Another Texas race is in the books as the NASCAR Cup Series regular season speeds toward its halfway point, with Chase Elliott picking up his second win of the year.

While the race avoided the glut of cautions associated with the track and its infamous tunnel bump, there was still plenty of drama – with championship hopefuls wrecking and some unexpected names running extended periods up front.

Let's not waste your time, then. Here are the big winners (and losers) from Sunday's 267-lap epic.

NASCAR RESULTS TODAY: Denny Hamlin denied at Texas as Chase Elliott survives late scare

Winners

Chase Elliott

This is partly the obvious 'driver who won the race is a winner' nomination, but there's more to it than that. Not only is Elliott is now the only driver not named Tyler Reddick to visit victory lane more than once this year, he's also – after 11 races – the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to take a race win in 2026.

It's been a rough start to the year for the historic organization, with reigning champion Kyle Larson unable to translate good pace into race wins and William Byron steadily compiling reasonable points finishes without threatening the front of the pack, not to mention Alex Bowman's season being derailed by health issues.

Through all of that, the No. 9 car has the second best average finish of any car in the Cup Series, and a legitimate shot at a second championship come November.

Chris Buescher

The last two years have been incredibly unkind to Chris Buescher. Back to back years of being the 17th placed driver in a 16-car playoff format is absolutely brutal luck, even before thinking about the fact that Harrison Burton nudged you out one year.

Nearly halfway through the 2026 regular season, though, it doesn't seem like there will be any such problems. Fifth place at Texas continues his run of top-ten finishes and moves him to fifth on points, more than 100 points clear of the cut line. RFK should be back in the playoffs with at least one car this year.

Alex Bowman

Bowman's scary and extended absence from the No. 48 car while he dealt with vertigo symptoms was one of the darker stories from the early portions of the season, and his return at Bristol would've been enough of a triumph by itself.

He hasn't just returned to the seat and filled a spot in the field though, instead finishing third in consecutive races to lift himself off the bottom of the standings (despite missing more than 35% of the season to date, leaving midway through another race and getting wrecked twice!) after Texas.

Awesome.

Corey Heim and Erik Jones

Part-time driver and red hot prospect Heim led 69 laps before his day ended early, while That Jones Boy led 13 laps on his way to a first career stage win and a 12th place finish. Nice work.

Kyle Busch

With a new (well, returning after a stint late last year) crew chief, Busch and the No. 8 car's pace immediately looked better this weekend.

The two-time champion qualified sixth on his 41st birthday, before running in the top ten for most of the afternoon at the mile-and-a-half track. Encouraging signs for a driver who a lot of fans would love to see return to victory lane.

Losers

Kyle Busch

Yeah, you can be both. Come on, man. Busch got chirpy with his spotter midway through the race after being told to calm down during a mini rant about Carson Hocevar, which...seems like the kind of thing that probably happens semi-regularly, okay.

"We haven't run in the top 10 in like three years," spotter Derek Kneeland told him. "We're having a great day here today. Keep it together. I know it's not perfect. Just keep your s*** together, we're having a good day."

Busch replied: "OK, psych major. That's not at all what I'm talking about. Let's keep it in one piece, that could have ruined our day. OK? It's other people. I'm fine. Put a bag of ice in your crotch, let's go."

Isolated, that seems like a pretty standard Kyle Busch radio exchange. But in the context of Busch finishing as the last car on the lead lap after appearing to petulantly put John Hunter Nemechek in the wall with one to go in retaliation for what was, at worst, a mistake in positioning by the Legacy Motor Club driver?

Eeesh. It's other people, huh?

Joey Logano

Sometimes it's your day. Sometimes it really, really isn't.

Joey Logano had both of those days within 15 minutes on Sunday, miraculously avoiding a spinning William Byron by the barest of margins when running in the top 15.

In the ensuing rush to put road under caution, Logano took two tires, got out of his box, started gunning it toward the exit...and was met with a stationary Cole Custer, who slowed to as good as a stop as someone pulled out in front of his box.

Front left destroyed. Day over. Top-16 points position gone.

Ty Gibbs

"Alright, when I get to that 54 I'm done with him."

Texas wasn't a disastrous race for Gibbs' season in the grand scheme of things, as he left the weekend seventh in points (down from fifth) and with a comfortable cushion to the cut.

What might sting is Ryan Preece's reminder of how a number of his fellow drivers appear to view him.

That earlier warning continued: "That car is so f***ing fast, p***es me off. I can't stand when idiots like him have fast race cars where they can do stupid s*** and get away with it."

What followed later in the race was Preece appearing to follow through on his earlier promise, and wrecking Gibbs. The No. 60 driver insisted on team radio that he didn't actually touch the No. 54, with replays inconclusive. Shane van Gisbergen got a view from just behind the incident and seemed in less doubt though, hollering on his own radio: "Holy s***! He just committed a murder! (Laughs) It looks like he just full-throttled him!"

READ MORE: 'I did not start this': Kyle Busch blames NASCAR rival for 'intentional' wreck