Christopher Bell wins at Darlington IN NASCAR Chase 1
Christopher Bell claimed victory at the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, September 6, marking the start of the 10-race NASCAR Cup Series Chase with his first win of the 2026 season.
After crossing the finish line, Bell celebrated with burnout donuts in his No. 20 Toyota on the renowned South Carolina track known as “Too Tough To Tame.” The Joe Gibbs Racing driver exited his car and bowed to the audience, honoring the late Kyle Busch.
Bell ended a nearly year-long winless streak, having finished second seven times this season. His previous win was on September 13, 2025, at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Bell led 46 laps at Darlington on Sunday, including the final 12 after overtaking Kyle Larson for the lead. Ty Gibbs, Bell's teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, finished second, 1.038 seconds behind. Tyler Reddick came in third, Ryan Blaney fourth, and Larson, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, finished fifth.
Following rain in the area that led to a caution and a brief red flag late in the race, a battle for the lead emerged between Bell and Larson. Bell, who had taken four fresh tires during the final caution, managed to catch up to Larson, one of the few drivers who chose not to pit.
Reddick had a strong performance at the start, leading the race before finishing third. His 23XI teammate, Bubba Wallace, also led for a portion. Wallace started in 17th place and climbed up to finish eighth.
The race was relatively clean, but William Byron spun out late due to a tire issue and had to retire.
The Cook Out Southern 500 marked the beginning of a revised Chase format after NASCAR decided to eliminate its elimination playoff races, which had been in place since 2014. NASCAR also did away with its championship race.
Instead, NASCAR returned to the Chase format first introduced in 2004, where the season championship is awarded to the driver who accumulates the most points over all 10 postseason races, rather than a final championship race among four drivers.
What remains from the previous playoff format is the number of drivers advancing to the postseason. Sixteen drivers will compete for the 2026 Cup Series title, but unlike the past 12 years, there won't be elimination races reducing the contenders from 16 to 12 to eight to four.
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