Bell opens the Cup Chase, Mustang champions emerge at COTA: Week 37
Christopher Bell wins at Darlington, Mustang Challenge champions are crowned at COTA, and Gateway anchors the Sep. 7-13 watch list.
The Sep. 1-6 window produced two clear championship signals: Christopher Bell won at Darlington to move within 12 points of the Cup lead, while Cole Loftsgard and Tom Tait secured the two Mustang Challenge titles at Circuit of The Americas. The Sep. 7-13 calendar then moves the NASCAR postseason to Gateway, with the Cup race, O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race, and ARCA Menards Series all on the weekend slate.
Christopher Bell opens the Cup Chase at Darlington
Christopher Bell won the Cook Out Southern 500 for his first victory of 2026 and his first win in 33 races. Rain altered the strategy, and Bell passed Kyle Larson with 12 laps remaining after leading 46 laps. Denny Hamlin finished 18th and William Byron finished 37th, leaving Bell second in the standings, 12 points behind Hamlin. Ryan Blaney is third, 16 points back; Tyler Reddick is fourth, 24 back; and Chase Briscoe is fifth, 37 back. 1
| Finish | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Bell 1 |
| 2 | Ty Gibbs 1 |
| 3 | Tyler Reddick 1 |
| 4 | Ryan Blaney 1 |
| 5 | Kyle Larson 1 |
| 6 | Chase Briscoe 1 |
| 7 | Josh Berry 1 |
| 8 | Bubba Wallace 1 |
| 9 | Joey Logano 1 |
| 10 | Ryan Preece 1 |
Sheldon Creed cuts the O'Reilly gap
Sheldon Creed won the Fleetio 200 at Darlington after a fast pit stop put him in front with 49 laps left. Creed won by 2.961 seconds, while Justin Allgaier hit the wall after leading 60 laps and fell to 17th. Allgaier still leads the Chase, but his margin over Creed is seven points. Corey Heim is third, 19 points behind; Austin Hill is fourth, 36 behind; and Corey Day is fifth, 46 behind. 2
| Finish | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sheldon Creed 2 |
| 2 | Corey Day 2 |
| 3 | Brent Crews 2 |
| 4 | Sammy Smith 2 |
| 5 | Austin Hill 2 |
| 6 | Anthony Alfredo 2 |
| 7 | Taylor Gray 2 |
| 8 | Sam Mayer 2 |
| 9 | Jeremy Clements 2 |
| 10 | Brandon Jones 2 |
Four cars had post-race inspection issues and will lose pit-stall selection for the next Chase race. 2
COTA decides the Mustang Challenge
Devin Anderson won both Dark Horse races at COTA. Cole Loftsgard finished second in both races and entered Race 2 as the class points leader by 120 points. Anderson won the first race ahead of Loftsgard, Will Lucas, Tate Pritt, and Sandy Satullo; Race 2 finished Anderson, Loftsgard, Lucas, Ethan Low, and Satullo. Loftsgard took the Dark Horse championship, and Round 3 Racing won the team title with 12 wins. 34
| Race | Dark Horse | Dark Horse Legends |
|---|---|---|
| Race 1 | Devin Anderson; Cole Loftsgard, Will Lucas, Tate Pritt, Sandy Satullo completed the top five. 3 | Chris Clarke; Brad McCall, Paolo Salvatore, Joseph Dederichs, Dan McKeever completed the top five. 3 |
| Race 2 | Devin Anderson; Cole Loftsgard, Will Lucas, Ethan Low, Sandy Satullo completed the top five. 4 | Brad McCall; Paolo Salvatore, Tom Tait, Chris Clarke, Joseph Dederichs completed the top five. 4 |
Tom Tait won the Dark Horse Legends championship. Tait moved from third to first in Race 2, then received a post-race penalty that moved him back to third; the result still gave him enough points for the title. 4
Regional results
- World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, Huset's Speedway, Sep. 6: Emerson Axsom led every lap of the 40-lap L.G. Everist Huset's Shootout for his first World of Outlaws win. Michael Kofoid finished second, 0.527 seconds back; David Gravel was third, Carson Macedo fourth, and Spencer Bayston fifth. Three red flags in the final five scheduled laps and a last-lap incident extended the feature to 41 laps. Axsom entered the race 12th in points and became the series' fifth first-time winner of the season. 5
- NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Oswego Speedway, Sep. 5: Patrick Emerling won the Toyota Mod Classic 150 by 2.027 seconds over Jonathan McKennedy. Tyler Rypkema, Teddy Hodgdon, and Michael Christopher Jr. completed the top five; Austin Beers, Eric Goodale, Matt Hirschman, Paulie Hartwig III, and Stephen Kopcik completed the top 10. 6
- ARCA Menards Series West, All American Speedway, Sep. 5: Ethan Nascimento won the NAPA Auto Parts 150 by 0.038 seconds over Trevor Huddleston after starting at the rear and passing Huddleston late. Hailie Deegan finished third, followed by Robbie Kennealy and Will Robinson; Cole Denton, Eric Johnson Jr., Andrew Chapman, Josiah Reaume, and Donald Witkowski completed the top 10. 78
Drag racing status
The latest official NHRA U.S. Nationals update available at the 20:00 UTC production cutoff listed these final-round pairings: Shawn Langdon versus Tony Stewart in Top Fuel, Jack Beckman versus Matt Hagan in Funny Car, Dallas Glenn versus Jeg Coughlin Jr. in Pro Stock, and Matt Smith versus Angie Smith in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Doug Kalitta had already clinched the Top Fuel regular-season title, Matt Hagan had clinched the Funny Car regular-season title, and Richard Gadson had clinched the Pro Stock Motorcycle regular-season title. The official update had not yet posted the four final winners at the cutoff. 9
Announcements and rules
Riley Herbst will move to Legacy Motor Club's No. 84 Toyota for 2027, with Monster Energy following him. 23XI Racing named Corey Heim for Herbst's current No. 35, Erik Jones will return to the No. 43, and Legacy plans to field three full-time cars. 10
Jayski, attributing its report to The Athletic and anonymous sources, reported that Legacy and John Hunter Nemechek will part ways after the 2026 season. The report remains attributed reporting rather than an official team confirmation. 11
Darlington's lightning and weather canceled practice and qualifying. NASCAR used the Rule Book inclement-weather metric for the starting lineup: 70% of the prior race finish and 30% of current owner points. The race used the low-downforce, higher-horsepower package, 12 new tire sets, and stage lengths of 115, 115, and 137 laps. Ryan Blaney's No. 12 failed inspection twice and lost pit-stall selection. 12
Sep. 7-13 watch list, in UTC
The NASCAR weekend at Gateway supplies the main national-racing checkpoint. The listed times below come from NASCAR's current TV guide and have been converted from Eastern Time to UTC. 13
| Date and UTC time | Event and venue | Broadcast | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat. Sep. 12, 15:00 | NASCAR Youth Series, American Quarter Midget Association | FloRacing | Youth-series action opens the weekend. 13 |
| Sat. Sep. 12, 17:00 | O'Reilly Auto Parts Series practice and qualifying, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway | ESPN Unlimited | The second Chase race's starting order is set. 13 |
| Sat. Sep. 12, 19:30 | Cup practice and qualifying, Gateway | truTV | Watch whether the title contenders convert the first Darlington form into speed at Gateway. 13 |
| Sat. Sep. 12, 23:00 | Countdown Live | The CW | The pre-race program leads into the O'Reilly race. 13 |
| Sat. Sep. 12, 23:30 | O'Reilly Nu Way 225, Gateway | The CW | Creed's seven-point deficit to Allgaier heads into the next Chase round. 13 |
| Sun. Sep. 13, 00:00 | ARCA Menards Series Spruce 212, Salem Speedway | FOX | The West series' next national ARCA race is a separate title-track checkpoint. 13 |
| Sun. Sep. 13, 18:30 | USA Sports pre-race | USA Network | Cup coverage begins before the Gateway green flag. 13 |
| Sun. Sep. 13, 19:00 | Cup Enjoy Illinois 300, Gateway | USA Network | Hamlin leads Bell by 12 points after Darlington, with Blaney, Reddick, and Briscoe close behind. 113 |
World of Outlaws Sprint Cars visit Dodge City Raceway Park in Kansas on Sat. Sep. 12, live on DIRTVision. The official preview gives the venue and streaming outlet but does not list a start time. 14
SCCA's current track-events page lists Reno Track Day and Time Attack 3-4 at Thunderhill Raceway Park on Sep. 12-13, plus Texas Region Time Trials, Track Day, and HPDE No. 7 at MotorSport Ranch Cresson on Sep. 13. The page lists no event times or broadcasts for either amateur event. 15
The quickest scan for the week is Gateway on Saturday night and Sunday evening, followed by the ARCA Salem race immediately after the O'Reilly broadcast in the UTC calendar. Cup fans should carry the Darlington points gaps into Gateway; drag-racing fans should check the NHRA result page for the U.S. Nationals winners once the official update is posted.
References
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5Axsom wins first World of Outlaws race at Huset's
husetsspeedway.com
- 6Toyota Mod Classic 150 at Oswego results
nascar.com
- 7NAPA Auto Parts 150 results at All American Speedway
arcaracing.com
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14World of Outlaws preview for Dodge City Raceway Park
worldofoutlaws.com
- 15SCCA track events calendar
scca.com
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