Briscoe beats Bell by 0.029 at Charlotte, Day and Riggs close in, Quintero takes the rally title: Week 42
Chase Briscoe edges Christopher Bell by 0.029 seconds at Charlotte, Corey Day and Layne Riggs cut into their series leads, and Seth Quintero wins the American Rally Association title in the season finale.
Chase Briscoe won the Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 11, holding off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell by 0.029 seconds in the closest Cup Series finish of 2026. 1 The margin is the second-closest in the 1.5-mile track's history, and it delivered Briscoe his second straight Chase win and his third victory of the season. 1
The 0.029 seconds changed the championship table. Had Bell won, he would have climbed to second, 35 points behind Kyle Larson; he stays third instead, 51 back. Briscoe moved up two places to fourth, 65 behind. 1
The support series closed their own gaps. Corey Day won the rain-postponed O'Reilly race at Charlotte with a three-wide pass, cutting Sheldon Creed's lead to seven points, and Layne Riggs passed Kaden Honeycutt with six laps left in Friday's Truck race to close within 17. 23
Elsewhere, SRO America finished its US season with the Indianapolis 8 Hour, and Seth Quintero won the American Rally Association title at the Lake Superior Performance Rally after a puncture ended Lia Block's run. 45 Results below cover Oct. 5-11; the watch list covers Oct. 12-18, with times converted to UTC.
Cup: Briscoe beats Bell by 0.029 in the closest finish of 2026
Briscoe's No. 19 Toyota led only 62 of the 267 laps, but 61 of them came on the final run. He was out of the lead when Tyler Reddick's spin collected Gray Gaulding on Lap 206, then beat Bell off pit road when it mattered and controlled the last 57 laps. 1
Bell made it close anyway. He led three times for 93 laps and won Stage 2, then caught Briscoe in traffic over the final five laps. The two banged fenders off Turn 4 on the last lap and drag-raced to the line. 1
Larson won Stage 1 from the pole and led five times for 97 laps, but his car went loose on the final run and he slid from fourth to sixth. He still left with his points lead over Denny Hamlin up from 40 to 49. 1 Hamlin finished fifth but served a safety-violation penalty on his first stop, which cost him all Stage 1 points. 1
Two Chase drivers lost their day through no fault of their own. On Lap 41 Ty Gibbs broke a right-rear toe link in a restart stack-up and spun into Brad Keselowski, then lost eight laps of repairs and finished 34th. On Lap 77, non-Chase driver Alex Bowman lost his No. 48 Chevrolet underneath Bubba Wallace, sending both hard into the Turn 2 wall; William Byron was collected, and all three were out. 16
Rain washed out Saturday practice and qualifying, so the grid was set by the rule book and NASCAR threw a competition caution in the opening run. Post-race inspection closed with no issues. 1
| Finish | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Chase Briscoe 6 |
| 2 | Christopher Bell, +0.029 6 |
| 3 | Ryan Blaney, +4.900 6 |
| 4 | Josh Berry, +5.760 6 |
| 5 | Denny Hamlin, +5.884 6 |
| 6 | Kyle Larson, +10.133 6 |
| 7 | Shane van Gisbergen, +13.024 6 |
| 8 | Tyler Reddick, +16.800 6 |
| 9 | Joey Logano, +20.269 6 |
| 10 | Chris Buescher, +20.519 6 |
Charlotte was the sixth of ten Chase races, and the 2026 format is a straight ten-race points battle with no eliminations; the champion is decided at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 8. 1 Blaney is fifth, 85 back, and Logano fell two spots to sixth, 92 back. 6
| Pos. | Driver | Behind Larson 6 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Larson | Leader 6 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | −49 6 |
| 3 | Christopher Bell | −51 6 |
| 4 | Chase Briscoe | −65 6 |
| 5 | Ryan Blaney | −85 6 |
| 6 | Joey Logano | −92 6 |
| 7 | Tyler Reddick | −114 6 |
| 8 | Austin Cindric | −145 6 |
| 9 | Ty Gibbs | −156 6 |
| 10 | Carson Hocevar | −180 6 |
| 11 | Bubba Wallace | −185 6 |
| 12 | Chase Elliott | −185 6 |
| 13 | William Byron | −208 6 |
| 14 | Daniel Suárez | −215 6 |
| 15 | Chris Buescher | −216 6 |
| 16 | Ryan Preece | −227 6 |
The Cup Series moves to Phoenix Raceway on Oct. 18 for the Freeway Insurance 500, the seventh Chase race. Green flag is 19:00 UTC on USA Network and HBO Max. 7
O'Reilly: Day's three-wide pass cuts Creed's lead to seven
Corey Day won from the front row, gave the lead away in the pits, and took it back with a move that decided the race. With 10 laps left he drove his No. 17 Chevrolet three-wide beneath Jesse Love's No. 2 and Justin Allgaier's No. 7 on the backstretch, clearing both, and beat Love to the line by 0.728 seconds. 2
Day made it hard on himself. He won Stage 1, then drove through too many pit boxes on the stage break and restarted 30th on Lap 54. By the end of Stage 2 he was seventh, and his fourth career win took him two places up the standings to third. 2
Allgaier won Stage 2 and led from a Lap 164 restart to Lap 183, but his car tightened on the last set of tires and he scraped the Turn 4 wall with 17 laps to go, letting Love and Day past. Series leader Sheldon Creed passed him on the final lap for third. 2
Polesitter Carson Kvapil came to Charlotte second in the standings, 19 points behind Creed. A cut right-rear tire and wall contact left him 32nd, 29 laps down, and he dropped three places to fifth. 2
| Finish | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Corey Day 8 |
| 2 | Jesse Love, +0.728 8 |
| 3 | Sheldon Creed, +2.992 8 |
| 4 | Justin Allgaier, +3.029 8 |
| 5 | Carson Brown, +3.177 8 |
| 6 | Brandon Jones, +4.073 8 |
| 7 | Austin Hill, +4.514 8 |
| 8 | Anthony Alfredo, +5.465 8 |
| 9 | Taylor Gray, +5.556 8 |
| 10 | Brennan Poole, +5.830 8 |
The race was postponed from Saturday to Sunday night by weather, then confirmed by post-race inspection. Two cars, the Nos. 26 and 39, were cited for one lug nut not safe and secure and will lose pit selection at Phoenix. 2
| Pos. | Driver | Behind Creed 8 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheldon Creed | Leader 8 |
| 2 | Jesse Love | −2 8 |
| 3 | Corey Day | −7 8 |
| 4 | Justin Allgaier | −15 8 |
| 5 | Carson Kvapil | −40 8 |
| 6 | Sam Mayer | −59 8 |
| 7 | Taylor Gray | −87 8 |
| 8 | Austin Hill | −94 8 |
| 9 | Sammy Smith | −106 8 |
| 10 | Parker Retzlaff | −126 8 |
| 11 | Brandon Jones | −141 8 |
| 12 | Rajah Caruth | −180 8 |
The O'Reilly Chase continues with the Timberland PRO 200 at Phoenix Raceway on Oct. 17. Green flag is 23:30 UTC on The CW and ESPN Unlimited. 2
Truck: Riggs closes on Honeycutt with a Lap 128 pass
Layne Riggs started 13th, won Stage 1, and then spent the night chasing Kaden Honeycutt off pit road. He got the lead for good on Lap 128 of 134, when Honeycutt's No. 11 Toyota broke loose in the top lane and tagged the wall with its right rear. 3
It was Riggs's seventh win of 2026 and the 12th of his career, and it made up for Kansas two weeks earlier, where he hit the wall while running second and finished 19th. He is now 17 points behind Honeycutt. 3
Christian Eckes finished second for the second straight week and stays fourth, 88 points back; Chandler Smith came home fifth and trails by 77. The race ran under five cautions and one 12-minute, 58-second red flag for an eight-truck wreck on Lap 118 that eliminated two of the five Kyle Busch tribute trucks in the field. 3
| Finish | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Layne Riggs 9 |
| 2 | Christian Eckes, +0.596 9 |
| 3 | Kaden Honeycutt, +1.748 9 |
| 4 | Bayley Currey, +3.034 9 |
| 5 | Chandler Smith, +4.835 9 |
| 6 | Daniel Hemric, +5.660 9 |
| 7 | Landen Lewis, +6.165 9 |
| 8 | Andrés Pérez de Lara, +7.171 9 |
| 9 | Tyler Ankrum, +7.727 9 |
| 10 | Justin Haley, +8.929 9 |
| Pos. | Driver | Behind Honeycutt 9 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaden Honeycutt | Leader 9 |
| 2 | Layne Riggs | −17 9 |
| 3 | Chandler Smith | −77 9 |
| 4 | Christian Eckes | −88 9 |
| 5 | Daniel Hemric | −109 9 |
| 6 | Gio Ruggiero | −115 9 |
| 7 | Ty Majeski | −116 9 |
| 8 | Ben Rhodes | −136 9 |
| 9 | Grant Enfinger | −140 9 |
| 10 | Tyler Ankrum | −153 9 |
The Truck Chase resumes at Phoenix Raceway on Oct. 16 with the Zero Carbon Bioethanol 150 Powered by POET. Green flag is 23:30 UTC on FS2 and FOX Business. 3
SRO America: GMG wins Indianapolis 8 Hour, Turner takes the Pro title
GMG Racing's No. 32 Porsche 911 GT3 R won the eight-hour race outright by 56 seconds, the largest margin in the event's history, and clinched the Pro-Am drivers' title for Kyle Washington. He shared the car with Riccardo Pera and Ayhancan Güven. 10
Turner Motorsport's No. 29 BMW M4 GT3 EVO finished third overall and won the Pro class, giving Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg a third consecutive GT World Challenge America championship and the team its first in Pro. Connor De Phillippi joined them for the endurance round. 4
MAD Joker Racing's No. 11 Mercedes-AMG won the Am class, but Jay Schreibman took a second straight Am championship in AF Corse USA's Ferrari. JMF Motorsports driver Maxime Martin secured the Intercontinental GT Challenge drivers' title. 10
| Class | Indianapolis 8 Hour winner | 2026 champion |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW 4 | Foley / Rothberg, No. 29 4 |
| Pro-Am (overall) | No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 10 | Kyle Washington, No. 32 10 |
| Am | No. 11 MAD Joker Racing Mercedes-AMG 10 | Jay Schreibman, AF Corse USA 10 |
The same weekend closed GT America's season with two races at Indianapolis. Peter Dempsey swept both in Risi Competizione's Maserati MC20 GT2, while Memo Gidley finished second in the finale and closed his SRO3 championship year with 10 wins, tied for the most in a single GT America season. Damir Hot swept GT4; Craig Lumsden took that class title and David Lecko won the Cup class. 11 SRO's US season is over, and the 2027 opener is at Sonoma Raceway on April 2-4. 10 IMSA's own season had already ended with Petit Le Mans a week earlier.
Rally: Quintero takes the ARA title as Block's puncture ends her run
Subaru's Conner Martell and co-driver Ross Whittock won the Lake Superior Performance Rally overall, standing in for the injured Travis Pastrana. 12
The national championship went the other way. Seth Quintero and co-driver James Morgan took the 2026 American Rally Association title when a double puncture stopped Lia Block two corners from the end of the final stage of the final round. 5
Short tracks: a rookie spoils the coronation at Thompson
- Whelen Modified Tour, World Series 150, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Oct. 10: Rookie Teddy Hodgdon IV passed champion-to-be Patrick Emerling with 33 laps left and won ahead of Matt Hirschman and Emerling. It was Hodgdon's second win of his rookie season, after Stafford in September, and he also took Rookie of the Year. Emerling's title run included five wins and a season-high 11 top-fives. 13
- Super DIRT Week 54, Big Block Modified 200, Oswego Speedway, Oct. 10: Darren Smith won the 200-lap feature after Matt Sheppard ran out of fuel while leading with three laps left. Mat Williamson led onto the final lap before Smith drove around him on the outside; Alex Yankowski was third. Tim McCreadie returned to the Super DIRTcar Series. 14
- World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, Buckeye Brawl finale, Sharon Speedway, Oct. 10: Sheldon Haudenschild came from 10th to win the $18,000, 30-lap feature, passing Logan Schuchart off Turn 4. David Gravel was third and polesitter Donny Schatz fifth. The three-race Ohio swing ran at Millstream on Oct. 8, Mansfield on Oct. 9 and Sharon on Oct. 10. 15
- High Limit Racing, Lakeside Speedway, Oct. 10: Giovanni Scelzi won, and points leader Rico Abreu was disqualified after his crew added fuel to his damaged car under yellow following a Lap 8 crash that flipped Aaron Reutzel and Joel Myers Jr. Abreu takes a 45-point lead over Scelzi into the Oct. 16-17 finale at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. 16
Announcements and rules
- Kasey Kahne is coming back. The 18-time Cup winner will run the full 2027 Truck season in Spire Motorsports' No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado RST. 1718
- Cole Custer stays in Cup. Haas Factory Team confirmed Custer in the No. 41 Chevrolet for 2027, ending talk he would drop back to the O'Reilly series. 17
- Tyler Ankrum is moving on. Ankrum told JosephSrigley.com at Charlotte that he will not return to McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in 2027 and has been linked to O'Reilly seats. 17
- Harrison Burton to Peterson Racing. Burton will drive the No. 78 Chevrolet in the O'Reilly series in 2027, alongside Lee Pulliam in the No. 87, with the team moving onto the Richard Childress Racing campus. 17
- Austin Cindric is staying put. Cindric confirmed at Charlotte that he keeps the No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse in 2027. 17
- Jeb Burton and Brennan Poole are both in play. Burton moves from Jordan Anderson Racing to RSS Racing's No. 22 Chevrolet in 2027; Poole has told Alpha Prime Racing he will not return and has been linked to Jordan Anderson Racing. 17
- Inspection cost Cole Custer's team at Charlotte. His No. 41 failed pre-race inspection twice, which under NASCAR's ladder means an ejected crew member for the weekend and the loss of pit selection. 19
The week ahead, Oct. 12-18, in UTC
- Fri Oct. 16, 19:30 UTC: Truck practice and qualifying, Phoenix Raceway, FS2. 7
- Fri Oct. 16, 23:30 UTC: Truck Chase, Zero Carbon Bioethanol 150 Powered by POET, Phoenix Raceway, FS2 and FOX Business. 7
- Fri Oct. 16 — Sat Oct. 17: High Limit Racing championship finale, Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. 20
- Sat Oct. 17, 01:00 UTC: NHRA Texas FallNationals opens its pro qualifying with two rounds under the lights, Texas Motorplex, Ennis, Texas, FS1. 21
- Sat Oct. 17, 17:00 and 19:30 UTC: NHRA final Nitro qualifying, Texas Motorplex. 21
- Sat Oct. 17, 18:00 UTC: O'Reilly practice and qualifying, Phoenix Raceway, ESPN Unlimited. 7
- Sat Oct. 17, 20:30 UTC: Cup practice and qualifying, Phoenix Raceway, truTV and HBO Max. 7
- Sat Oct. 17, 23:30 UTC: O'Reilly Chase, Timberland PRO 200, Phoenix Raceway, The CW and ESPN Unlimited. 7
- Sun Oct. 18, 03:00 UTC: ARCA Menards Series West, West Valley 100, Phoenix Raceway, FloRacing. 722
- Sun Oct. 18, 17:00 UTC: NHRA Texas FallNationals eliminations begin with Top Fuel, Texas Motorplex; FS1's finals show follows at 20:00 UTC. 2123
- Sun Oct. 18, 19:00 UTC: Cup Chase, Freeway Insurance 500, Phoenix Raceway, USA Network and HBO Max. 7
References
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4Turner Motorsport Wins Indianapolis 8 Hour, GTWC Pro Championship
gt-world-challenge-america.com
- 5
- 6Charlotte Cup race results (Oct. 11, 2026)
racingnews.co
- 7NASCAR weekly listings guide
nascar.com
- 8Charlotte O'Reilly race results (Oct. 11, 2026)
racingnews.co
- 9Charlotte Truck race results (Oct. 9, 2026)
racingnews.co
- 10Turner Motorsport and GMG Racing Crowned Champions After Dramatic DESDER Indianapolis 8 Hour Finale
gt-world-challenge-america.com
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14Oswego Super DIRT Week results (Oct. 10, 2026)
racingnews.co
- 15Sharon World of Outlaws results (Oct. 10, 2026)
racingnews.co
- 16
- 172027 NASCAR Silly Season Blog
josephsrigley.com
- 18Kasey Kahne returns to NASCAR full-time in 2027
racingnews.co
- 19NASCAR Inspection Issues: Charlotte (October 2026)
racingnews.co
- 20Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing Championship
texasmotorspeedway.com
- 212026 Texas NHRA FallNationals Event Guide
app.nhra.com
- 222026 ARCA Menards Series West schedule
arcaracing.com
- 23Texas NHRA FallNationals
nhra.com
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