2026 NASCAR Freeway Insurance 500 (Phoenix) Race Recap

By Adam Carabine

The Chase continued this weekend, as the NASCAR Cup Series headed out west to Phoenix Raceway for the Freeway Insurance 500.  It was a calamity for the Championship leader Kyle Larson, a disappointment for Denny Hamlin, and a big weight off of Tyler Reddick’s shoulders as he returned to Victory Lane for the first time since April.   

Freeway Insurance 500 Top 5 Finishers:

Top 5 NASCAR Cup Series Chase Standings After Phoenix

What Happened in the Freeway Insurance 500?

Forget what you thought you knew about this year’s Championship Standings, as Phoenix Raceway served up a giant question mark at the Freeway Insurance 500 on Sunday.  Championship leader Kyle Larson’s struggles began in qualifying, leading him to start the day in 22nd.  The day went pretty sour from there for the 5 team.  After missing bonus points at the end of both stages, he was finally put out of his misery on lap 283, as a blown right front tire had him hitting the wall and ending his day early.  While he still has the lead in the Championship, he’s only five points up on Christopher Bell now.

Denny Hamlin would have loved a day to capitalize on Larson’s mistakes, but a costly pit road speeding penalty had him finish a lap down.  Joey Logano looked strong early, and he went on to sweep both stages.  Unfortunately, some poor pit road performance took him out of contention late. 

A smart pit call by Tyler Reddick and his team had him starting fourth on the final restart.  He had two fresh tires, but the three cars in front of him had stayed out on 9-lap older tires.  He claimed he didn’t get the best jump on the restart, but there was a hole there, and his fresh tires took him right up to the front.  He held on to win for the first time since April, earning his sixth win on the 2026 season.

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 Freeway Insurance 500 Lap-by-Lap Recap 

Lap 1:  Ryan Blaney won the pole and starts the race with teammate Joey Logano next to him.

Lap 5:  Kyle Larson, who started 22nd, has made up 5 spots already.

Lap 16:  Larson has stalled out now in 17th – hasn’t moved in over ten laps.  Christopher Bell moves into third after passing Chase Briscoe.

Lap 31:  Keep an eye on Josh Berry, he’s now up four spots, to P5.

Lap 44:  CAUTION – Incident on track with Riley Herbst and Michael McDowell.  It seems like they were at each other’s throats for a few laps, and finally the frustration bubbled over.  Herbst tried to do a bump-and-run on McDowell.  McDowell spun, but bounced off the wall and back into Herbst, causing them both to wreck.

Lap 46:  Mixture of two-tire and four-tire stops on pit road here.  Leader Blaney was one of the few to take four and lost a ton of spots under this caution.

Lap 51:  Back to green, now it’s Denny Hamlin and William Byron at the front.

Lap 53:  Joey Logano, who took four tires as well, makes quick work of the leaders and gets to the front of the pack.

Lap 60:  Logano wins Stage One, followed by 11, 20, 12, 19, 24, 9, 1, 45, 21.  (Notably no stage points for Kyle Larson)

Lap 63:  Logano wins the race off pit road and keeps the lead.

Lap 67:  Green flag, but Christopher Bell has a great restart and takes the lead!

Lap 80:  The weather is starting to shift.  It’s getting warmer, the sun’s coming out.  This could impact the way these cars handle.

Lap 92:  Ryan Blaney has made his way up to P2 with his four fresh tires from the last pit stop.  Bell still leads.

Lap 103:  Now Logano takes P2 away from Blaney.  Larson update – still in 22nd. 

Lap 113:  Blaney is having some tire issues, thinks his tire is coming apart.  He’s fading back, and is passed by Josh Berry.

Lap 117: Blaney has now fallen to fifth as he’s passed by Chase Briscoe.

Lap 120:  Green flag pit stops starting.  Blaney says he can’t hold onto it anymore.

Lap 123:  Bell pits from the lead.

Lap 125:  Brad Keselowski spins at the entrance of pit road after making contact with Connor Zilisch’s bumper!  He manages to get it straight again, and it stays green.

Lap 128:  Logano now pits from the lead.

Lap 129:  Bell has made his way to the front again after the pit cycle has completed.

Lap 151:  Issues for Erik Jones, he’s on pit road with damage, but again it stays green.

Lap 155:  Josh Berry is up to second now!

Lap 157:  CAUTION – Austin Dillon has hit the wall.

Lap 159:  Great pit stop by the 22 team, and Logano gets the lead off pit road.

Lap 161:  Larson had gone a lap down, but takes the wave-around here to get back on the lead lap.

Lap 164:  Green flag – Logano and Bell.  But pretty quickly Chase Briscoe takes P2.

Lap 178:  Bubba Wallace is making a charge now, he’s passed Blaney for P5.

Lap 185:  Joey Logano holds the lead to sweep the stages! He wins Stage Two, followed by 19, 20, 21, 23, 12, 45, 11, 34, 9.

Lap 189:  Slow stops on pit road for both Bell and Blaney, Logano holds serve and keeps the lead.

Lap 194:  Green flag – Logano and Briscoe on the front row.

Lap 203:  Bubba Wallace now gets P2, his car looks fast.

Lap 209:  Logano reporting a bit of a vibration from the lead. 

Lap 221:  Denny Hamlin has a tire going down!  He limps it to pit road, and it stays green. 

Lap 223:  CAUTION – Cody Ware also has a tire go down but he hits the wall hard.

Lap 224:  Originally it looked like Hamlin might be the free pass here after pitting a few laps before Ware’s crash, but it turns out he SPED on pit road.  He’ll still be a lap down now and have to start at the tail end.

Lap 227:  A slow stop for Joey Logano, he loses four spots on pit road.  Bubba Wallace and the 23 team capitalize and take the lead.

Lap 231:  Green flag – Bubba and Chase Briscoe.

Lap 250:  It’s Bubba Wallace leading, then Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, and Ryan Blaney rounding out the top 5.

Lap 257:  Now Joey Logano reporting a voltage issue? Could be an alternator problem.

Lap 263:  Kyle Larson is the first to hit pit road, green flag stops starting!

Lap 270:  Many others have come to pit road now, and leader Bubba Wallace comes this lap.

Lap 275:  Ty Gibbs had made his way to the lead but now pits, essentially ending the cycle.  Bubba Wallace gets back to the lead.

Lap 278:  Ty Dillon with a tire down now, he makes it to pit road with no caution.

Lap 279:  Now it’s John Hunter Nemechek’s turn!  Great job by these guys to limp it to pit road with a blown tire.  Still no caution.

Lap 283:  CAUTION – Spoke too soon.  Kyle Larson’s day goes from bad to worse as he also has a tire go down.  He hits the outside wall and this will end his day prematurely. 

Lap 285:  Pit road is open.  Bunch of two-tire stops again, as we’re now only 28 laps to the end of the race.  Tyler Reddick takes two and he wins the race off of pit road, though Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott and Ty Gibbs all stayed out on old tires.  Bubba Wallace is busted for SPEEDING on pit road and will start at the rear.

Lap 291:  A strange moment where NASCAR reportedly miscommunicated some penalty information and the restart is pushed back a few laps.  They all have to choose their lanes one more time.

Lap 294:  Finally green again, It’s Briscoe and Elliott on the front row on older tires. 

Lap 296:  Tyler Reddick makes it four-wide at one point to get to P2, and then stalks down leader Briscoe to take the lead himself!

Lap 302:  11 to go.  Reddick leads Blaney by 1.25s. Then it’s Elliott, Bell, and Corey Heim.

Lap 304:  Briscoe’s older tires gamble hasn’t paid off, he’s faded back to P7.

Lap 308:  5 to go, and Blaney is starting to make up some ground on Reddick, but it might not be enough.  The lead is now one second.

Lap 312:  Reddick hangs on and WINS the race!

Tyler Reddick Keeps His Championship Hopes Alive, Wins Sixth of the Year

This was Tyler Reddick’s sixth win in 2026, and the 14th of his Cup Series career.  This win comes in his 251st Cup Start.  He’s now only 56 points back from the Championship lead, though that may be a tall order with only three races left on the schedule.    

Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin were the two losers on the day.  Larson maintains his spot atop the standings for now, but his lead has shrunk to just five points after the DNF.  There are now six drivers within 56 points of Larson.  Denny Hamlin moved down two spots in the standings to fourth after the speeding penalty later in the race had him finish a lap down. 

What's Next?  

Next weekend is the eighth race of The Chase, as NASCAR visits what is likely to be the biggest wildcard of this year’s postseason, Talladega Superspeedway.  Talladega was the site of Carson Hocevar’s first Cup Series win earlier this spring.  A lot can happen at the drafting tracks, and this is the last one of this season.  Will the standings get shaken up even more?