NASCAR Wurth 400 takeaways: Chase Elliott two-steps to Texas victory

After finishing runner-up to Hamlin at Las Vegas and coming away eighth at Kansas — the two prior 1.5-mile races — it only seemed like a matter of time until Elliott put it all together. That time finally came on Sunday at a track Elliott has not always had an appreciation for.

Christopher Bell's Stage 1 crash a precursor to Joe Gibbs Racing's rough day

Bell inherited the lead from Chase Briscoe on Lap 47 and led a JGR 1-2-3 with Hamlin also in the mix following green-flag stops. That is when everything took a turn for the worse for the organization.

As Bell and Hamlin battled side-by-side for the lead off Turn 4, a spinning Todd Gilliland came down the track and clipped the right rear of Bell, sending him up the track and into the outside wall.

Bell finished last (38th) in the race, while Ty Gibbs placed 36th after contact from Ryan Preece sent him into the outside wall on Lap 102. Briscoe, meanwhile, finished 23rd after sustaining damage that ultimately impacted his handling.

Past champions still searching to end winless droughts after Texas DNFs

Joey Logano (three) and Kyle Larson (two) have five Cup Series championships between them, but wins have been hard to come by lately. Logano has not won since Texas one year ago, and Larson is approaching a full year since his most recent win at Kansas last May.

While Texas has become known for its treacherous conditions on the track, it was pit road where Logano was knocked out of the race. As he exited his stall, he was unable to avoid a pitting Cole Custer before driving through his right rear.

Larson never seemed to have a handle on his Chevrolet all day and crashed out on Lap 160 after getting loose and backing into the outside wall in Turn 2. 

Kyle Busch's solid day ends with late drama

Busch ran inside the top 10 for much of the day in his first race this season with crew chief Andy Street. An incident with John Hunter Nemechek with two laps to go ended his day in 20th.

After the two got together down the backstretch, Busch appeared to retaliate, going into Turn 3 and sending Nemechek for a spin. That is not the end to the race that Busch needed as he looks to overcome an uncharacteristic slow start.