wide, passing several cars through Turns 1 and 2. Hamlin attempted to hang onto the door of Elliott, but the No. 9 got clear and that was essentially the race.

Coming to the white flag, Kyle Busch and John-Hunter Nemechek tangled together and the No. 42 fully crashed, but the race remained green. Nemechek got the car off the racing surface, and the event finished under green-flag conditions with Elliott taking the win.

James Gilbert / Getty Images

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Chase Elliott holds off Denny Hamlin to win Texas NASCAR Cup race

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Photos from Texas – Sunday

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing, Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing, Joey Logano, Team Penske

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing, Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing

Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports

Daniel Suárez, Spire Motorsports, Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports

Joey Logano, Team Penske

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske

Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing

Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports, Daniel Suárez, Spire Motorsports

Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports, Daniel Suárez, Spire Motorsports, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Chris Buescher, RFK Racing

Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports, Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing

Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports, Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing

Corey Heim

General view

Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing

Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports

Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports

Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing, Ryan Preece, RFK Racing

Chad Finchum

Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports; Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports

Cole Custer, Haas Factory Team

Cole Custer, Haas Factory Team

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports

Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Corey Heim

Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing

General view

Corey Heim

Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports

Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., HYAK Motorsports

Ryan Preece, RFK Racing

Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports

Chris Buescher, RFK Racing

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., HYAK Motorsports

Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing

General view

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

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