Chase Briscoe

JOLIET, Ill. — Chase Briscoe held off Christopher Bell on Sunday night in NASCAR’s return to Chicagoland Speedway, racing to his first Cup Series victory of the season.

Briscoe was followed closely by Bell in the final laps on the 1.5-mile oval about 50 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. But Bell was unable to run down his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.

The 31-year-old Briscoe, an Indiana native, celebrated his sixth career win with a burnout before standing in the window of his car and waving to the sellout crowd.

It was Bell’s fourth runner-up finish this season. He raced with a splint on his arm as he continues his recovery after breaking his left wrist in a crash at Michigan on June 7.

Denny Hamlin, who started on the pole, was third. William Byron, who won two stages while leading a race-high 94 laps, and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.

NASCAR ran 19 Cup races in Joliet before pulling out after the 2019 season. It tried to build interest in the event in a crowded sports market, but the race struggled with attendance.

After racing on a street course in downtown Chicago each of the previous three years, NASCAR decided to go back to Chicagoland — eager to see how the Next Gen cars would do on the rough and bumpy asphalt at the facility. Rain on Friday and Saturday caused some parking issues, but the racing was compelling.

Driving a “Space Jam”-themed car in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Looney Tunes movie, Bubba Wallace was sixth in his No. 23 Toyota Camry. Wallace is part of the 23XI Racing team that is co-owned by Michael Jordan, one of the stars of the 1996 movie.

Leclerc ends wait

SILVERSTONE, England — Charles Leclerc took his first Formula 1 win in nearly two years as a chaotic British Grand Prix ended behind the safety car on Sunday and standings leader Kimi Antonelli missed the points again with a damaged car.

Leclerc surged past Antonelli at the start as the Mercedes driver dropped to third but the Italian was chasing Leclerc down in the final laps when he reported a steering problem. Leclerc took a landmark 250th victory for Ferrari under the safety car brought out by a spectacular spin into the gravel from third by Max Verstappen.

“Finally!” Leclerc said over the radio after taking the win. “This one felt particularly good, even if I wished it was a more normal ending.”

Leclerc leaped out of his car and ran to a crowd of Ferrari staff who surged forward to embrace him, toppling a crowd barrier onto their driver. Leclerc’s last F1 victory was at the United States Grand Prix in October 2024.

Elsewhere:

n Pato O’Ward won the IndyCar Grand Prix of Lexington on Sunday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Christian Lundgaard was second.

n Brandon Jones won the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Cuervo 300 on Saturday in Joliet, Ill. Chase Elliott was second.