By Roy J. Akers — www.skyviewsports.net
Toyota is still the manufacturer finding its machines in the winningest in the winners circle in 2026 with seven wins in ten races. Give Chevy two with Hocevar winning his first and Ford with one victory. Hendrick Motorsports must feel the burn with one win by Chase Elliott. Kyle Larson, is on the short list as a Texas Motor Speedway favorite, along with Toyota’s Denny Hamlin. With Carson Hocevar doubling down winning the TMS pole for the Wurth 400.
That’s why we race, and it’s time to drop the green flag.
Stage One (Lap 1-80)
Carson Hocevar leads the field to green. With clean air, Hocevar takes his 77 to a two second lead early but the Toyota’s start moving to the front taking 5 of the top 8 positions. By lap 20, Hocevar is third with Hamlin-Briscoe running 1-2. With cars cycling by lap 38, Hocevar is back on top until he pits on lap 41. With 15 to go, three Toyota’s are running 1-2-3 with Bell, Hamlin, and Briscoe out front. On lap 68, Todd Gilliland gets loose and collects the leader Bell, who has right side damage and exits the race. Most drivers pit, but Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. , and Ross Chastain are looking to collect stage points. Jones leads the field with six to go. With cars three-wide, Jones, badly in need of tires, wins his first Stage ever. Hocevar and Stenhouse Jr. are 2-3. Four Toyota’s are out front with six Chevy’s filling out the top-ten.
Stage Two (Lap 81-165)
Nine dead laps are run and Hocevar blocks Gibbs to keep his lead. Byron gets loose on lap 93 and tears up his Valvoline Chevy and tears the front end off of his car. Multiple cars have problems in the pits with Logano and Briscoe receiving heavy damage. The field is jumbled as Corey Heim and Brad Keselowski are 1-2. Ty Gibbs hits the wall on lap 186 and is done for the day.
Corey Heim leads the restart with Suarez, and Elliott 2-3. Hamlin is using elite lap times to climb back into the top-five with 30 to go in S2. Heim pits and goes a lap down, and Elliott is the new leader with ten to go. With six laps to go in S2, Larson loses grip and goes into the wall, ending his day. A final restart gives Keselowski and Preece 1-2 as they stay on the track to pick up Stage points. Elliott, on fresh tires, wins S2.
Final Stage (Lap 166 to Finish)
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/chase-elliottElliott- Reddick, and Hamlin are your top three with nine dead laps between the stages. At lap 189 of 267, Chase Elliott leads the race under green flag conditions. The No. 9 Chevrolet started 14th and has worked his way to the front, leading 34 laps across two stints. Elliott posted the fastest lap of the race on lap 176 with a time of 28.89 seconds at 186.916 mph and has run 19 fastest laps overall.
Elliott has maintained strong track position throughout the event, spending 91 laps in the top five and 150 laps in the top ten. His average running position stands at 6.53. The Hendrick Motorsports driver last pitted 29 laps ago on lap 160, completing a four-tire stop in 8.996 seconds. He has made four pit stops totaling 136.73 seconds on pit road. Elliott leads Reddick by 1.27 and Hamlin by 2.36. Most drivers are splitting the stage with pit stops happening on lap 47/48 of the final 96. Drivers continue to cycle. Elliott, Reddick, and Hamlin are 1-2-3 with 47 to go. Heim is the leader with 32 to go but is low on fuel, and Elliott is back in the lead. This lasts until Corey Heim’s spinout with 12 to go bringing out a caution. Pit road opens with seven to go and the leaders stay out. The green flag drops with 4 to go with Elliott and Hamlin side-by-side. Elliott pulls away. A JH Nemechek spin is with less than one to go and Elliott wins with Hamlin -2 and Bowman 3.
Checkered Flag
Elliott led five times for 87 laps and won his second race of the year. Elliott has won at eight different tracks multiple times. For the second time this season, it’s a one-two finish between you and Denny Hamlin.
Q-Bring me back through that final restart and what ultimately was the difference-maker?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, you know, I wasn’t really sure whether to go top or bottom. You know, the bottom had been winning out on a lot of the restarts. I felt like, man, if I didn’t get clear off of two, I was going to be in a lot of trouble. Fortunately Alex gave me a great push. Was able to execute turns one and two, get clear, and then just kind of manage the last few laps.”
Tale of the Tape Leaderboard
They Said It
Christopher Bell – What happened to take you out of the race early?
“It was another one of those 50-50 calls. Me and Denny (Hamlin) were side by side and I saw him (Todd Gilliland) spinning and Denny lifted and I thought that I could shoot the gap on the bottom. And I thought I did shoot the gap on the bottom but I got clipped.”
Fantasy Results
Before qualifying, we had Hocevar and Suarez 1-2. Briscoe and Bell are also in the top ten with Larson 11th. Larson is sitting on the bench due to having six regular-season starts left, but like a baseball relief pitcher and top TMS performances, he will most likely go into the lineup. Logano and Elliott go out of the lineup. Bell and Larson are in. Everyone is good with starting spots left.
Second straight week under 200 points. 142 + 30 in matchups for 172. Hocevar, Reddick and Suarez were in the top-ten. Best pick: Reddick finishes top-five. Worst picks. Larson. He came off the bench. Wasted pick on a single car spin. Add that with Bell, who went to the bench getting barely touched in the Todd Gilliland spinout.
Factioids that may Interest Only Me
Carson Hocevar has won exactly two career poles. Both are at TMS.
Bubba Wallace had the fastest four-tire pit stop in NASCAR history with an 8.01. He beat the previous record of 2025: Denny Hamlin’s team reset the mark with 8.02 seconds, the fastest verified four-tire and fuel stop ever recorded.
Bonus Quote
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet – Pole Win Quotes
Now that you have won a Cup race, does it immediately change anything in you, in terms of, does it command additional respect? Do you feel like it establishes you as a legitimate, for real Cup Series driver now that you know you’re a Cup winner?
“I think internally, for sure. I think it establishes all of us that we’re all winners. I was 22nd in practice, and I kind of just took it easy because I felt like my car was going to be pretty good. You have a little bit of a risk here, obviously. I thought that we’d be just fine. I just kind of went with a feel where, probably before Talladega, I was trying to win practice, win qualifying, and try to talk myself into the thought that we’re going to win the race.
Everybody’s just jollier, I guess. Everybody’s just kind of slower and more relaxed. I could just tell by the way they were pulling the hood pins and little things. They just have a lot of confidence. It’s not that often that I sit there and just go – we’re 22nd in practice and think we’re going to win the pole, as long as I don’t mess this up. Especially when I saw Daniel (Suarez) roll out, our cars are very similar. I thought we’d be really close. I didn’t expect it to be that close, but I’m just glad I was on the front end of it.”
What’s Next
