The final lap at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday descended into chaos, but amid the mayhem, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe stole the show with a last-lap pass to capture the win in the YellaWood 500 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race, earning his first-ever spot in the championship finale. The victory, however, came with an assist he won’t soon forget, as Briscoe credited teammate Ty Gibbs for playing a decisive role in securing the win.
Advertisement
Lining up sixth for a two-lap overtime sprint, Briscoe watched as Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson controlled the front row, side by side, setting up a Chevrolet showdown. Byron had a strong shove from Carson Hocevar of Hendrick-allied Spire Motorsports, while Larson was pushed into the lead by the 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace.
But all of a sudden, the race turned on its head. Larson’s tank ran dry, leaving him crawling off pace, while Byron saw his hopes going down when Hocevar’s aggressive push sent him spinning. Briscoe, locked onto Wallace’s rear bumper, was committed to shoving the No. 23 to the win. Yet when Wallace stayed put on the high line, Briscoe’s window opened. With a hard push from JGR’s Gibbs, the lone non-Playoff teammate, Briscoe dove low, swept past Wallace, and punched his ticket to the Championship 4.
During his media interaction Briscoe didn’t mince words about who made it possible. “There at the end, I was kind of sick when the caution came out because I felt like I was going to finish in the top five and be okay points-wise. Yeah, that last restart was truthfully trying to push Bubba to the win. I did not want William to win. If Larson won, that was a best-case scenario out of Playoff guys. It was really just trying to push Bubba to the win.”
“I felt like that was going to be the best thing for me. I don’t know what really happened on the bottom lane, but was able to push Bubba far enough out. Made a move. The 54 came with me. Ty was the whole reason I won the race. He was extremely committed to me from the get-go. Really did a good job of keeping me up tight to Bubba so I could keep pushing him along. When I made a move, Ty went with me.”
“Was selfless in the fact that he’s going for his first win, could have easily tried to make a move, did something different. He pushed me to the win. An incredible team effort. Yeah, can’t thank Ty enough,” the #19 driver said.
“Ty was the whole reason I won the race”
– @chasebriscoe, explaining the end of Dega pic.twitter.com/PkNrJhtz0V
— Alan Cavanna (@AlanCavanna) October 20, 2025
Besides that, in the Gibbs camp, Christopher Bell stood as the only other Playoff driver to crack the top ten. With both Hamlin and Briscoe already locked into the title race, Bell now sits atop the points standings, 37 clear of the cutoff. All told, it was a banner day for Joe Gibbs Racing, half the Championship 4 secured, and Bell leading the charge on points.
