JOLIET, Ill. — NASCAR’s return to Chicagoland Speedway turned into a battle of the Toyotas, and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe held off teammate Christopher Bell in a thrilling finish to prevail.Toyota, currently enjoying a dominant Cup Series season, put seven cars in the top 10 finishers for the first time in its history, which dates back to 2007. JGR swept the top three spots and put all four of its cars in the top 10 while another Toyota team, 23XI Racing, had three cars in the top 10 — including youngster Corey Heim, in his first race since a surprising victory in the Coronado street course race.“In pro sports, the hardest thing is to stay up (at the top),” said team owner Joe Gibbs, the three-time Super Bowl-winning head coach. “Everybody realizes what great teams we got out there (in NASCAR). This is the best series in the world for racing cars, and everybody’s working extremely hard.”But for now, it certainly seems like the Toyota show. Though Chevrolet driver William Byron led the most laps and finished fourth and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman finished fifth, the Toyota muscle was too much to beat.Toyota has now won five of the last six races and 12 of 19 races overall this season among five different drivers.Chevrolet is in the ballpark but still a step behind. Ford (one car in the top 10) still seems to be a distant third.“It’s up to us to work harder so they don’t catch us,” Briscoe crew chief James Small said.Briscoe drove a top-five car throughout the night, but the winning move came on a strategy call. Small called Briscoe into the pits earlier than then-leader Byron, and Briscoe emerged as the leader after the pit cycle.
NASCAR Chicagoland takeaways: Toyota domination continues as Chase Briscoe wins
Chase Briscoe leads Toyota's charge, SVG and Austin Hill collide, disaster for Connor Zilisch, and more from the race at Chicagoland.










