Kyle Larson wins mad Gateway Cup race after 18 cautions, two red flags, and double overtime

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at WWT Raceway descended into a chaotic contest featuring 18 cautions and two red flags.

For the first time since attempting the 2025 Indy 500/Coke 600 double, Kyle Larson returned to Victory Lane, winning his 33rd career race and his first in 51 starts.

The race featured 18 cautions, a record for both WWT Raceway and the entire 2026 season. There were also two red flags in the final stage, and the race ended in double overtime.

Watch: Larson after breakthrough win: 'We got our swagger back'

"I had a good feeling," said Larson. "I mean, you never know. I felt like this place is so weird. Obviously with the brake rotor failure, strategy, all that.

"Just proud of my team for working so hard, being so patient through all the tough times, the winless streak, all that. Thanks to the fans, my fans, for also being patient with us, letting us get it figured out.

"How about Hendrick Motorsports. Alex Bowman, can't ask for a better teammate than him. Gave me the pushes I needed to get clear. Want to dedicate this win to him, and his dog just passed away a couple days ago."

William Byron, top five, too. Ross Chastain fifth. A lot of Chevys up there. Good day for Chevrolet.

Alex Bowman finished second in a Hendrick Motorsports 1-2, with Joey Logano third, William Byron fourth, and Ross Chastain fifth.

Austin Dillon, Connor Zilisch, Carson Hocevar, Denny Hamlin, and Austin Cindric filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Hamlin continues to lead the championship standings, just 9 points clear of Larson and 18 points ahead of Christopher Bell.

Stage 1

Logano led from the start, and it didn't take long for things to get wild out on the track. Suarez wiggled up the track, squeezing Reddick into the wall and causing the No. 45 to break or bend a toelink.

However, the first caution was a couple of laps later as Herbst spun at the back of the pack.

Things were hyper-aggressive throughout the field, with Stenhouse being the next to go for a single-car spin soon after. On the restart after that, drivers ran out of room in a four-wide battle at the exit of Turn 2. McDowell, Van Gisbergen, and Gragson all crashed, with  Suarez—who is in the Chase—getting pushed into the incident by Ware.

Van Gisbergen was also involved in the next incident, spinning on his own with four cautions before the end of Stage 1.

In another frantic restart, Wallace dropped from inside the top 10 to nearly 30th after getting moved up by Chastain and then soon after by Suarez.

Logano went on to win a wild opening stage, followed by Bell, Larson, Blaney, Elliott, Hocevar, Briscoe, Bowman, Gibbs, and Keselowski.

Stage 2

A dozen drivers stayed out, led by Keselowski, Nemechek, Suarez, Byron, and Hamlin. Bell won the race off pit road with a two tire call, followed by Gibbs, Zilisch, Jones. Logano and Larson are the first on four tires.

There were battles all around the track and cars in every lane, but there still wasn't enough room for two Toyotas as a frustrated Gibbs sent Jones spinning.

After that, Herbst spun again after contact from Van Gisbergen, collecting Allmendinger. They were checking up for a situation ahead of them, triggering the wreck.

Almost the entire field pitted, but Chastain stayed out with Jones and Preece. Meanwhile, Hamlin won the race off the pit lane with a two-tire call.

Chastain led some laps before being passed by Larson, and then did an impressive job fending off Keselowski for quite a while in the battle for second. Ultimately, Logano passed them both.

Ware had to pit under green as his window net came loose, which triggered a black flag.

Chastain made it to 11 laps to go in the stage, and moments later, the caution flew for a big crash for Zane Smith. Chastain was mere seconds away from cycling into the lead, but had just gotten lapped, so instead had to rejoin at the tailend of the field.

Larson won the stage under caution, followed by Logano, Keselowski, Blaney, Berry, Hamlin, Preece, Reddick, Briscoe, and Wallace.

Stage 3

Logano won the race off pit road, but on the restart, Wallace and Briscoe made contact, sending both around and collecting a third Chase driver in Byron.

In the next run, Blaney suffered a dramatic brake failure down the frontstretch while running sixth, becoming the first Chase driver to fall out of the race.

Larson and Berry stayed out, while Keselowski and Logano led those who decided to pit. It was a wild restart, with Berry and Larson making contact, leading to a three-wide, full-contact battle with Hamlin. Keselowski ended up taking the lead after a brief scuffle, making side-to-side contact with Berry in the process.

Chastain then triggered the next yellow as he spun down the frontstretch, keeping it out of the wall. Larson and Berry chose to pit with a few others, and there was a brief fire at the back of Herbst's car.

Logano took the lead on that restart, and while Keselowski and Hocevar got side-by-side, they kept it clean.

Gragson was the next to suffer a brake failure, breaking the season-high for cautions at any track this year with 13, and more carnage to follow.

Keselowski, Gibbs, Preece, Van Gisbergen, and Chastain stayed out, while Logano led the race off pit road. Hocevar also had to make an extra pit stop due to a loose wheel.

Chastain made a bold four-wide pass on the restart to take second, but Logano eventually moved by and began his pursuit of Keselowski.

However, a lot of Chase drivers were about to find trouble. Elliott lost his brakes at the entry of Turn 1, wrecking himself and Briscoe.

After that, Wallace, Berry, Reddick, and Bell all crashed in a wild incident at the exit of Turn 2. Reddick even got airborne for a moment. 

The next wreck was fairly big as well, as Gibbs, Allmendinger, Suarez, and T. Dillon wrecked at the exit of Turn 2 on the restart.

NASCAR red-flagged the race, with Larson leading the way with a bit fresher tires. The race resumed with seven laps to go, and Larson looked set to end his winless streak, only for Buescher to crash with a brake failure and push the race into overtime. 

Along with the 17th caution, that wreck also triggered the second red flag stoppage of the race.

On an overtime restart, Larson asked team-mate Byron not to push Logano on the overtime restart, and Byron obliged. That allowed Bowman to move up into second, as Van Gisbergen spun from inside the top ten. 

In double overtime, Larson again maintained the lead, and what was left of the field managed to keep it clean for two more laps of racing. Larson took the checkered flag, about three tenths clear of Bowman.

Watch: Larson wins wild overtime thriller at Gateway

RACE

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports	5		Chevrolet	247	3:47'23.278		7	63
2	A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports	48		Chevrolet	247	+0.333 3:47'23.611	0.333	8	38
3	J. Logano Team Penske	22		Ford	247	+0.518 3:47'23.796	0.185	8	45
4	W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports	24		Chevrolet	247	+1.038 3:47'24.316	0.520	12	33
5	R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing	1		Chevrolet	247	+1.214 3:47'24.492	0.176	9	32
6	A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing	3		Chevrolet	247	+1.362 3:47'24.640	0.148	9	31
7	C. Zilisch TrackHouse Racing	88		Chevrolet	247	+1.641 3:47'24.919	0.279	10	30
8	C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports	77		Chevrolet	247	+1.675 3:47'24.953	0.034	10	34
9	D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing	11		Toyota	247	+2.271 3:47'25.549	0.596	8	28
10	A. Cindric Team Penske	2		Ford	247	+2.275 3:47'25.553	0.004	8	27
11	C. Custer Haas Factory Team	41		Chevrolet	247	+2.933 3:47'26.211	0.658	9	26
12	B. Keselowski RFK Racing	6		Ford	247	+2.953 3:47'26.231	0.020	7	26
13	E. Jones Legacy Motor Club	43		Toyota	247	+3.022 3:47'26.300	0.069	11	24
14	B. Wallace 23XI Racing	23		Toyota	247	+3.080 3:47'26.358	0.058	14	23
15	J. Nemechek Legacy Motor Club	42		Toyota	247	+3.328 3:47'26.606	0.248	9	22
16	A. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing	16		Chevrolet	247	+3.386 3:47'26.664	0.058	14	21
17	R. Preece RFK Racing	60		Ford	247	+3.393 3:47'26.671	0.007	9	20
18	T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing	54		Toyota	247	+3.414 3:47'26.692	0.021	9	21
19	C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing	20		Toyota	247	+3.621 3:47'26.899	0.207	10	27
20	M. McDowell Spire Motorsports	71		Chevrolet	247	+3.769 3:47'27.047	0.148	17	17
21	A. Hill Richard Childress Racing	33		Chevrolet	247	+3.975 3:47'27.253	0.206	11
22	C. Ware Rick Ware Racing	51		Chevrolet	247	+4.194 3:47'27.472	0.219	15	15
23	S. van Gisbergen TrackHouse Racing	97		Chevrolet	247	+4.388 3:47'27.666	0.194	12	14
24	T. Gilliland Front Row Motorsports	34		Ford	247	+4.519 3:47'27.797	0.131	17	13
25	T. Reddick 23XI Racing	45		Toyota	247	+5.362 3:47'28.640	0.843	16	12
26	R. Stenhouse Jr Hyak Motorsports	47		Chevrolet	247	+13.625 3:47'36.903	8.263	11	11
27	C. Buescher RFK Racing	17		Ford	237	+10 Laps 3:34'48.651	10 Laps	10	10	Accident
28	J. Berry Wood Brothers Racing	21		Ford	231	+16 Laps 3:47'32.153	6 Laps	9	9
29	D. Suarez Spire Motorsports	7		Chevrolet	229	+18 Laps 3:25'26.155	2 Laps	12	8	Accident
30	T. Dillon Kaulig Racing	10		Chevrolet	227	+20 Laps 3:23'16.681	2 Laps	12	7	Accident
31	C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports	9		Chevrolet	214	+33 Laps 3:06'45.404	13 Laps	8	12	Accident
32	C. Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing	19		Toyota	213	+34 Laps 3:05'30.072	1 Lap	8	9	Accident
33	N. Gragson Front Row Motorsports	4		Ford	198	+49 Laps 2:51'29.405	15 Laps	12	4	Accident
34	R. Herbst 23XI Racing	35		Toyota	176	+71 Laps 2:35'02.145	22 Laps	13	3	Accident
35	R. Blaney Team Penske	12		Ford	154	+93 Laps 2:11'37.043	22 Laps	6	9	Accident
36	Z. Smith Front Row Motorsports	38		Ford	129	+118 Laps 1:44'18.391	25 Laps	5	1	Accident
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