Bell victory closes NASCAR Chase gap at Darlington

Christopher Bell and Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 team won the 2026 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, securing Bell’s first Cup Series victory of the season.

The result tightened the Chase standings after Denny Hamlin’s car suffered damage. Hamlin remains the leader, but his advantage over Bell has fallen to 12 points with nine races left.

Ryan Blaney sits third, 16 points behind Hamlin, followed by Tyler Reddick at 24 points back and Chase Briscoe at 37. Ty Gibbs, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Chase Elliott complete the next positions in the standings.

The supplied Yahoo Sports report, which originally appeared on Motorsports Wire, lists 16 Chase drivers. William Byron is last, 114 points behind the leader.

Darlington has therefore left the championship contest more compressed at the top, while still leaving nine races for the field to change the order.