- Chase Elliott joins Tyler Reddick as the only repeat winners of 2026.
- Elliott and Denny Hamlin engaged in a clean, high-stakes battle for the lead.
- HMS led, with five Chevrolets finishing in the top 10 to sweep the podium.
As the curtain fell on the Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports’ golden boy, Chase Elliott, became the NASCAR Cup Series’ first multi-win driver of 2026 after Tyler Reddick.
The No. 9 driver incidentally pulled off a Martinsville-inspired performance, going 1-2 to the checkered flag with Denny Hamlin, this time with the margin trimmed to just 0.407 seconds and the Chevrolet banner running high and proud.
Chase Elliott capitalises as chaos unfolds late in Texas
It wasn’t a race Elliott dominated from the get-go. In fact, the eventual winner didn’t see the lead until Lap 152, when off-cycle pit strategies shuffled the order as 23XI Racing part-timer Corey Heim veered off for a quick pit stop.
The No. 9 driver, though, seized that opportunity. Courtesy of crisp executions on pit road, arguably their best of the season, the HMS squad kept Elliott firmly in control as the laps wound down.
While the initial leg of the 267-race told its own story with Erik Jones winning Stage 1 by stretching an older set of tires, Elliott surged when it mattered most, taking Stage 2 and positioning himself as the driver to beat in the final run.
From that point on, it became a high-speed duel between the 2020 Cup Series champion, his Joe Gibbs Racing rival, Hamlin, and Heim. However, with 11 laps to go, Heim misjudged the turn and spun into the wall off Turn 4, triggering the seventh and final caution of a chaotic afternoon.
That set up a sprint to the finish, four laps, two lanes, and zero margin for error. On the subsequent restart, Elliott lined up alongside Hamlin. The bottom lane had been the preferred groove all day, but Elliott made the top work when it counted.
And when the No. 11 JGR Toyota appeared to catch up to the No. 9 Chevy, a timely shove from teammate Alex Bowman gave Elliott just enough momentum to clear Hamlin through Turns 1 and 2 for his second career win at the Fort Worth quad-oval.
Reflecting on his stellar win, Elliott credited his team and entire HMS squad, “This is a testament to the whole No. 9 team, but not just the No. 9 team, but also everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, because you know we have not been where we wanted to be throughout portions of this season, and everybody has been digging really hard from the engine shop at Hendrick Motorsports to all the setup shops to everybody at Team Chevy.”
Meanwhile, Reddick gambled on two tires before the restart and charged from ninth to fourth, continuing his remarkably consistent start to the season. RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher rounded out the top five as the highest-finishing Ford on the day.
All in all, Sunday was a great points race for the HMS squadron as Bowman in his No. 48 car crossed the line third, William Byron eighth, besides a 34th-place finishing Kyle Larson. In a season that saw the Toyotas run circles around their American OEM rivals, Chevy ruled the roost with five cars finishing inside the top 10.
‘There’s a lot of mutual respect’ – Elliott on hard racing with Hamlin
It hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows between Hamlin and Elliott. A couple of years ago, the two found themselves trading blows in a heated on-track feud that eventually boiled over at Charlotte in 2023, when the HMS driver turned the JGR veteran into the wall in frustration.
NASCAR responded with a stiff suspension for Elliott, and while the dust settled over time, the tension between the two lingered. Fast forward to 2026, though, and the tone has clearly shifted.
Following his Martinsville win earlier this season, the 30-year-old admitted he had finally buried the hatchet with the veteran. That evolution was on full display again at Texas, where the two went head-to-head in the closing laps, this time with mutual respect replacing past animosity.
Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the race, Elliott shed light on how their dynamic has changed.
“A lot of the races that I have been you know having opportunities to win or whatever it seems like he and I are racing for wins a lot,” he said. So I feel like there’s a lot of mutual respect there and it makes those moments fun because you know I feel like he shows me respect, I show him respect and we can go out there and race really hard and know that you have that competitor who is really cool.”
Later, Elliott reflected on what the Texas win meant on a more personal level. The track hasn’t always been kind to him, especially after its reconfiguration, but years of effort are finally paying off.
He noted that while he’s now found success there, this victory felt more meaningful than his previous Texas win, given the journey it took to get to this point.
Leading a race-high 87 laps, Elliott’s victory marked the 23rd of his Cup Series career. He now sits third in the standings, moving up one spot and trimming the gap to points leader Tyler Reddick to 117.
