Southern 500 turns early NASCAR Chase into a dogfight
Joey Logano called the Chase for the Championship format 10 weeks of hell, and Denny Hamlin learned immediately that his regular season title afforded him very little comfort in the pursuit of that elusive achievement. On the other hand, the 16 stage points he earned over the first half of the Southern 500 somewhat offset contact from Michael McDowell that broke a right front toe link and a ...…
The Southern 500 turned into a fierce Chase for the Championship battle as Denny Hamlin closed the gap on Joey Logano by just 12 points with nine races remaining. Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick followed closely in third and fourth. Hamlin's regular season title provided little comfort, as contact from Michael McDowell left him with damage to his car during the race.
McDowell had been struggling on restarts throughout the race. Hamlin believes the champion will be a Toyota, citing their strong performance this season. Chris Bricsoe finished sixth, despite leading 30 laps, while Tyler Reddick remained in third. Ryan Blaney's fourth-place finish left him 16 points behind Hamlin, while Chase Briscoe's sixth-place finish was disheartening due to his potential to capitalize on it.
Written by urgent.news from Motorsport.com's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
Also reported by 2 other outlets
- Bell passes defending NASCAR champion Larson to win the Southern 500 to start the Chase winnipegfreepress.com
- Official race results: 2026 NASCAR Cup Southern 500 at Darlington motorsport.com
