Cowboy Clyde
Wurth 400:
Chase Elliott captured his second win of the 2026 campaign and second at Texas Motor Speedway by winning the Wurth 400 on Sunday afternoon. Elliott was out front for much of the day, and crew chief Alan Gustafson nailed the pit strategy to keep the Amazon Prime 9 Chevy in the lead. Elliott then held off a hard-charging Denny Hamlin during the last pit cycle and late-race restart to end his day in victory lane.
This was a great race from start to finish, and Texas Motor Speedway, with this abomination of a layout, delivered another great race. As someone who has, since 2017, screamed at SMI for ruining a perfectly fine race track, I may have to admit I was wrong. To me, it was a race that delivered what most fans would like to see. It was competitive with numerous drivers leading dozens of laps and in contention to win. We saw attrition throughout the day with issues on the track and pit road (sorry, not sorry, Joey Logano). Tires mattered, and we had a wide range of pit strategies throughout the day. Drivers could maneuver through the field and pass, even though passing was still at a premium and clean air may still matter a bit too much. Yet, drivers could still move around the track, generate runs, and pass their competitors all day. We saw short runs throughout the day, we saw long runs at times, and what happened on pit road mattered, too. The run to the finish was also solid because it was driver v. driver, but the team's pit strategy, getting through the lapped cars, and managing their stuff also mattered. While it looked like it was going to be Elliott v. Hamlin as the laps dwindled in an excellent long green flag run, and that was going to be exciting, we had one more caution with a handful of laps left to set up a mad dash to the checkered flag. Another highlight of the day was that we had drivers pissed at each other and wrecking each other. It was Preece v. Gibbs (Preece was fined), Busch v. Hocevar (nothing happened), and Busch v. Nemechek (Busch trashed Nemechek on the track and on social media). All in all, it felt like a good ol' fashioned NASCAR race, with many stories unfolding around the track and solid racing to boot. Through it all, Chase Elliott and the 9 team executed their day perfectly, capturing their second victory of the season.
Next up, NASCAR heads to the Finger Lakes region of New York with all three NASCAR National Touring Series on the track at Watkins Glen International. The Craftsman Truck Series leads the weekend of racing in New York by going green at 4:30 p.m. EST on FS1 with the BullyHill Vineyards 176. The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series hits the track on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. EST on The CW with the Mission 200 at The Glen. And the Cup Series caps off the weekend on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. EST on FS1 with the Go Bowling at The Glen.
Please note: I will be out of the country on vacation next week, and I will rejoin the fray following the NASCAR All-Star race at Dover Motor Speedway- which I do think will suck. My picks for NASCAR All-Star Weekend are also below. For All-Star weekend, all three national series are in action with the Truck Series on FS1 on Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. EST with the Ecosave 200. The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series hits the track Saturday afternoon on The CW with the BetRivers 200. The Cup Series headlines the weekend with the All-Star Race on FS1 Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. EST.
Watkins Glen Picks: Trucks = Connor Zilisch
NOAPS = SVG
Cup = SVG
Dover/All-Star Weekend:
Trucks = Layne Riggs
NOAPS = Carson Kvapil
Cup = Denny Hamlin
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