There are just four races left in the 2026 NASCAR Cup season, with Kyle Larson now leading the championship by 49 points. He extended his advantage over Hamlin slightly, but new challengers are rapidly approaching with just one month of racing left to go.
Chase Briscoe won the race over Christopher Bell in the closest finish of the 2026 Cup season and the second-closest finish in the history of Cup racing at Charlotte.
The 400-mile race featured some big hits and as we said, a nail-biting finish, and before we move on to Phoenix we wanted to take a look at the biggest winners and losers from Charlotte:
WINNER: Briscoe continues remarkable points comeback
Watch: Briscoe edges Bell in Charlotte photo finish
After a frustrating loss at Kansas, back-to-back wins have helped Briscoe to go from -123pts back of the championship lead to -65pts, and he was on the edge of sweeping all three intermediate races these past few weeks. Each of them were tough battles to the end, and winning 2/3 with a faster driver behind is certainly impressive. Briscoe has suddenly moved from a fringe title contender to a main threat in the blink of an eye.
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Chase Briscoe beats Christopher Bell by 0.029s in stunning NASCAR Cup photo finishLOSER: Christopher Bell's most frustrating runner-up finish so far
Watch: Disappointed Bell reflects on heartbreaking Charlotte photo finish
The stats say that Bell only has one win this year, but that doesn't show just how close he's been throughout the year. Along with that lone victory, he had eight runner-up finishes, and in the Chase, each of those wins equates to 20 points lost in the title fight. Charlotte was especially frustrating as the No. 20 had resigned itself to conservation mode for a bit, and began their incredible charge just a little too late. He got alongside Briscoe right as the checkered flag waved, and not long after falling over two seconds behind, ultimately losing out in the closest finish of the entire season ... 0.029s. He did not try to hide his frustration after the race.
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Christopher Bell reacts to photo finish: “We’re not teammates running to the line"WINNER: Kyle Larson edges further away in title fight
Watch: Larson on Charlotte struggles: 'I was hanging on'
Charlotte was Larson's worst finish of the entire Chase ... sixth. With that result and a Stage 1 win, he still put more distance between himself and Denny Hamlin, now up another nine points with +49pts over his closest rival. However, Briscoe and Bell are right behind Hamlin and closing fast, so there's certainly no time for Larson to relax with four races to go.
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Kyle Larson takes firm command of NASCAR Cup Chase with four to goLOSER: All those collected in violent Lap 77 wreck
This was a scary moment, as Alex Bowman over-corrected up the track and into Bubba Wallace, igniting a vicious crash. Both of these drivers were battling for a spot inside the top five, but in an instant, their days were over. William Byron was also collected, causing him and Wallace to drop positions in the Chase standings. Wallace also took a minute before gingerly climbing from the car, but he and all other drivers involved were thankfully okay. It was a day that started off with such promise for Wallace, leading the way for 23XI and even leading several laps before the race-ending incident.
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Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman uninjured after vicious crash in Charlotte NASCAR Cup raceWINNER: Shane van Gisbergen doesn't need the Roval to have a good time
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
Photo by: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
As SVG himself said after the race, he doesn't mind that the Roval was replaced with the Charlotte oval this fall. And even though Trackhouse is having a truly awful year, he keeps getting something out of his No. 97 and appears to have figured out these ovals. He now has back-to-back top tens, placing seventh at Charlotte as the second-highest non-Chase driver. He even passed teammate Ross Chastain during the final run, and gapped him by several seconds by the end.
LOSER: Denny Hamlin after another imperfect race for the No. 11
Watch: Hamlin on losing ground in Chase battle: 'We've got to execute better'
This stretch of three intermediate tracks was supposed to be a huge opportunity for Hamlin, but that's now how it worked out. Over the past three weeks, he's lost 48 points to Larson, 14 points to Bell, and 70 points to Briscoe. Even though he finished ahead of Larson at Charlotte, he was still trailing behind his teammates and still lost ground overall as an early pit road penalty robbed him of Stage 1 points. As Hamlin himself said, "we've got to execute better."
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Denny Hamlin loses more ground to Kyle Larson: "We've got to execute better"WINNER: Josh Berry with another top five for the Wood Brothers
Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Photo by: Patrick McDermott via Getty Images
Berry is giving the Wood Brothers one of their best seasons in years, even as he's on his way out the door. He led the way for non-Chase drivers in fourth for his third top five and tenth top ten of the season. He is the only driver outside of the Chase with double-digit top tens. We haven't seen the No. 21 up front this much since the 2020 season.
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Official race results: 2026 NASCAR Cup Charlotte IILOSER: Ty Gibbs falls further behind as title hopes collapse
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
Photo by: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Gibbs entered the Chase as one of the drivers to watch and was the No. 4 seed. But along with two top fives, he also has four finishes of 17th or worse. While the rest of his teammates are lined up 2-3-4, that inconsistency has dropped down to ninth after getting caught up in an early incident at Charlotte.
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Complete NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Charlotte IIBONUS LOSER: Stenhouse and McDowell play bumper tag after the checkered flag
We love seeing emotion out of these drivers, but it's not a great look for anyone when a single-car team gets their car torn up due to a post-race disagreement over 19th place. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. chased down Michael McDowell after the checkered flag, slamming doors on the cool-down lap. McDowell then spun Stenhouse out, but it all seemed a bit superfluous when seeing that the frustration came from some hard racing and that's about it. They did share a fairly cordial conversation on pit road after it, so perhaps the game of bumper tag helped them to get it all out of their system...
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Michael McDowell wrecks Ricky Stenhouse in heated post-race clashBONUS WINNER: Brexton Busch burns it down in his father Kyle's No. 8
Watch: Brexton Busch honors dad Kyle with burnout, signature bow
This didn't happen in the actual race of course, but it was the highlight of the race weekend. 11-year-old Brexton Busch drove his father Richard Childress Racing No. 8 at the Kyle Busch Celebration of Life on Friday, performing perfect burnouts in the 750HP Cup car. Austin Dillon also helped him practice the routine at the RCR shop just over a month ago. It was an incredible moment of healing and a touching tribute to the legendary NASCAR driver, courtesy of his own son.
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Brexton Busch drives NASCAR Cup RCR No. 8 in touching tribute to father Kyle
Behind the scenes of how 11-year-old Brexton Busch prepared for NASCAR Cup burnouts