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Würth 400 Recap- Chase Elliott Wins Texas in a Four-Lap Shootout

The Most Popular Driver delivers again at Texas and my card took a real beating this week.

Würth 400 Recap: Chase Elliott Wins Texas in a Four-Lap Shootout

Hey race fans, welcome back to Driving on Marbles!

What a Sunday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway. Seven cautions, 23 lead changes among 11 different drivers, pit road chaos that swallowed multiple contenders whole, and a four-lap overtime shootout that delivered one of the most popular wins of the 2026 season.

Chase Elliott wins the Würth 400 for his second victory of the season and the 23rd of his career, joining Tyler Reddick as the only multiple winners in 2026. Chase fans everywhere had a very good Sunday afternoon…well everywhere except here…

We’ll get into how my picks did shortly and I’ll be completely straight with you…it was a pretty tough week for the card. But first let’s talk about the race itself because there was a lot going on.

Let’s get into this week’s race recap for the Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

How The Würth 400 Went Down

Carson Hocevar won the pole for the second time in his career, qualifying at 191.340 mph to lead the field to the green flag alongside Daniel Suarez. Two Spire Motorsports cars on the front row at Texas. What a season this kid is having.

Hocevar led the opening 19 laps before Hamlin surged to the front at Lap 20. At one point Bell, Hamlin, and Briscoe ran 1-2-3 which was an incredible JGR formation at the front of a 1.5-mile oval. That early picture looked really promising for our pool card. Then Texas decided to be Texas.

The first caution flew on Lap 68 when race leader Christopher Bell was collected in a crash off Turn 4. Bell had been fending off a charge from teammate Denny Hamlin when Todd Gilliland spun in front of the field. Gilliland slid down the track and caught the right-rear of Bell’s No. 20 Toyota at pit exit, sending his car sliding before hitting the outside wall flush with the right side of the car. Bell drove the damaged car back to the garage but couldn’t continue, finishing 38th. Absolutely brutal.

Bell was leading and running the race of his 2026 season up to that point and it got taken from him through no fault of his own.

The pit road chaos that followed was equally damaging for multiple contenders.

During pit stops under caution on Lap 94, Cole Custer slowed to allow Ty Gibbs to exit his stall. Logano slammed into Custer’s car, peeling back the left-front fender of the No. 22 Mustang.

With the left-front tire skewed out of proper orientation, Logano retired from the race.

Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson also made contact on pit road during the same sequence. Briscoe took two tires and was leaving his stall as Larson was entering his, leading to a collision between Briscoe’s right front and Larson’s left front. Both cars needed repairs.

Kyle Larson spun in Turn 2 on Lap 160 and clobbered the wall with the driver’s side of his No. 5 Chevrolet. He took the car to the garage, his hopes for a second Texas win completely dashed. “I just lost it,” Larson said.

You and me both Larson!

Honestly, at that point I can say I had lost it as well!

Moving on…Elliott didn’t take the lead until Lap 152 when Corey Heim pitted on an off-cycle strategy. From that point on the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet controlled the race with an iron fist, thanks in part to a pit crew that performed its three fastest pit stops of the season on Sunday.

After Heim spun in Turn 4 to cause the seventh and final caution, Elliott had to survive a restart with four laps left. With a push from teammate Alex Bowman he cleared runner-up Denny Hamlin off Turn 2 and pulled away to win by 0.407 seconds.

The Storylines Worth Talking About

Elliott becomes the only repeat winner at Texas in ten races

Elliott is the first driver to win consecutive spring Texas races and joins Reddick as the only multiple winners of the 2026 season. It’s the earliest in a season he’s ever recorded multiple wins in the Cup Series.

The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has been coming alive over the past month and if the momentum continues it’s going to make the second half of the season really interesting.

Alex Bowman's quiet excellence

Bowman finished third which marked a season-best result and the push he gave Elliott off Turn 2 on the final restart was arguably the difference between a win and a second-place finish for his teammate.

Bowman has been one of the most underrated stories of the 2026 season and a third-place Texas finish is a genuine statement result.

Erik Jones wins Stage 1

Stage 1 winner Erik Jones was one of the stories of the afternoon. Jones stayed out under the first caution along with four other drivers to earn the stage win over Hocevar, Stenhouse, and Gibbs.

It was a popular stage win for a veteran driver who has been grinding away for Legacy Motor Club all season.

Corey Heim's remarkable rookie performance

Rookie Corey Heim led 69 laps at Texas Motor Speedway in just his Cup career start which is a staggering number for a driver in his first season. He ultimately finished 31st after spinning late but the raw talent on display was genuinely exciting. Keep an eye on this kid for the rest of the season.

Updated Points Standings

Tyler Reddick leads the championship with 526 points. Denny Hamlin moves to second with 417. Chase Elliott climbs to third with 409. Ryan Blaney is fourth with 371 and Chris Buescher rounds out the top five with 345. Christopher Bell drops to 13th with 291 points.

How My Picks Did at the Würth 400

Alright, let’s be completely straight with each other because this was one of the tougher weeks of the season for the card and you deserve an honest breakdown.

Christopher Bell (Main Driver) — Heartbreaking

Bell was leading the race and fending off teammate Denny Hamlin when Todd Gilliland spun in front of the field on Lap 68.

Gilliland slid down the track and caught the right-rear of Bell’s No. 20 Toyota at pit exit, sending his car into the outside wall and ending his day in 38th place. He was running the best race of his 2026 season up to that point, leading laps at the front with Hamlin and Briscoe in a brilliant JGR formation.

It was completely out of his control and it’s genuinely one of the unluckiest days any driver has had this season. Nothing you can do when another car slides into your path while you’re leading the race. We move on.

William Byron (Inside Top 12) — Hit

Byron finished eighth and collected solid stage points after a difficult day that included a spin off Turn 4 which brought out a caution.

He kept it together for a top-ten result which is exactly what you need from your inside anchor when everything else is going sideways around you. We’ll take that eighth place without hesitation.

Kyle Larson (Inside Top 12) — Miss

Larson spun in Turn 2 on Lap 160, clobbered the wall with the driver’s side of the No. 5 Chevrolet, and took it to the garage. The winless drought extends further. He had genuine speed and led laps before the spin ended his afternoon.

Texas has now cost him two visits in a row at tracks where he should be winning. The frustration is completely understandable but the speed is still there and a win is coming.

Joey Logano (Outside Top 12) — Miss

Logano slammed into Cole Custer’s car on pit road during the Lap 94 pit sequence, peeling back the left-front fender of his Mustang. With the tire alignment destroyed he had no choice but to retire from the race. The defending Texas winner never got a chance to show what he had.

Pit road at Texas this season has been absolutely brutal and Logano was one of several drivers it swallowed whole on Sunday.

Chase Briscoe (Outside Top 12) — Miss

Briscoe and Larson made contact on pit road during the same chaotic sequence that took out Logano. Briscoe took two tires and was leaving his stall as Larson was entering his, leading to a collision that damaged both cars. Briscoe backed up for repairs and finished 23rd.

He was running in the top five when the pit road sequence unfolded and that damage ended any chance of the result his pace deserved on the day.

Austin Cindric (Outside Top 12) — Miss

Cindric had a solid run through the middle portion of the race, showing the Texas stage points pace we expected from him after his history at this track. He pitted late under the final caution and finished outside the top 20 as track position worked against him in the closing laps.

Not the result we needed but he was never really in harm’s way during the incident-filled afternoon either.

The big picture this week

One top-ten result from Byron and five difficult outcomes ranging from crashes to pit road incidents to bad luck. It’s genuinely one of the tougher weeks we’ve had on the card in 2026 and the frustrating thing is that almost none of it came down to poor pick selection. Bell was leading when he got taken out. Larson had genuine speed and spun on his own. Logano and Briscoe were both victims of pit road chaos.

That’s Texas doing what Texas does with seven cautions and a track that punishes everyone equally.

We pick ourselves up and head to Watkins Glen.

Next Up: Go Bowling at The Glen

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Watkins Glen International next Sunday May 10 for the Go Bowling at The Glen with coverage beginning at 3:00 PM ET. Road course week is a completely different challenge and the picks conversation changes dramatically. Watkins Glen has its own set of specialists and the strategy game at a road course is completely unlike anything we do at intermediate ovals. 

My top 20 rundown will be out midweek and the picks post will be live before qualifying on Saturday. Until then race fans. Have yourselves an awesome week ahead.

Tough week but we move forward! 

Bryan | Driving on Marbles

Author Profile

Bryan
Hey there race fans, welcome to Driving on Marbles, where I break down NASCAR with real insight, smart strategy, and race by race analysis. This isn’t just race recaps and highlight talk, it’s trends, track history, driver momentum, and the little details that actually make a difference on race day.

Whether you’re setting your fantasy lineup, looking for betting angles, or just want to understand why things happen on the track, I’ve got you covered. My goal is simple: help fans see the race the way teams and strategists do, one decision, one adjustment, one edge at a time.

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