Photo Finish: Briscoe Narrowly Defeats Bell For Second-Straight Win

All of a sudden, Chase Briscoe has this whole winning thing figured out. The driver, who claimed his second win of the season last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, was able to go back-to-back with a victory in the Bank of America 400 on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. But he didn't claim the checkered flag without a little bit of late-race drama.

The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota looked like he had the race all sewn up in the closing laps of the race, as he had a lead of more than two seconds on Christopher Bell, his teammate. However, as Briscoe got bogged down in lapped traffic, Bell closed the gap, and on the final lap of the race, Bell was able to give Briscoe a run for his money.

Heading down the backstretch, Bell was able to get a massive run on Briscoe, and he fired his car to the inside line heading into Turns 3 and 4. As the two drivers came off the final turn, they made slight contact, and from there, it was a drag race back to the finish line.

Fortunately, for Briscoe, and unfortunately, for Bell, it was Briscoe who came out on top, as Briscoe's No. 19 machine surged across the finish line 0.029 seconds before Bell's No. 20 Toyota could.

With the win, Briscoe's third of the season and second consecutive victory, the driver of the No. 19 Toyota climbed two more spots in the Chase Grid to fourth, and he now sits just 65 points away from Kyle Larson, the series point leader.

Bell, who won Stage 2, held onto the third spot in the Chase standings, as he sits 51 points back with four races remaining.

Ryan Blaney battled back from adversity on pit road mid-race to score a solid third-place finish, while Josh Berry was the top non-Chase contender in fourth.

Denny Hamlin came home with a fifth-place finish, which slotted him ahead of Kyle Larson by one spot in the final running order, but he still lost nine points to his adversary for the championship, as Larson scored more Stage Points on the day.

Hamlin, the pre-Chase favorite to win the championship, now trails Larson by 49 points heading into next weekend's event at Phoenix Raceway.

Shane van Gisbergen, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-10 finishers in Sunday's Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

While it was a good day for Briscoe and a few of the other Chase contenders, it was a frustating day for others in the championship fight.

Chase Elliott was busted for speeding on pit road twice in the event, which mired him deep in the field for the majority of the day. However, Elliott was able to salvage a 12th-place finish on the day.

Austin Cindric was among the top contenders all afternoon, but on the final run of the day, the Team Penske driver dropped through the running order like a rock. The bleeding would eventually stop as Cindric crossed the finish line credited with a 17th-place finish.

Ty Gibbs suffered toe-link damage in a crash in the opening Stage of the race. This resulted in the driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota losing eight laps, and Gibbs would record a disappointing 34th-place finish.

Bubba Wallace and William Byron would each exit the race early after a hard crash, triggered by Alex Bowman losing control of his No. 48 Chevrolet on Lap 77. Due to massive damage incurred in the crash, Wallace would finish 37th, while Byron would end up dead-last in the 39-car field.

*This story will be updated with post-race quotes and additional details

Updated Chase Grid (Four Races Remaining)

1. Kyle Larson, 2,367 points
2. Denny Hamlin, -49
3. Christopher Bell, -51
4. Chase Briscoe, -65
5. Ryan Blaney, -85
6. Joey Logano, -92
7. Tyler Reddick, -114
8. Austin Cindric, -145
9. Ty Gibbs, -156
10. Carson Hocevar, -180
11. Bubba Wallace, -185
12. Chase Elliott, -185
13. William Byron, -208
14. Daniel Suarez, -215
15. Chris Buescher, -216
16. Ryan Preece, -227

What's Next?

Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series is the Freeway Insurance 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, October 18. The race, which will serve as the seventh of the 10-race Chase for the Championship, will be televised on the USA Network, and TV coverage will kick off at 3 PM ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast of that event.