Kyle Larson Snaps 51-Race Winless Drought in 2OT Thriller at Gateway

RPW COLUMN BY: Steven Brien / RPW – MADISON, Ill. —  Kyle Larson outdueled Joey Logano and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman on multiple late-race restarts to earn his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season Sunday evening in the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway.

After leading 80 laps, the win propelled Larson to second in the Chase for the Championship points standings.

“I had a good feeling,” Larson said after climbing from his No. 5 Chevrolet. “You can’t ask for a better teammate than him [Bowman], giving me the pushes I needed to get clear.”

Bowman finished a season-best second after pushing Larson to the lead on multiple late-race restarts. Bowman was also racing for his dog, Finn, who passed away Friday.

“Super happy for Kyle,” Bowman said. “It’s a really hard weekend, just to get on a plane and be here.”

Logano led 96 laps and finished third.

“His [Larson’s] first three laps of every run were pretty spectacular,” Logano said after exiting his No. 22 Ford on pit road. “I had no more homies with me, no more friends, and I was on my own.”

William Byron finished fourth in a much-needed bounce-back performance after a blown engine at Darlington last week.

“Worked our tail off for that one,” Byron said. “We’re just gonna keep moving forward and this is a good shot in the arm to get a good result.”

Ross Chastain completed the top five. Austin Dillon was sixth, Connor Zilisch seventh, Carson Hocevar eighth, Denny Hamlin ninth and Austin Cindric completed the top 10.

On Lap 4, Chase contenders tangled when Daniel Suarez squeezed Tyler Reddick into the wall, damaging the No. 45 Toyota.

The first caution waved on lap six when Riley Herbst spun out of Turn 4 after contact from Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stenhouse, making his 500th career start, spun out of Turn 2 on lap 15 to bring out the second caution of the day.

The opening-stage chaos continued on lap 20 when Noah Gragson and Shane van Gisbergen squeezed Michael McDowell into the wall while racing four-wide off Turn 2. The contact triggered a massive pileup on the backstretch, bringing out the third caution of the day.

Van Gisbergen’s tough day continued when he spun on lap 28 while racing three-wide with A.J. Allmendinger and Ty Dillon in Turn 1.

Polesitter Logano led every lap in a dominant stage-one performance, winning his third stage of the season.

Christopher Bell was second, Larson third, Ryan Blaney fourth and Chase Elliott completed the top five. Hocevar was sixth, followed by Chase Briscoe, Bowman, Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski to round out the top 10.

On Lap 56, Gibbs dumped Erik Jones in Turn 1 after frustration from a block the previous lap, bringing out another caution.

The chaos continued on Lap 64 when Herbst and Allmendinger spun coming out of Turn 2.

The eighth caution of the day came out when Zane Smith’s brake rotor exploded, sending him hard into the outside wall in Turn 2 and ending stage two. Smith had to be helped from his car and taken to the infield care center.

Larson won the stage, his sixth stage win of the season.

Logano was second, Keselowski third, Blaney fourth and Josh Berry completed the top five. Hamlin, Ryan Preece, Reddick, Briscoe and Bubba Wallace also earned stage points.

On the Lap 141 restart, Wallace went four-wide into Turn 1 and made contact with Briscoe, spinning both Chase contenders and collecting Byron and Bowman in the melee.

Blaney’s championship hopes took a massive blow when his right-front brake rotor exploded while crossing the start-finish line on Lap 155, sending him into the wall and ending his day.

Chastain spun on the frontstretch on Lap 170 after coming across the nose of Briscoe, bringing out the 11th caution of the day.

Herbst crashed again with 64 laps to go in Turn 2, bringing out the 12th caution of the evening.

With 42 laps to go, the season-high 13th caution came out after Gragson became the next victim of an exploded brake rotor.

The chaos continued with 27 laps to go when Elliott’s brake rotor failed entering Turn 1, sending him into Briscoe and taking both drivers out of the race.

The 15th caution came out when Wallace and Berry made contact, triggering a massive pileup on the backstretch that collected Bell and Reddick, who went airborne off the side of Berry’s car.

The red flag was displayed on the restart with 13 laps to go when Zilisch tagged Gibbs while racing four-wide, spinning him into Allmendinger. Allmendinger then came up the track and made major contact with Ty Dillon and Suarez, creating a pileup on the backstretch.

Buescher was the next victim of a brake rotor failure with three laps to go, knocking the RFK Racing Chaser out of the race.

On the first overtime restart, Hocevar spun van Gisbergen while racing four-wide inside the top 10.

Larson ultimately prevailed in the second overtime, snapping a 51-race winless drought and earning his first Cup Series victory of the 2026 season.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway next week as the Chase continues with its third round.

NASCAR Cup Series Race – Enjoy Illinois 300

Worldwide Technology Raceway

Madison, Ill.

Sunday September 13, 2026

1. (2) Kyle Larson (C), Chevrolet, 247.
2. (11) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 247.
3. (1) Joey Logano (C), Ford, 247.
4. (24) William Byron (C), Chevrolet, 247.
5. (20) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 247.
6. (22) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 247.
7. (19) Connor Zilisch (R), Chevrolet, 247.
8. (6) Carson Hocevar (C), Chevrolet, 247.
9. (10) Denny Hamlin (C), Toyota, 247.
10.  (13) Austin Cindric (C), Ford, 247.
11.  (26) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 247.
12.  (23) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 247.
13.  (25) Erik Jones, Toyota, 247.
14.  (7) Bubba Wallace (C), Toyota, 247.
15.  (28) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 247.
16.  (17) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 247.
17.  (14) Ryan Preece (C), Ford, 247.
18.  (9) Ty Gibbs (C), Toyota, 247.
19.  (4) Christopher Bell (C), Toyota, 247.
20.  (29) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 247.
21.  (27) Austin Hill (i), Chevrolet, 247.
22.  (30) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 247.
23.  (35) Shane van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 247.
24.  (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 247.
25.  (18) Tyler Reddick (C), Toyota, 247.
26.  (36) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 247.
27.  (21) Chris Buescher (C), Ford, Accident, 237.
28.  (16) Josh Berry, Ford, 231.
29.  (15) Daniel Suarez (C), Chevrolet, Accident, 229.
30.  (32) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 227.
31.  (8) Chase Elliott (C), Chevrolet, Accident, 214.
32.  (5) Chase Briscoe (C), Toyota, Accident, 213.
33.  (31) Noah Gragson, Ford, Accident, 198.
34.  (33) Riley Herbst, Toyota, Accident, 176.
35.  (3) Ryan Blaney (C), Ford, Accident, 154.
36.  (12) Zane Smith, Ford, Accident, 129.