Brisco captures the cup checker flag at Charlotte

Amid 11 lead changes and early favorites, Chase Briscoe of Joe Gibbs Racing took his second consecutive Chase win at Charlotte Motor Speedway, moving him up again in Chase standings.

Several rounds of weather delays at Charlotte Motor Speedway eventually subsided, leading to Kyle Larson on pole prior to Sunday. Larson was followed by Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney in qualifying.

Larson’s first phase dominance kicked off on Lap 1 and stayed virtually consistent from then on out. Running behind him was Briscoe and Reddick, in line with their qualifying positions.

Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney battled back and forth for fourth position on track, nearly making contact with each other. The battle allowed William Byron to pass Blaney and Cindric to move ahead, where he passed Briscoe for third.

Cindric ultimately made his move for second after starting in fifth, cutting into the lead Larson had on Lap 36. In the first caution of the race, Larson remained the only leader for the first 36 laps. The race then went to a restart, where Larson once again claimed the lead into Turn One. In Turn Four of the restart, Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski made contact, bringing out a caution.

The race restarted once again six laps later on Lap 47. Although Larson initially seemed to take the lead, Bubba Wallace was able to make a move on Turn Two, forcing a three wide lead between Larson, Wallace and Briscoe. Briscoe backed off, leaving Wallace and Larson to battle for the lead as Stage One entered its last phase. Larson ultimately remained triumphant, pushing for the lead ahead of Briscoe in second and Wallace in third.

Stage One closed with drama. Alex Bowman got loose in Turn Two while battling with Wallace. Bowman ran into Wallace, making them both hit the wall and impacting William Byron’s race as well. The race ended Byron, Bowman and Wallace’s race.