There are race wins, and then there are race wins where a driver spends the final laps trying to fend off Denny Hamlin like a man trying to keep a raccoon out of his garbage cans at 2 a.m.
Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway was very much the second kind.
Chase Elliott survived four furious laps after a late restart to win the Würth 400, holding off Denny Hamlin in a finish that looked less like a NASCAR race and more like two men arguing over the last steak at a backyard barbecue. The victory was Elliott’s second of the 2026 season, making him just the second multi-race winner of the year alongside Tyler Reddick.
And considering Elliott has never exactly hidden his feelings about Texas Motor Speedway, the fact he now has two wins here is about as logical as a blender with Wi-Fi.
“Man, I think, first off, thanks, everybody, for coming out,” Elliott said afterward. “I have not been a huge fan of this place, and I’ve made that very obvious. But to continue to work hard, and I really think this is a testament to the whole team.”
The final caution came on Lap 257 when Corey Heim — who had spent much of the afternoon looking like a future Texas winner — spun in Turns 3 and 4 after leading a career-high 69 laps in the No. 67 Toyota for 23XI Racing. It was a cruel ending for the youngster who had turned the middle portion of the race into his own personal coming-out party before Texas reminded everyone that it enjoys handing out heartbreak the way Florida hands out humidity.
The caution set up a four-lap sprint to the finish. The top teams mostly stayed out, gambling track position would matter more than fresh tires. In Texas, that’s a bit like deciding whether to fight a bear with a frying pan or a garden hose. Neither option is particularly comforting.
When the green flag waved, Elliott chose the outside lane and immediately got a shove from teammate Alex Bowman that proved decisive.
“I felt like, man, if I didn’t get clear off of two, I was going to be in a lot of trouble,” Elliott said. “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.”
Hamlin tried everything short of attaching a tow rope to the back bumper of the No. 9 Chevrolet. He hung alongside Elliott entering Turn 1, but the side draft and Bowman’s push allowed Elliott to inch ahead enough to survive.
“It was really close, for sure,” Hamlin said. “I thought I got a good restart there at the end side-by-side, but the way the side draft works there into turn one with him getting the push from the 48, it just allowed his momentum to pick up a little bit quicker than mine.”
Hamlin finished second, 0.407 seconds behind Elliott, followed by Bowman in third. Reddick rallied to fourth after taking two tires on the final stop, while Chris Buescher completed the top five.
Daniel Suárez came home sixth, with polesitter and teammate Carson Hocevar seventh after leading the opening 19 laps. William Byron recovered from an earlier spin to finish eighth ahead of Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney.
The race itself was classic modern Texas Motor Speedway: fast, twitchy, occasionally ridiculous, and fully capable of punting good days directly into a retaining wall with zero notice.
The opening stage belonged mostly to the Joe Gibbs Racing trio of Chase Briscoe, Hamlin, and Christopher Bell. Hocevar led early from the pole before Hamlin blasted past Briscoe for the lead on Lap 20 after Briscoe got loose.
Bell then rolled the strategy dice with an early green-flag stop on Lap 33. It briefly worked brilliantly. After the cycle of stops, Bell grabbed the lead on Lap 47 and appeared poised to control the stage until Texas did Texas things.
On Lap 69, Todd Gilliland spun exiting Turn 4. Unfortunately for Bell, Gilliland’s sliding Ford clipped Bell’s Toyota, sending the No. 20 hard into the outside wall and ending what looked like a potentially dominant afternoon.
The ensuing caution handed an opportunity to drivers gambling on track position, and Erik Jones grabbed his first career stage victory by staying out.
Then came pit-road chaos.
Briscoe nearly turned Kyle Larson into decorative garage equipment during a messy stop, while Joey Logano suffered another miserable chapter in what’s becoming a deeply irritating season. Cole Custer stopped to allow Ty Gibbs to exit his pit stall, and Logano slammed into the back of Custer moments later, ending Logano’s day on the spot.
Stage 2 quickly became the “Everybody Spins at Texas” portion of the afternoon.
Byron looped his Chevrolet off Turn 4 on Lap 98. Shortly after the restart, Preece sent Gibbs spinning in Turn 3, and Gibbs’ damaged Toyota eventually headed to the garage.
Then Heim arrived.
Using an aggressive fuel strategy shared with Elliott and Brad Keselowski, Heim inherited the lead on Lap 95 and promptly drove away from the field like he had accidentally wandered into a lower division. He led 69 laps before finally pitting on Lap 152, handing the lead to Elliott.
But even that strategy got flipped upside down when Larson’s miserable afternoon worsened on Lap 159 with another solo spin that ended in the outside wall and a trip to the garage.
The caution wiped out most of the alternative fuel plans, except for Keselowski and teammate Preece, who stayed out chasing stage points. Elliott blasted past both on the final lap of Stage 2 to collect his first stage win of the season.
From there, the final stage settled into a familiar showdown: Elliott versus Hamlin. One driving for another victory. The other chasing yet another Texas triumph and probably muttering under his breath about restarts.
Then Heim spun, the caution flew, and suddenly all subtlety disappeared.
Four laps later, Elliott was headed to Victory Lane again.
Next up for the Cup Series is Watkins Glen International, where winter apparently still hasn’t entirely received the memo that it’s May. Defending race winner Shane van Gisbergen now heads to a road course that suddenly feels very important in a season beginning to develop real shape at the front.
RACE RESULTS
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.