Cup: Mid-Race Report from EchoPark Speedway

What’s Happening?

Two stages down at EchoPark Speedway! Austin Cindric won stage one while Bubba Wallace took Stage 2. Here’s what you need to know heading into the final stage.

• There were a lot of comers and goers early on in the earlier stages of the race. Joey Logano led several laps early, leading Josh Berry, who led 50 laps last year in this race before and incident with 10 laps to go took him out of contention. Beyond them, the usual suspects were up front. Daytona 500 Champion, Tyler Reddick red the first handful of laps and the Hendrick trio of Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, and William Byron looked pretty sporty early on.
• Austin Cindric went on to win the opening stage of the race, leading 4 laps to take the green and white checkered flag. With this win, Cindric earned 10 points to pad him during the Race for the NASCAR Chase. Also earning stage points were Wallace (9), Larson (8), Byron (7), Elliott (6), Reddick (5), Busch (4), Logano (3), Zilisch (2), and Blaney (1). During the stage break, a couple of contenders had issues on pit road. Chase Elliott overshot his pit box and leader, Austin Cindric also had a slow stop.
• The first caution for the incident came on Lap 81. Christopher Bell got a huge run on the inside down the backstretch and decided to force the issue. Heading into Turn 3, he was pushing 4 wide. Josh Berry let off and clipped the bumper of Ty Gibbs. Both plowed into the wall, their days over. Also getting a piece of that action were Denny Hamlin and Riley Herbst. Their damage was negligible.
• The second caution for cause came at Lap 103 and it was a similar deal. In this situation, Riley Herbst lost the front end of his No. 35 Monster Energy Toyota. He tagged Austin Dillon from behind, and the two went around, receiving significant damage. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was also caught up in the mess.
• Kyle Busch’s 2025 woes followed him into 2026. After a solid first stage, Kyle Busch pulled up in front of Noah Gragson and got tagged from behind. He slid down the track and plowed into the inside wall. His day is over.
• After a series of cautions sprinkled throughout the second stage, we ended Stage 2 on a major incident as well. As William Byron and Bubba Wallace drag raced to the line for the stage win, defending champion Kyle Larson threw a late block on Shane van Gisbergen, who had a headful of steam. This took both drivers out, sending them spinning in the infield. Bubba prevailed to win the stage (+10 points).
• Also earning points in the stage are Byron (9), Briscoe (8), Reddick (7), Elliott (6), Hocevar (5), Preece (4), Blaney (3), Keselowski (2), Chastain (1).

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