Chase Briscoe holds off teammate Christopher Bell in Charlotte to win 2nd straight playoff race

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Chase Briscoe is getting the hang of winning close races.

Briscoe held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell to win his second straight NASCAR playoff race in a photo finish on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, vaulting him into contention to earn his first Cup Series championship.

The .029-second margin of victory was the second closest since CMS opened in 1960, ranking behind only Jimmie Johnson's .027-second win over Bobby Labonte in 2005.

The two drivers traded paint on the final lap, but Briscoe maintained control of his No. 19 Toyota and reached the finish line about a half-car length ahead of Bell.

“I don’t know what it is about these finishes. I have to quit making it so exciting at the end,” said Briscoe, who had to hold off playoff points leader Kyle Larson to win last week at Las Vegas.

It was the eighth win of Briscoe's career and third this season. He led 62 laps.

Briscoe said he felt like his right front tire was going down on the final laps, but was able to hold it together.

“When I got beyond those final lapped cars with five or six (laps) to go, I felt like I was going to knock the wall down,” Briscoe said. “At one point it just quit turning.”

Ryan Blaney finished third, followed by Josh Berry, Denny Hamlin and Larson.

Briscoe was 123 points behind Larson prior to last week's win, but the back-to-back victories have cut the deficit to 65 points and put him in fourth place with four races left.

Gibbs said he was just happy his drivers didn’t wreck each other.

“That’s always when I’m the most nervous, when a couple of our guys are running up front,” Gibbs said. “I know how badly all of our guys want to win. ... That's when my blood pressure and heartbeat gets accelerated.”

Hamlin is now 49 points behind Larson in the Chase, followed by Bell, who is 51 points back.

Larson called it a “good, solid day” and was happy to extend his playoff lead by nine points.

Hamlin won the regular season championship, but has struggled to find victory lane in the playoffs. He seemed perplexed why he hasn’t been able to regain the speed he had before the postseason.

“We got to execute better, be a little faster — all of the above,” Hamlin said. “We’re giving it all we got right now.”

It didn't help that Hamlin was sent to the rear of the field for a loose tire penalty on pit road on his first stop.

Larson, who entered the race with five top five finishes including two wins in the postseason, started on the pole based on NASCAR's metric system after Saturday's qualifying was rained out.

He made the most of the pole position, dominating the race early by leading 68 of the 80 laps in the first stage to collect the maximum number of points in stage one.

Bell caught Larson and won the second stage.

Several Chase contenders ran into problems in the first stage.

Ty Gibbs broke a toe link in his No. 54 Toyota causing him to hit the outside wall. Joey Logano, with nowhere to go, slammed into Gibbs from behind. Gibbs headed behind the wall for repairs and fell several laps behind, while Logano was sent to the back of the field.

And, near the end of the first stage, Alex Bowman's car got loose and ran up the track and into Bubba Wallace's car, collecting William Byron in the mix. Wallace climbed out of his car, but was taken to the infield medical center in an ambulance.

The crash sent all three cars behind the wall.

“I just got loose," Bowman said. “Honestly, I had been really tight. As soon as it got to the exit of the corner, it snapped and it kind of didn’t stand a chance. Unfortunately, I grabbed too much wheel, overcorrected it and got in those two guys’ (Wallace and Byron) way. I hate that for the No. 24 and No. 23 teams. It’s one thing to get loose and crash, but to ruin their days too really sucks.”

After eight years, CMS and NASCAR said goodbye to the “roval,” changing the fall race from a road course back to the traditional 1 1/2-mile oval course. That came as NASCAR shifted away from road courses and placed more emphasis on intermediate oval tracks before the season.

Drivers seemed to be in favor of the change.

“I appreciate the roval for what it was, and I’ve enjoyed the handful of years that we did it to start," Chris Buescher said. "Charlotte has so much character. It’s put on some really good races and I think that was the big push to get us back on the oval.”

The Cup Series heads to Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona next Sunday.

See AP’s full auto racing coverage here

Chase Briscoe and his team celebrate after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Chase Briscoe does a burnout after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Chase Briscoe (19) beats Christopher Bell (20) to the finish line to win a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Chase Briscoe (19) and Christopher Bell (20) compete through Turn 3 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

The pit crew for Austin Dillon rushes to complete a pit stop during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Christopher Bell competes down the front stretch during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

A pack of cars come to a green flag restart during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

A pair of low-payroll teams with similar styles will face off in the AL Championship Series.

It’s small ball vs. “Guards Ball” when the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Guardians open their best-of-seven series Monday night at Tropicana Field.

Two-time All-Star right-hander Drew Rasmussen takes the mound for Tampa Bay after dominating the New York Yankees in the opener of the AL Division Series.

Lefty Foster Griffin will start for Cleveland, which worked out late Sunday after beating the Chicago White Sox in Game 5 of its ALDS.

The Rays won an AL-best 98 games in the regular season, swept New York in the ALDS and seek the third pennant in the franchise’s 29-season history.

Cleveland won 85 games, fell behind Chicago in the ALDS and became only the 11th team to overcome an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five playoff series.

“I don’t think it’s really set in yet,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “But we’re here. The guys are excited. We’re prepared. We’re ready to go. We’re playing some really good baseball right now."

The Rays-Yankees matchup was David vs. Goliath in terms of payroll because New York opened the season with MLB’s third highest at $302.8 million and Tampa Bay ranked 26th at $90.5 million.

But the Rays are facing a team now that spent even less. The Guardians were last in the majors at $75.5 million.

Both teams emphasize contact at the plate, speed on the bases, strong fundamentals, solid pitching and doing whatever it takes to win.

Tampa Bay led the AL with a .258 batting average and had the fewest strikeouts in the majors. The Guardians only hit .239, didn’t have a hitter with more than 18 homers and had the fifth-fewest strikeouts in the league.

The two clubs bolstered their rosters at the trade deadline. Tampa Bay got starter Freddy Peralta, catcher Liam Hicks and reliever Tyler Wells.

Cleveland acquired Griffin, outfielder Jo Adell, and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe.

“I do think there’s more similarities than not,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said Sunday. “I feel Cleveland does mirror us or we mirror them. And I say that with the utmost respect to them, the way they develop pitching, the way they think about the game."

Rasmussen took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning of the ALDS opener, finishing with 10 strikeouts in a 1-0 victory. He was 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA and led the AL with a 0.91 WHIP. Rasmussen has been one of baseball’s best pitchers since an internal brace procedure in July 2023 that forced him to miss more than a year.

“I could really care less where people would rank me,” Rasmussen said. “I’m going to come in every single day, be as prepared as possible and I’m going to go out there and compete to the best of my abilities and do my best to execute and give our team the best chance to win.

Griffin was 3-3 with a 5.19 ERA in nine starts for Cleveland after the trade. The 31-year-old lefty was 12-3 went a 3.06 ERA with the Nationals after spending the previous three seasons with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Central League.

Griffin had seven strikeouts and gave up one run in 2 2/3 innings of relief in Game 3 against the White Sox.

“They got some slug for sure, and also just have some really good just baseball knowledge-type players: get a guy over less than two outs, knowing when to hit the sac fly, put the ball on the ground in certain situations," Griffin said. "Have some speed, as well. More of a complete team instead of just a 1-through-9, trying to hit you for a home run or slug."

Junior Caminero batted .276 with 42 homers and 101 RBIs and was 3 for 10 with one double and walked twice vs. the Yankees. Jonathan Aranda hit a career-best 22 homers in the regular season and was 4 for 12 in the ALDS with a homer in the opener.

Yandy Diaz (.293, 22, 85) and Chandler Simpson (.306, 48 steals) are integral parts of the lineup.

Chase DeLauter led the Guardians with a .287 average to go with 16 homers. Steven Kwan hit .282 and Angel Martinez led the team with 18 homers. Martinez wasn’t in the starting lineup in Game 5 vs. Chicago after going 0 for 15 and striking out eight times in the first four games. Jose Ramírez batted .235 in the regular season but homered twice against the White Sox, including a two-run drive in the 2-0 win in Game 5.

The Rays won their previous appearances in seven games, against Boston in 2008 and the Houston in 2020. They lost the World Series both times, to Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Cleveland is 3-3, including a five-game series loss to the Yankees in 2024, and have not won the World Series since in 1948 — the longest drought in the major leagues.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams speaks during a news conference after Game 5 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez (11) speaks during a news conference after Game 5 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Tampa Bay Rays' Junior Caminero walks to the batting cage during practice in a baseball American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen speaks to the media before practice in a baseball American League Championship against the Cleveland Guardians Series Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)