Chase Briscoe came close to winning the NASCAR Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway but finished fourth after brushing the wall late in the race. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver took the lead with 29 laps left, but Kyle Larson eventually passed him with seven laps to go before Briscoe lost two more places.
The final pit cycle began to unfold on Lap 216 when Larson and Briscoe came to pit road. Austin Cindric stayed out and briefly took the lead, while Denny Hamlin also stayed out one more lap. Once all the drivers pitted, Larson was back in front on Lap 223, with Briscoe 1.1 seconds behind.
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Briscoe quickly closed the gap to 0.35 seconds on Lap 233. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was stronger on the long run, but Briscoe still struggled to get around Larson because of his defensive driving.
“I thought I was really good there and was able to turn him down before the green flag pit stop… He was just blocking so much. I couldn’t ever get behind him, and it kind of allowed the 2 (Austin Cindric) to get in there. Then we pitted and I ran him back down. When I passed him as easily as I did, I thought I was going to just run away with it and then just started getting really, really free,” Chase Briscoe explained post race.
Chase Briscoe finally made the move on Lap 238 and took the lead from Kyle Larson. At that point, he expected to pull away after catching Larson relatively quickly. Instead, Larson stayed within striking distance. The No. 19 car became increasingly loose, while the No. 5 Chevrolet settled behind him.
“Just was hanging on for dear life and just too many laps there at the end. I needed it to be obviously a shorter race to be able to hold on. So, I just wish I could have had a little bit tighter balance. But, yeah, definitely it was in contention for sure.”
With 10 laps remaining, Briscoe was still only 0.2 seconds ahead of Larson. He tried to defend by running close to the wall while maintaining his speed. The move did not work as planned. He brushed the wall, which unsettled the car and cost him momentum. Larson stayed with him and completed the pass three laps later.
“I had definitely got in the wall and been on a little bit of a rear suspension stuff. So, my balance would change a lot based on that. They were in three or four together. I just started kind of letting loose and just running as hard as I could on the wall and got the wall and obviously went from second to fourth. So, I just went into desperation mode. I had to win to stay in contention for the championship and came up short.”
Kyle Larson made slight contact with the No. 19, regained the lead, and never looked back. Chase Briscoe brushed the wall again in the closing laps, allowing Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin to pass him.
Kyle Larson reflects on Chase Briscoe’s late-race defense at Kansas
Kyle Larson completed a dominant day at Kansas Speedway by sweeping both stages, leading 235 of 267 laps and taking his second victory of the 2026 Chase. The result extended his championship lead over Denny Hamlin to 26 points.
After the race, Larson explained that Briscoe had done a better job defending the lead than he had earlier in the race.
“I really thought when Chase got by, he was just gonna stretch out. But I got some lines going where I could just settle in and try to take care of my tires. I think it’s just easier to be the hunter rather than the hunted…A lot of the same with me out front. I was just defending and trying to get what lines are fast. Anyway, he got in front of me, I could see him starting to get really loose. So, yeah, that was fun.”
Chase Briscoe echoed those thoughts later:
“When he was in the lead, he did an amazing job. I was superior to him, and I just couldn’t pass him and I probably should have been way more aggressive with that. But my balance, I was so loose, I thought, honestly, I would spin out if I wasn’t on the wall. So, yeah, I just wish I was tighter ultimately.”
Chase Briscoe’s fourth-place finish moved him up one position to eighth in the standings, but he lost ground to Larson and now sits 123 points behind the championship leader.
Briscoe now heads into the next three intermediate races with an opportunity to make up the deficit. The next stops are Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, followed by Phoenix Raceway, keeping the No. 19 team in contention.
Edited by Anurup Chakraborty