Logano steals Bristol, Larson takes the Cup lead, WRT breaks through at Indy: Week 39
Kyle Larson leaves Bristol with a one-point Cup lead after Joey Logano's last-lap pass, Sheldon Creed takes over the O'Reilly Chase, and IMSA's Indianapolis weekend sets up a four-class finale at Road Atlanta.
The two weeks from Sep. 7 through Sep. 20 settled two championship fights and left a third waiting on Michigan rain. Kyle Larson broke a 51-race winless streak at Gateway, then finished second to Joey Logano at Bristol and took the Cup Series points lead for the first time in 2026, by a single point. Sheldon Creed left Bristol on top of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series standings, and IMSA closed its sprint season at Indianapolis with the first win for BMW's new factory team. NHRA's Countdown to the Championship opened at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park, where Sunday's eliminations were rained out and pushed to Monday, Sep. 21.
Cup: Larson ends his drought at Gateway, Logano steals Bristol
Kyle Larson won the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Sep. 13, his first Cup victory since May 11, 2025, at Kansas. Larson passed Joey Logano out of a Lap 228 restart and held off Alex Bowman by 0.333 seconds through two overtimes, in a race that set a track record with 18 cautions covering 87 laps. Five Chase drivers — Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suárez, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe — were in the garage before the end, with Blaney and Buescher both losing brake rotors. 1
| Finish | Driver |
| ---: | --- | --- |
| 1 | Kyle Larson 1 |
| 2 | Alex Bowman 1 |
| 3 | Joey Logano 1 |
| 4 | William Byron 1 |
| 5 | Ross Chastain 1 |
| 6 | Austin Dillon 1 |
| 7 | Connor Zilisch 1 |
| 8 | Carson Hocevar 1 |
| 9 | Denny Hamlin 1 |
| 10 | Austin Cindric 1 |
Logano led a race-high 96 laps and won Stage 1; Larson led 80 and took Stage 2. Hamlin's ninth place kept him in front at Gateway, nine points clear of Larson, with Christopher Bell third, 18 back. 1
A week later at Bristol, Logano won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Sep. 19 by threading the bottom lane past three cars on Lap 494 of 500. It was his third Bristol victory, his third win of the season and the 40th of his career, tying Mark Martin for 20th on the all-time list. Larson finished second, passing Carson Hocevar off Turn 4 on the last lap, and took the points lead by one point over Hamlin — the first time Hendrick Motorsports has led the Cup standings in 2026. 23
Ryan Blaney led a race-high 202 laps and was running second when Hocevar drove into him in Turn 1 on Lap 457. Blaney's car was too damaged to continue, and he finished 33rd, dropping three places to sixth in the standings, 52 points back. The two traded punches on pit road afterward. Ty Gibbs led 120 laps in an M&M's paint scheme honoring the late Kyle Busch and finished fifth. Post-race inspection closed without issue. 2
| Finish | Driver |
| ---: | --- | --- |
| 1 | Joey Logano 2 |
| 2 | Kyle Larson 2 |
| 3 | Carson Hocevar 2 |
| 4 | Christopher Bell 2 |
| 5 | Ty Gibbs 2 |
| 6 | Josh Berry 2 |
| 7 | Bubba Wallace 2 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin 2 |
| 9 | William Byron 2 |
| 10 | Ryan Preece 2 |
Bristol's result cut nobody from the championship, because the 2026 format does not eliminate anyone. The Chase is a ten-race points battle across all three national series, and the title is decided at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. 4
| Pos. | Driver | Behind Larson 5 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Larson | Leader 5 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | −1 5 |
| 3 | Joey Logano | −16 5 |
| 4 | Christopher Bell | −17 5 |
| 5 | Ty Gibbs | −42 5 |
| 6 | Ryan Blaney | −52 5 |
| 7 | Tyler Reddick | −61 5 |
| 8 | Carson Hocevar | −85 5 |
| 9 | Chase Briscoe | −87 5 |
| 10 | Bubba Wallace | −92 5 |
| 11 | Austin Cindric | −116 5 |
| 12 | Chase Elliott | −117 5 |
| 13 | William Byron | −121 5 |
| 14 | Ryan Preece | −124 5 |
| 15 | Chris Buescher | −124 5 |
| 16 | Daniel Suárez | −134 5 |
O'Reilly and Trucks: Creed takes the Chase lead, Garcia wins his first
Jesse Love won the Nu Way 225 at Gateway on Sep. 12, his first O'Reilly win of 2026 and the fourth of his career, taking the lead from Carson Kvapil with 16 laps left and beating Sheldon Creed by 0.896 seconds. Creed left Gateway leading the Chase by three points over top-seeded Justin Allgaier, with Kvapil nine back and Love fourth. 6
Creed answered at Bristol on Sep. 18, winning the Food City 300 in overtime. Crew chief Jonathan Toney called him in for fresh tires on Lap 280, and Creed used them to pass William Sawalich on the Lap 304 restart and win by 0.253 seconds, his third win of the year and second in three Chase races. Allgaier finished fourth after Love ran him into the outside wall on the Lap 286 restart and then went to Love's car to ask why; Love finished 17th and sits fourth in the standings, 41 points behind Creed. Kvapil led a race-high 156 laps before pitting with smoke from his car and finishing 24th, third in points at 37 back. 7
| Finish | Nu Way 225, Gateway 6 | Food City 300, Bristol 7 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jesse Love | Sheldon Creed |
| 2 | Sheldon Creed | William Sawalich |
| 3 | Sam Mayer | Brent Crews |
| 4 | Taylor Gray | Justin Allgaier |
| 5 | Carson Kvapil | Corey Day |
The Truck Series opened its own Chase at Bristol on Sep. 17, and Jake Garcia took it. Driving the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford, Garcia passed Stewart Friesen on Lap 230 of 250 and won for the first time in his 94th start, 1.305 seconds ahead of Bayley Currey, who was making his first Truck start of the season. Tristan McKee, at 16, finished fifth — the youngest top-five finisher in series history — and no Chase driver finished better than sixth. 8
Top-seeded Layne Riggs won the first two stages and led the opening 135 laps from the pole, then lost two laps to a loose right rear wheel and finished 32nd, 16 laps down. The stage points were enough to keep him ahead of Kaden Honeycutt by three points. Chandler Smith finished 24th after a speeding penalty and a tire issue and sits third, 30 back; Christian Eckes dropped four places to eighth after early front-end damage. 8
IMSA: WRT's first win closes the sprint season
Sheldon van der Linde passed Earl Bamber into Turn 12 with five and a half minutes left in Sunday's TireRack.com Battle On The Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, giving BMW M Team WRT its first IMSA victory in the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 he shared with Dries Vanthoor. The race ran two hours and 40 minutes, down from the six hours of 2025. Bamber and Jack Aitken finished second, 2.926 seconds back, and Aitken leads Laurin Heinrich by 147 points. 9
Era Motorsport won LMP2 with Nick Boulle and Christian Rasmussen, and Inter Europol Competition leads CrowdStrike Racing by APR in that class by a fraction of a point. Ford's No. 64 Mustang GT3 of Dennis Olsen and Ben Barker won GTD PRO and moved Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner into the class points lead. Turner Motorsport's No. 96 BMW of Patrick Gallagher and Robby Foley won GTD by 0.501 seconds for the team's first win in more than two years. The season ends with the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Saturday, Oct. 3. 9
The Michelin Pilot Challenge raced the same weekend, and a one-lap dash decided both classes. Michael Cooper passed Mike Skeen into Turn 7 on the final lap to win Grand Sport with co-driver Moisey Uretsky in the No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsport McLaren, a second straight Indy win for the pair. Behind them, the No. 95 Turner BMW of Dillon Machavern and Luca Mars stopped on the last lap and fell from 10th to 17th, giving the GS points lead to Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer of AutoTechnic Racing by 40 points. In Touring Car, Tyler Gonzalez and Steven Clemons won again in the No. 99 Cupra, while Denis Dupont and Preston Brown finished second and cut their deficit to teammates Bryson Morris and Mason Filippi to 200 points. 10
NHRA: Indy's winners are settled, the Countdown opener is not
The U.S. Nationals finished with Shawn Langdon winning Top Fuel, Jack Beckman sweeping the Funny Car side, Dallas Glenn taking Pro Stock and Matt Smith winning Pro Stock Motorcycle at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. 11
The Countdown to the Championship then opened Sep. 18-20 at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, NHRA's first national event in the state since 1960 and the first of six playoff races. Persistent rain and falling temperatures on Sunday postponed eliminations to Monday, Sep. 21, with the first round at 11 a.m. ET and FS2 carrying coverage from 3 to 6 p.m. ET. Austin Prock (Funny Car), Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) and Ryan Oehler (Pro Stock Motorcycle) qualified No. 1. The four winners were still being decided as this issue went out; NHRA posts them on its results pages once eliminations finish. 1213
Short tracks, ARCA and dirt
- ARCA Menards Series, Salem Speedway, Sep. 12: Max Reaves won the Spruce 212 by 0.381 seconds over Jake Bollman, with Will Kimmel third, Landon Huffman fourth and Isabella Robusto fifth. 14
- ARCA Menards Series and East, Bristol Motor Speedway, Sep. 17: Carson Brown won the Bush's Best 200 by 2.056 seconds over Tristan McKee; Kaden Honeycutt was third and Max Reaves fourth. 15
- NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Riverhead Raceway, Sep. 19: Patrick Emerling won the Eddie Partridge 206, leading 187 laps for his fifth win of the season and a firmer hold on the points lead. Paulie Hartwig III posted a career-best finish. 16
- World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, Stockton Dirt Track, Sep. 18-19: James McFadden won the opening night of the Dennis Roth Classic. 17 Californian Justin Sanders won the $83,000 finale the next night, passing Emerson Axsom in the final corner after losing the lead to him on lap 28. McFadden was third, David Gravel fourth, Michael Kofoid fifth. 18
Announcements and rules
- Josh Berry to Legacy Motor Club: Berry will drive the No. 42 Toyota for the team in 2027, joining Erik Jones and Riley Herbst as Legacy fields three full-time Cup cars for the first time. 19
- Tony Schumacher to Tony Stewart Racing: the eight-time Top Fuel champion and 88-time national event winner will drive for TSR beginning in January 2027, replacing Leah Pruett, who is stepping out of the seat to focus on her family while staying with the team. 20
- Wet-weather tire rule change: NASCAR revised its wet-weather protocol on Sep. 16, leaving the decision to switch from wet tires to slicks during a race to the teams rather than calling it from the tower. 21
Sep. 21-27 watch list, in UTC
Times below come from NASCAR's current weekly guide, converted from Eastern Time. 22
| Date and UTC time | Event and venue | Broadcast | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon. Sep. 21, 15:00 | NHRA Great Lakes Nationals eliminations, U.S. 131 Motorsports Park | FS2, 19:00-22:00 | The Countdown opener's four winners are decided today. 12 |
| Tue. Sep. 22, time not listed | World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, Kings Speedway, Hanford, Calif. | DIRTVision | Opens the series' California swing. 23 |
| Fri. Sep. 25, 21:00 | Truck Series practice and qualifying, Kansas Speedway | FS2 | Sets the grid for the second Truck Chase race. 22 |
| Fri. Sep. 25, time not listed | World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, Bakersfield Speedway, Calif. | DIRTVision | Second night of the California swing. 23 |
| Sat. Sep. 26, 00:00 | ARCA Menards Series Menards 150, Kansas Speedway | FS1 | A late-season checkpoint for the ARCA title. 22 |
| Sat. Sep. 26, 14:00 | Cup practice and qualifying, Kansas Speedway | truTV | First read on whether the title contenders carry Bristol speed. 22 |
| Sat. Sep. 26, 17:00 | Truck Series Race to Stop Suicide 200, Kansas Speedway | FS1 | Riggs leads Honeycutt by three points. 822 |
| Sat. Sep. 26, time not listed | World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, Ventura Raceway, Calif. | DIRTVision | Closes the California swing. 23 |
| Sat. Sep. 26, 20:00 | ValleyStar Credit Union 300 qualifying races, Martinsville Speedway | NASCAR Channel, FloRacing | Sets the field for NASCAR's biggest Late Model Stock race. 22 |
| Sat. Sep. 26, 23:00 | ValleyStar Credit Union 300 feature, Martinsville Speedway | NASCAR Channel, FloRacing | 40 Late Model Stock teams, one 200-lap race. 22 |
| Sat. Sep. 26-Sun. Sep. 27, times not listed | Championship Weekend, Riverhead Raceway and NASCAR Weekly Racing at RPM Speedway | FloRacing | Local track titles are settled. 22 |
| Sun. Sep. 27, 02:20 | ARCA Menards Series West, Madera Speedway | FloRacing | The West series runs its final short-track race of September. 22 |
| Fri. Sep. 25-Sun. Sep. 27, session times not listed | NHRA Nationals at The Rock, Rockingham Dragway | NHRA has not published session times | Second of six Countdown races. 24 |
| Sun. Sep. 27, 19:00 | Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas Speedway | USA Network, HBO Max, MRN, SiriusXM | Fourth Chase race; Larson leads Hamlin by one point. 522 |
The quickest scan for the week is Kansas: Cup qualifying Saturday, the Truck Chase race Saturday afternoon, and the Hollywood Casino 400 Sunday evening, with the ValleyStar 300 running the same night at Martinsville. Cup fans should watch whether Larson's one-point lead survives the intermediates ahead: Hamlin led 340 of the 914 laps run at Kansas, Las Vegas and Charlotte earlier this season, 37% of them. 3
References
- 1
- 2Logano wins wild Bristol Night Race
nascar.com
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 112026 NHRA U.S. Nationals results and winners
dragillustrated.com
- 12
- 13
- 14Race results: Spruce 212 at Salem Speedway
arcaracing.com
- 15Race results: Bush's Best 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway
arcaracing.com
- 16
- 17Dennis Roth Classic, Stockton Dirt Track, September 18
worldofoutlaws.com
- 18Sanders uses final lap pass to win the Dennis Roth Classic
tjslideways.com
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22NASCAR weekly TV listings guide
nascar.com
- 23World of Outlaws 2026 schedule
worldofoutlaws.com
- 24NHRA Countdown to the Championship storylines
speedwaymedia.com
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