NASCAR Cup Chase drivers come to Charlotte chasing wins
Despite Kyle Larson’s domination of the first half of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1, both Joey Logano and Christopher Bell see a path to the championship.
Both drivers are convinced that winning races—probably multiple races—is the key to title, and there’s no better time to start than in Sunday’s Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
For the first time since 2017, Cup Series drivers will race on the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval in the fall, a position on the schedule occupied by the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (ROVAL) for the past eight seasons.
“We know exactly what a win is worth,” said Logano, who is fourth in the Chase standings, 71 points behind Larson. “We know if you score stage points in the top two or three in each stage and win a race, you cut into that deficit quite a bit. You can gain 30 points on the whole field.
“Even if the guy finishes second, you still are going to gain 25 or so points at least. If you can string a couple of those together, yeah, you’re right there. I think in our case, we have to win one of them at least to be able to say we’re going to go up there and beat them.
“We’re going have to win one, if not two, and if we don’t win two, then we’re going to have to… not that you hope for bad things to happen to people, but you’ve got to hope for some misfortune a little bit from the competitors.”
Logano’s only victory on the Charlotte oval came in the fall race of 2015. On Sunday, the three-time series champion will make his 500th start in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford and his 647th overall.
In each of his three victories this season—at North Wilkesboro, Richmond and Bristol—Logano has scored 73 points, three short of the maximum possible.
Bell claimed his only Charlotte oval win in the rain-shortened 2024 Coca-Cola 600. He arrives at Sunday’s race third in the Chase standings, 55 points behind Larson.
“I don’t think you’re going to make up that 50-point deficit without that win bonus that is applied now,” Bell said of the 20-point difference between first and second place. “It feels a little bit like the (previous) Playoff format. I believe that it’s going to take wins for me to become the champion.
“The 11 (second-place Denny Hamlin, trailing Larson by 40 points), I think I’m within striking distance where I can pass him without winning, but the 5 car (Larson) being out so far, I think it’s going to take wins, and, yeah, just need to put our best foot forward to go out there and win.”
Bell lost ground to Larson last Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he lost power steering. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver wouldn’t mind seeing Larson, his long-time dirt-track rival, go through the same experience.
“I hope it happens to him, so he can talk about it,” Bell said.
Larson, however, shows no sign of faltering. His 2.2 average finish through five Chase races is the best since NASCAR introduced its first postseason playoff format in 2004.
Interestingly, no Chase driver in the field for Sunday’s race has posted more than one victory on the Charlotte oval. Hamlin has the most starts there (35) and picked up his only win at the track in the 2022 Coke 600.
Defending NASCAR O’Reilly Series champ looks for continued upswing
Where the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase is concerned, Justin Allgaier has been the poster boy for Murphy’s Law.
After suffering calamities in the first four postseason races, the driver of the No, 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet is looking for a reversal of fortune in Saturday’s Blue Cross NC 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (4 p.m. ET on CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“Charlotte has been a really strong track for us over the last few years, but all of those races were in the heat of May, so it will be interesting to see how this weekend plays out,” said Allgaier, who has fallen from first to fourth in the standings since the Chase began at Darlington Raceway.
“I know that everyone on this team is ready to get there. Our Chase hasn’t started quite like we hoped, but this group is ready to go out there and do what we’ve done all year. There is still a lot racing left to be done, and I feel like Charlotte is a great place to get that momentum back on our side.”
Allgaier, who trails Chase leader Sheldon Creed by 30 points with five races left, is the only former Charlotte oval winner in the field for Saturday’s race. The last 14 races on the 1.5-mile track have produced 14 different winners.
Both second-place Carson Kvapil (19 points behind Creed) and third-place Jesse Love (21 points behind) gained ground at Allgaier’s expense in last Saturday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Love, the defending series champion, finished third behind race winner Corey Day and runner-up Kvapil at Las Vegas, sparking optimism for Saturday’s race at Charlotte.
“We were really good here in the spring,” said Love, who finished second to full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Ross Chastain in a rain-shortened race in May. “It fits our package.
“We learned some things last week in Las Vegas that we will implement in Charlotte and go from there. I think we’re struggling with some things that, if we fix for Charlotte, we’ll be in good shape.”
The top six drivers in the Chase standings remain within striking distance of the Creed’s lead. Sixth-place Sam Mayer, who has gained four positions in the standings since the Chase began, is 52 points behind Creed.
Layne Riggs looks for return to form in NASCAR Truck race at Charlotte
Scoring 75 of a possible 76 points in a dominating victory Sept. 26 at Kansas Speedway, Kaden Honeycutt seized control of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Chase, as top-seeded Layne Riggs suffered devastating issues for the second consecutive race.
Honeycutt will try to expand his lead in Friday’s Ecosave 200 (5 p.m. ET on FOX, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), as Riggs—now 37 points behind Honeycutt in second place—attempts to right his ship.
Riggs was running second behind Honeycutt at Kansas when he smacked the wall in the closing laps and dropped to 19th at the finish.
“I just went for it there at the end,” Riggs said. “I feel like we were kind of behind the eight ball all day long. Had rough stops on pit road, had issues. I was going for a win, had a shot at a win, and tried a little too hard. So definitely really disappointing. Really big blow to our points.
“Should have been just fine with chalking up a second-place finish instead of trying to go for the win. But at the same time, the team (Front Row Motorsports) pays me to go win races. And that’s what we did. I just have to be smarter in the long run if I’m going to get this thing. Keep my head about me a little bit better, instead of looking at just three or four laps. Got to look at the whole Chase.”
The good news for Riggs is that he and Honeycutt have created separation from the rest of the Chase field in just two races. Third-place Chandler Smith, Riggs’ teammate, trails Honeycutt by 71 points, with fourth-place Gio Ruggiero 72 points back.
NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Bank of America 400
The Place: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Track Length: 1.5 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Sunday, October 11
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
The Purse: $11,233,037
TV: USA, 2:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 400 miles (267 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 80),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 165), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 267)
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series
Next Race: BlueCross NC 300
The Place: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Track Length: 1.5 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Saturday, October 10
The Time: 4 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,661,806
TV: CW, 3:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 300 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200)
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Next Race: Ecosave 200
The Place: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Track Length: 1.5 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Friday, October 9
The Time: 5 p.m. ET
The Purse: $789,700
TV: FOX, 5 p.m. ET
Radio: NRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 201 miles (134 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 30),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 60), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 134)
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.
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