Joliet, IL (AP) – Chase Briscoe was on an offseason bonding trip to the United Kingdom with crew chief James Small when the NASCAR driver discovered chocolate buttons, a popular British treat. He bought some online after he returned to the U.S., but he said it wasn’t the same.

Small purchased some on a return trip to the U.K., and he promised to share if Briscoe won on the crew chief’s birthday. That made Sunday night’s victory pretty sweet.

Briscoe held off Christopher Bell in NASCAR’s return to Chicagoland Speedway, racing to his first Cup Series win of the season. And Small delivered the chocolates to Briscoe moments after it was over.

“They were pretty dang good,” Briscoe said.

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 on his car and waving to the sellout crowd.

“This has been a place that I’ve always loved coming to, back when we used to, and I’ve missed it,” Briscoe said. “It’s always been one of my top-five tracks.”

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

“I think he’s handled that as well as you can handle it,” team owner Joe Gibbs said. “He’s got a burning desire to stay in there and win. I think he had, you know — he had a real good car tonight, too.”

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.

“I thought I was in control early on, even though I wasn’t leading,” Hamlin said. “I felt in control and probably got a little lazy on some restarts and things like that. Just taking for granted that I’ll just go up there and get it.”

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.

Led by Briscoe, Bell and Hamlin, Toyota accounted for seven of the top 10 cars for the first time in a Cup Series race — continuing a strong season for the manufacturer.

“Yeah, Toyotas are fast,” Bell said.

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.

Ryan Blaney was seventh in his seventh consecutive top-10 finish. Ty Gibbs, Corey Heim and Riley Herbst completed the top 10.

Tyler Reddick’s championship hopes were damaged by an oil leak with about 32 laps left in Stage 2. There was a long caution while Reddick’s 23XI Racing crew worked on his No. 45 Toyota in the garage, replacing the radiator because of a hole.

Reddick, who won the first three races of the season, finished 36th. He trails Hamlin by 44 points at the top of Cup standings after he was down by one going into the weekend.

Kyle Larson also had a rough day after qualifying second behind Hamlin. He was in third place when he spun out of Turn 4 on Lap 93. He drove his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into the wet infield grass and had to be pulled out of the mud.

Larson finished 34th, extending his winless drought to 43 races. He finished second in each of the previous two Cup races at Chicagoland.

Updating the In-Season Challenge

Briscoe, Bell, Hamlin and Blaney were among the winners in the second round of NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge. Byron, Chase Elliott, Todd Gilliland and Alex Bowman also moved on.

The winner of the five-race, bracket-style tournament receives $1 million.

Briscoe eliminated Ty Gibbs, who won the inaugural competition last year. Byron defeated Larson, his teammate with Hendrick Motorsports.

Up next

The Cup Series is at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, next weekend. Reddick won the February stop at the track.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing