2026 NASCAR Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Bristol) Race Recap

By Adam Carabine

The Chase continued again this past weekend, with a return to the historic Bristol Motor Speedway, and the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.  Perhaps overshadowed by a post-race fight on pit road, Joey Logano was in the right place at the right time, and capitalized on others’ mistakes to get his third victory of the year! 

The win shot Joey Logano up to third in The Chase standings – a remarkable run for the veteran three-time Cup Champion, who was outside of the playoff picture earlier in the summer. 

Bass Pro Shops Night Race Top 5 Finishers:

Top 5 NASCAR Cup Series Chase Standings After Bristol

What Happened in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race?

Joey Logano capitalized on some beating and banging from the two front-runners, Ty Gibbs and Carson Hocevar, and took the victory. There was some controversial contact between Hocevar and Ryan Blaney earlier in the race as well, which led to a fight on pit road as Joey Logano was celebrating his win.  Blaney had one of the better cars on the day, and led a field-best 202 laps, but ultimately finished with a DNF after contact with Hocevar.

Kyle Larson managed to pass Denny Hamlin for the lead in the points standings by a single point – the first time we’ve had a new leader in the standings since Sonoma in June.   

You can check out the full results of the Cup, O’Reilly Auto Parts, and Craftsman Truck Series races here.

For a more comprehensive look, stick around to see how it all shook down, lap-by-lap!

2026 Bass Pro Shops Night Race Lap-by-Lap Recap

Lap 1:  With practice and qualifying being rained out, NASCAR’s metric had Kyle Larson starting the race on the pole with Joey Logano beside him.

Lap 18:  Big tributes for the late Kyle Busch at this lap.  Bristol being one of Kyle Busch’s best tracks, and with Ty Gibbs driving in an M&M’s throwback scheme, the entire crowd were given Rowdy towels and they waved them with pride at lap 18 in his honour.

Lap 40:  CAUTION – A competition caution due to the weather cancelling practice and qualifying.  Josh Berry gets the free pass.

Lap 43:  8 cars stayed out as pit road opens.  Larson wins the race off pit road, but won’t have the lead after all of Team Penske and a few others stayed on the track.

Lap 49:  Green flag, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric.

Lap 64:  Ty Dillon pits on his own, with an unscheduled stop after a brush with the wall.

Lap 94:  CAUTION – Erik Jones is around!

Lap 101:  Back to green, Logano and Cindric again.

Lap 125:  Joey Logano wins Stage One after not pitting the entire time.  He’s followed by 5, 11, 1, 54, 12, 2, 77, 6, and 23.

Lap 128:  16 cars stayed out on this round of pit stops.

Lap 137:  Green flag for the start of Stage Two.  It’s Ryan Blaney and William Byron on the front row.

Lap 190:  Blaney still leads, he’s 1.25s ahead of Bubba Wallace who is now P2.

Lap 200:  Chase Elliott goes a lap down, as Blaney is ruthlessly lapping just about everyone.

Lap 221:  Top Five check-in – Blaney then Bubba Wallace, Josh Berry, Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano.

Lap 248:  CAUTION – Cody Ware spins after going three-wide with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Denny Hamlin.  Since there are three laps left, this signals the end of Stage Two.  Blaney wins it, followed by 54, 22, 21, 20, 23, 77, 24, 5, 17.

Lap 253:  Blaney wins the race off of pit road.

Lap 262:  Green flag, Blaney and Ty Gibbs on the front row.

Lap 288:  Ty Gibbs is maneuvering all over the track, trying different lines to pass Blaney – no luck yet.

Lap 325:  Gibbs finally gets it done, and passes Blaney for the lead.  Gibbs, who won here in the spring, looks strong.

Lap 345:  Good battle for the lead here as Blaney hasn’t completely gone away.  Gibbs keeps the lead for now, but they’re now stuck in some lapped traffic too, making things harder.

Lap 378:  Josh Berry pits – starting some green flag pit stops (at Bristol?!)

Lap 379:  Kyle Larson to pit road, which triggers mass exodus as everyone tries to get new tires and fuel.

Lap 387:  Ty Gibbs pits from the lead.  Blaney takes it back for now.

Lap 397:  Blaney pits from the lead, but WAIT – there’s a CAUTION!  Blaney was past the pit road commitment line but quickly aborted and came back on track.  Riley Herbst brought out the yellow with some issues of his own. 

It’s a bit of a weird scoring anomaly, as there were technically only two cars on the lead lap at the time of caution.  One being Carson Hocevar in the lead, and the other being Ryan Blaney, who is now under penalty for a commitment line violation.  NASCAR takes some time to sort out the issues.

Lap 406:  Back to green.  Hocevar is the leader, with 7 cars taking the wave around and getting back on the lead lap.  Meanwhile Ryan Blaney is now way at the back, still on the lead lap, but at the tail end of the longest line for his commitment line penalty.

Lap 420:  Hocevar’s lead over Ty Gibbs is up to 2 seconds now.

Lap 429:  CAUTION – Ty Gibbs tries to go through the middle of Alex Bowman and Cole Custer.  There was room at first, but it seemed like maybe Bowman didn’t realize they were three-wide and came up.  Bowman got the worst of it, spinning and ending his day.  Ty Gibbs might have a bit of damage, but it’s too soon to see if it will cost him any speed.

Lap 435:  Not many takers on pit road. 

Lap 442:  Back to green, Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney on the front row.  Does Gibbs’ car have what it takes to stay up front after the damage?

Lap 443:  CAUTION – William Byron is around on the backstretch.  Hocevar had a crazy restart, from third on the outside row to P2 after he took just two right-side tires on that last caution.

Lap 449:  As they come to the choose, Hocevar actually gives up a spot and picks the outside row behind leader Ty Gibbs, rather than the front row next to him.

Lap 450:  Green flag – Gibbs with Larson beside him.

Lap 454:  Larson is fading on older tires.  Gibbs leads, followed by Hocevar, Blaney and then Larson in P4.

Lap 456:  Side-by-side battling between Hocevar and Blaney for P2! It’s getting spicy!

Lap 457:  CAUTION – Hocevar SPINS Ryan Blaney, sending him into the wall.  Blaney is DONE for the day, as he can’t get the car fired back up. 

Lap 466: Green flag, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Larson.

Lap 467:  Hocevar back up to P2 on this restart. He likes that outside line.

Lap 477:  CAUTION – Chase Elliott spins on his own.

Lap 484:  We’re nearing the end of the race.  Green flag, with Gibbs and Larson on the front row.  Both Hocevar and Christopher Bell gave up positions to be on the outside lane again.

Lap 486:  Hocevar dives to the inside and gets the LEAD from Ty Gibbs! But there’s a CAUTION – AJ Allmendinger spins, bringing out the yellow.  NASCAR determines that Gibbs was still the leader at the time of the caution.

Lap 492:  Green flag with Gibbs and Larson again on the front row.

Lap 493:  Hocevar takes the lead with another incredible restart!

Lap 494:  As Gibbs and Hocevar trade blows, each vying for the lead, Joey Logano comes out of nowhere and gets to the front!

Lap 500:  Joey Logano wins at Bristol!  Gibbs and Hocevar ended up battling too hard and weren’t able to catch up to the 22 car in the final five laps.

Joey Logano Gets His Third Win of the Season, Moves up to Third in the Chase Standings.

This was Joey Logano’s third win of the season, after winning at North Wilkesboro and Richmond earlier this year.  It’s a milestone 40th career Cup Series win, in his 645th start.

Most importantly, Logano’s hot streak recently has moved him up to third in the Chase Standings, making him a legitimate threat to match Jeff Gordon’s four career Cup Championships. 

What's Next?  

Next weekend is the fourth race of The Chase, as NASCAR returns to Kansas Speedway – where Tyler Reddick won from the pole earlier this year.