According to the Stephens County Coroner, the remains of Christgene Staten were identified by the GBI. Staten was last seen in May of 2025. (Toccoa Police Department)
TOCCOA, Ga. — Human remains discovered in a wooded area off Alban Court in November have been positively identified as a 27-year-old man who had previously been reported missing, according to the Stephens County Coroner’s Office.
Stephens County Coroner Kyle Johnson said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab confirmed the remains are those of Christgene Staten, 27, of Dayton, OH.
The remains were found Nov. 26, 2025, by a hunter in a wooded area behind a neighborhood off Alban Court in Toccoa. As previously reported by Now Georgia, authorities said at the time that the body was discovered inside a tent and appeared to have been there for an extended period.
The coroner’s office took possession of the remains and transported them to the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office in Atlanta for forensic examination and positive identification. Because of the condition of the remains, authorities were initially unable to determine the person’s identity.
Staten had been reported missing in May 2025. Johnson said the identification followed several months of work by the Medical Examiner’s Office and the coroner’s office.
“After a several months long team effort by the Medical Examiner’s Office and the Coroner’s Office we are thankful to be able to give Mr. Staten’s family the closure they deserve,” Johnson said in the release.
No additional details were provided regarding the cause or manner of death.
Joseph Christopher “Joe” Yeager, age 62, of Clarksville, Georgia, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, February 15, 2026, and is now with the Lord.
Born on January 13, 1964, in Huntington, West Virginia, Joe graduated from Barboursville High School and went on to earn his degree from Marshall University. Joe’s lifelong passion for the outdoors and sports led him to a fulfilling 27-year career with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. He rose through the ranks and retired proudly as Region Manager, where he made significant contributions to wildlife conservation, resource management, and protecting Georgia’s natural heritage.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Aaron Yeager and Margie Yeager Hoskins.
Joe is survived by his devoted siblings: Tom (Valerie) Yeager of Jacksonville, Florida; Matt (Sheree) Yeager of Barboursville, West Virginia; Amy (Robert) Robinson of Proctorville, Ohio. He also cherished his nieces and nephews: Hunter Yeager, Emma Yeager, Eli Yeager, Sydney and Corbin Stockham, and Sam Robinson.
A family man at heart, Joe looked forward to hosting his loved ones each year for an early Thanksgiving celebration at his home in the beautiful Georgia mountains. Known for his joyful spirit, willingness to help others, and quick wit with a humorous story, he brought warmth and laughter to everyone around him.
A memorial service to honor Joe’s life of faith, service, and adventure will be held on Thursday, February 26, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. at Level Grove Baptist Church in Cornelia, Georgia—his beloved church home. The family will receive guests beginning at 2 p.m.
A Celebration of Life will follow in his hometown, at Wallace Funeral Home in Barboursville, West Virginia, at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 28, 2026, with visitation one hour prior.
The family warmly invites friends, colleagues, and all who knew Joe to join them in celebrating his remarkable legacy.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Level Grove Baptist Church, P.O. Box 416, Cornelia, Georgia 30531.
Arrangements are being handled by Wallace Funeral Home and Level Grove Baptist Church; please contact them for updates and details.
HABERSHAM COUNTY, Ga. — Habersham County residents will have the opportunity to connect directly with local leaders and public servants this week during the upcoming “Meet Your Government” event.
The event will take place on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ruby C. Fulbright Aquatic Center. Community members are encouraged to stop by, ask questions, and learn more about the county departments and offices that serve them daily.
Organizers say multiple city and county departments will be represented, giving citizens a chance to engage one-on-one with staff, gather information, and better understand how local government operates. The layout below shows the participating departments and where their information booths will be located inside the Aquatic Center.
(Source: Habersham County Clerk)
The event is designed to promote transparency, accessibility, and civic engagement. Officials hope the informal setting will encourage meaningful conversations and strengthen connections between government offices and the community.
Organizers say they are looking forward to strong citizen participation and encourage residents to attend.
For more information, residents can review the event flyer and department table map shared by organizers.
FILE - Colin Gray, the father of Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray, arrives to the courtroom at the Barrow County courthouse on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in Winder,Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
ATLANTA (AP) — Accused school shooter Colt Gray and his family lived a chaotic life, fighting, arguing and moving frequently due to financial issues, his mother testified in the trial of Colt’s father, Colin Gray.
Marcee Gray said she urged the boy’s father to take the guns in the home northeast of Atlanta and lock them inside his truck so they were not accessible to Colt.
“They need to be locked somewhere,” she told a jury in Winder, Georgia. “Initially he said he would.”
Marcee Gray’s testimony on Monday opened the second week in the trial of Colin Gray, who faces 29 counts, including two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors say the father should be accountable for giving his son the weapon used in the shooting as a Christmas gift despite alleged threats and warning signs that the boy was mentally unstable.
Colt, who was 14 years old at the time of the shooting, faces 55 counts, including murder in the deaths of four people and 25 counts of aggravated assault. He’s accused of carefully planning the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder that left two teachers and two students dead and several others wounded.
In dramatic testimony last week, several Georgia high school students last week testified in court about the horrors of being shot during their algebra class. They recounted through tears seeing a classmate in a pool of blood, then seeing blood on their own bodies and fearing they might die. There has also been testimony about what prosecutors describe as a “shrine” to a Florida school shooter that Colt kept on a wall next to his computer at home.
This is one of several cases around the nation where prosecutors are trying to hold parents responsible after their children are accused in fatal shootings.
Colt’s parents were separated in the months leading up to the shooting, and Colt lived mostly with his father during that time. Marcee Gray is not charged in connection to the school shooting.
She said Colt had an interest in Nikolas Cruz, convicted of the 2018 shooting that left 14 students and three staff members dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. But Marcee Gray said she thought Colt’s interest in Cruz was similar to her own interest in true crime documentaries, she said.
When he made a comment about using a tactical vest his dad had brought him to complete his own “school shooter outfit,” he claimed he was joking when he told her that.
“He was talking about a vest, his dad buying him a vest, and he said it in what I thought was a joking manner because he was laughing,” she testified. “He was talking about getting the vest and he said ‘yeah, I’ve got to finish my school shooter outfit,’ or something like that or ‘dad’s going to finish my finish my school shooter outfit.’”
Brian Hobbs, an attorney for Colin Gray, has said the shooting’s planning and timing “were hidden by Colt Gray from his father.”
“That’s the difference between tragedy and criminal liability,” he said previously. “You cannot hold someone criminally responsible for failing to predict what was intentionally hidden from them.”
With a semiautomatic rifle in his book bag, the barrel sticking out and wrapped in poster board, Colt Gray boarded the school bus, investigators said. He left his second-period class and emerged from a bathroom with the gun and then shot people in a classroom and hallways, they said.
Colin Gray had given his son the gun as a Christmas gift and continued to buy accessories after that, including “a lot of ammunition,” Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith said in his opening statement.
Colin Gray was also aware his son’s mental health had deteriorated and had sought help from a counseling service weeks before the shooting, an investigator testified.
“We have had a very difficult past couple of years and he needs help. Anger, anxiety, quick to be volatile. I don’t know what to do,” Colin Gray wrote about his son.
But Smith said Colin Gray never followed through on concerns about getting his son admitted to an inpatient facility.
MG William B. Steele honored at National Infantry Museum (Daniel Purcell/NowGeorgia.com)
The U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence rendered full military honors during a memorial service for retired Maj. Gen. William B. Steele this morning, Feb. 23 at the National Infantry Museum.
The purpose of these honors is to provide a dignified and honorable tribute to Maj. Gen. Steele and his family. Steele, who served in the U.S. Army from 1950 to 1979, will be honored for his distinguished career and legacy of service, which includes an assignment at Fort Benning as the commander of the 197th Independent Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) from 1972 to 1974.
As part of the memorial service, two separate ceremonial firing parties were involved. These honors included a 13-gun cannon salute and a seven-Soldier rifle volley.
Lee County Sheriff launches patch design contest (NowGeorgia.com)
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) is launching its first ever patch design contest. Through this contest, LCSO invites anyone in Lee County age 18 or younger to design a patch for the Sheriff’s Office using a template that is available online at leecosheriffal.gov/patchcontest or for pickup at their office (1900 Frederick Rd., Opelika 36801).
Submissions will be accepted through 4pm CDT on March 31, 2026. They can be dropped off at the Sheriff’s Office, emailed to communityrelations@leecountysheriff.org, or mailed to Lee County Sheriff’s Office, ATTN: Community Relations, 1900 Frederick Rd., Opelika, AL 36801. Once the submission period ends, the submissions will be narrowed down by a panel of LCSO employees, and the finalists will be posted on the LCSO Facebook page (facebook.com/leecosheriffal) for the final vote.
The voting period for this contest will be April 3-10, 2026. The community can vote for their favorite finalist by “liking” the photo of that patch on the LCSO Facebook page post. Votes will be accepted from the time the post goes live on April 3 through 4pm CDT on Friday, April 10. No votes/likes after that time will be included in the final count.
One winner will receive a real, printed version of the patch they designed, a tour of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office & Lee County Detention Center, and lunch with LCSO Deputies where they will be able to ask any questions they might have about law enforcement.
A limited number of the winning patch will be available for purchase through the Lee County Sheriff’s Foundation. All money raised through the sale of the winning patch will go toward LCSO’s fourth annual Clear the List program.
About Clear the List
Clear the List is an annual program to help teachers within Lee County fulfill their wish lists for the next school year. While teachers are given some funds from the state for classroom supplies, the amount they receive is often not enough to cover anything beyond the most basic necessities, leading to those teachers spending money out of their own pockets to make their classrooms the best possible learning environment for their students. Clear the List aims to fill in the gaps between that state funding and what teachers are spending from their own money/paychecks by gathering donations from local businesses and community members.
Rep. Beth Camp, a Concord Republican, presents the Mandi Ballinger Act during a session of the Georgia House of Representatives on Feb. 20, 2026 in Atlanta, which would create an “organizational committee” to study how the state could transition 17-year-olds out of the state’s adult criminal justice system. (Alander Rocha/Georgia Recorder)
(Georgia Recorder) – The Georgia House on Friday passed a bill to create a special committee to study raising the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to include 17-year-olds, but stopped short of taking action to prevent 17-year-olds from being tried as adults.
House Bill 1061, originally written to shift 17-year-olds away from the adult criminal justice system to juvenile courts, unanimously passed the House after it was condensed from a 23-page bill into a 3-pagemeasure that creates an “organizational committee” tasked with studying how Georgia could make the transition.
Concord Republican state Rep. Beth Camp, the bill’s sponsor, said when she presented the stripped-down version to the House Juvenile Justice Committee, which she also chairs, that the new version focuses on figuring out if the changes are possible.
Rep. Beth Camp, a Concord Republican, fist bumps a colleague during a session of the Georgia House of Representatives on Feb. 20, 2026 in Atlanta. (Alander Rocha/Georgia Recorder)
“It gives it time for this group of people to come together as a think tank to figure out how we can do this in our state, if it’s possible for us to do it and how much it’s going to cost,” Camp said during the committee meeting.
The bill was named after the late state Rep. Mandi Ballinger, a Canton Republican who led a years-long effort to change this policy but died in October after a long battle with cancer.
Georgia is one of five states that prosecute 17-year-olds as adults, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Georgia, along with Wisconsin and Texas, are the only three states in the U.S. that have not yet moved to treat those under 18 in the criminal justice system as minors. Two other states, Louisiana and North Carolina, previously passed legislation making the move, but Louisiana has since reversed its “Raise the Age” law and North Carolina now allows 16- and 17-year-olds to be prosecuted as adults for some felonies.
“I knew Mandi Ballinger very well. This was something she was very passionate about, and she actually worked on this from 2018 until her death last year,” Camp said to the committee.
Joshua Rovner, senior research analyst at The Sentencing Project, a national criminal justice research and advocacy organization, said in an interview that opting to move forward with only a study committee is “laughable” because Georgia has spent years discussing the issue.
“The idea that it needs to be studied more – perhaps members of the Legislature can just watch what Mandi Ballinger did for years. They don’t need to study this more. They need to listen to what the experts have already told them,” Rovner said. “But they don’t like what the experts have already told them, so they’re doing the stalling tactic of saying, ‘let’s study it again.’”
But Camp pushed back against the characterization, saying that this was a “passable” version that will allow the state to better prepare financially for the transition and ensure lawmakers won’t have to backtrack their decision.
“Many times people do not think or feel bills go far enough, but I fully believe that this is a bold step in the right direction with a very good chance the governor will sign,” Camp said. “Moving forward, we can change the code section once we figure out how we’re going to handle everything logistically.”
Mike Mitchell, deputy director of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, said the association is “neutral” on the current version, but they remain opposed to the underlying policy.
“We do have concerns. The sheriffs do remain opposed to the idea of raising the age here in the state of Georgia. I don’t think that’s going to change,” Mitchell told the committee. “And I just would caution the committee to proceed cautiously down this path.”
Peter Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia,spoke in support of a study committee and said the majority of district attorneys also backdiverting 17-year-olds from the adult criminal justice system.
“That’s the best way to get down to the issues that need to be discussed and hammered out by people who deal with this situation every day,” Skandalakis said.
On the House floor Friday, Camp said the testimony from Mitchell and Skandalakis “reflects a careful balance between public safety, accountability and rehabilitation.”
Carrington Buze, a postgraduate fellow at the Barton Child Law and Policy Center at Emory University School of Law, said Georgia’s treatment of 17-year-olds ignores longstanding research on brain development. She said that 17-year-olds are prosecuted as adults regardless of prior history or the severity of their offense despite some Georgia laws recognizing that “youth up to age 18, and sometimes 21, may require the state’s protection or support for their own safety.” She pointed to juvenile court supervision and the foster care system as examples.
Buze said relatively innocent indiscretions like a “senior skip day” could result in vandalism charges and lead to an adult criminal record, adding that “we are telling children you are a child when we need to protect you, but also you’re an adult when we want to punish you.”
“This bill signals something important. Georgia is ready to stop debating whether this reform makes sense and start focusing on how well to do it,” she said.
Rovner with The Sentencing Project said the evidence overwhelmingly points to the negative effects of treating minors as adults. There is a misconception that treating 17-year-olds as adults is a way of “getting serious about young people when they break the law,” he said, adding that they are also punished as adults for nonviolent crimes.
“There is not a single shred of evidence, peer-reviewed evidence, that backs up the idea that sending kids to the adult system is better for them or better for public safety,” Rovner said.
He said that adult facilities are not equipped to deal with juveniles who often need rehabilitation instead of punishment, and that incarcerating minors with adults is “exceptionally dangerous … without giving a consideration of the underlying factors that led to the crime in the first place.”
“Treating them as if they’re adults puts them at risk of physical and sexual abuse,” Rovner said, adding that “oftentimes, for their own safety, they’re put in solitary confinement, which we know is really a form of torture in order to protect them from the abuse from other prisoners.”
The bill passed the House without discussion Friday and had the support of Democrats in its committee hearing. State Rep. Mary Ann Santos, a McDonough Democrat, called the bill a good “first step” toward fixing a shortcoming in the state’s criminal justice system. The proposal, she said, will bring the relevant groups together to develop a solid plan, especially when it comes to any funding implications.
“I think it’s the right thing to do to take steps and ensuring we’re having the conversation,” Santos said.
Wilbanks Middle School All-State Choir singer Vivian Fargason (left) and the proudest papa around. (photo submitted)
As a newsman, objectivity is something I take extremely seriously.
There is so much vitriol toward the press these days that even a mundane article can be analyzed over and over again, searching for a reporter’s opinion.
I get called out online constantly for my supposed “liberal-leaning slant” in my reporting. Everyone online is a pundit, I guess. Little do they know, I’ve worked in GOP politics all my life and worked for two Republican governors in Florida.
Accordingly, I laugh when someone assumes what my beliefs are without knowing me. It means I’m doing something right.
Over the weekend, however, I was forced into a situation that threatened every aspect of my objectivity.
The Georgia Music Educators Association held its annual All-State Chorus final concerts at The Classic Center in Athens on Saturday. The concerts recognize the best middle and high school singers in Georgia and are the culmination of a grueling five-month audition process.
Seven students from Habersham County made the All-State Chorus this year:
Habersham Central High School: Cosmo Crews and Karis Hermann
South Habersham Middle School: Hudson Garrett and Isaiah McAllister
Wilbanks Middle School: Lucas Ballard, Eyen Banks and Vivian Fargason
Circled are the three singers from Wilbanks Middle School who made this year’s All-State Choir. (photo submitted)
Habersham Countians should be extremely proud of each of these seven students for their accomplishments — and rightfully so. The Habersham County Board of Education has already announced it will honor the singers at its regular meeting March 16.
However, of the five middle school students who scored high enough through two statewide auditions to advance to Athens, only one was female. That feat, in and of itself, is worthy of a story.
My problem in writing about it is that girl — if you haven’t noticed already — shares the same last name as the author.
As a writer, I’m supposed to tell her story without bias. As the father of Vivian Fargason, I have about as much objectivity as the political pundits on CNN or Fox News.
I am so proud of this exceptional eighth-grader I can barely stand it. Vivian scored a 64 out of a possible 66 points through two auditions to earn her trip to Athens.
Wilbanks Middle School student Vivian Fargason following the GEMA All-State concert Feb. 21. (photo submitted)
While I was the proudest father around, I couldn’t help but think of the previous year. As a seventh-grader, Vivian failed to make the All-State Chorus. The part that kept tripping her up was sight-reading.
She was devastated. I held her while she cried and told me, “No one is ever going to out-sight-read me again.”
By God, she was right.
My daughter has proven time and time again that she can do whatever she sets her mind to do. To see it happen in real time makes me happy for her and proud of the job her mother and I are doing in raising her. Vivian truly has the heart of a champion.
When the Board of Education recognizes Vivian and the other six talented singers next month, I’ll put my objectivity hat back on and give each of them the recognition they so richly deserve. But for now, I’m still basking in the glow of being a grateful father.
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Dr. Bethany Davis, choral director at Wilbanks Middle School, who coached Vivian every step of the way, as well as Lucas Ballard and Eyen Banks, whose journeys we followed throughout the process and cheered just as hard for.
Following the concert, we took Vivian out for a celebratory dinner. I asked her, “You know what this means, don’t you? It means I’m going to write about you now.”
Her response: “Ugh, Dad! Please don’t embarrass me!”
That’s my job. I’m supposed to embarrass her.
So I’ll end this piece by sharing the text I sent her just before her choir took the stage, as I blubbered like a baby: “You’ll be coming on stage soon. I just wanted to send you a quick text and let you know how very proud I am of you. I love you more than I could possibly tell you, and I wish you all the luck in the world. Break a leg.”
Minority Leader Harold Jones. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
(Georgia Recorder) — Democrats attempted to pass Medicaid expansion on the floor of the Senate in a legislative maneuver that was quickly shot down by their Republican counterparts Friday.
The bill they hoped to amend, Senate Bill 440, was originally intended to update and modernize laws around the state Department of Public Health. Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Marietta Republican who introduced the bill, described it as “another step in rolling back the red tape.”
But a pair of amendments, introduced by Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones of Augusta and Minority Whip Kim Jackson of Stone Mountain, incorporated language from twopreviously introduced bills to allow the state to fully expand its Medicaid program. Georgia is one of only 10 states that has not fully expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
One of the amendments included in the proposal was modeled after the Arkansas model that had previously intrigued state GOP leaders like House Speaker Jon Burns.
However, Senate Republicans shot down both amendments Friday, arguing that they had not been thoroughly vetted and that Democrats had not provided an estimate of how their proposal would impact the state’s budget.
Sen. Ben Watson, a Savannah Republican who chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, urged his colleagues to vote down “Medicaid explosion, expansion, whatever you want to call it.”
“I have no idea what Medicaid explosion would cost us now,” he added.
Senate Democrats ultimately voted to pass the underlying bill, but criticized Republicans for refusing to consider their proposal, framing it as a health care affordability policy. Jones also highlighted recent comments from President Donald Trump dismissing affordability concernsduring a Thursday rally in northwest Georgia.
“He’s not addressing the affordability crisis and the other factor is Republicans are not addressing the affordability crisis, so true to our president’s way, he basically just says it doesn’t exist,” Jones said. “Today was an opportunity to actually show that Georgia is serious about the affordability crisis, and Republicans refused to do that.”
Drugs and a gun Toccoa Police said they seized from a West Virginia woman after stopping her for violating Georgia's hands-free law. (Toccoa Police Department/Facebook)
TOCCOA, Ga. — What began as a routine traffic stop Sunday ended in a felony drug and firearm arrest, according to police.
On February 22, Toccoa patrol officers said they saw a gray SUV traveling on a public roadway with the driver actively using a cell phone. Officers stopped the vehicle for violating Georgia’s hands-free law.
When an officer approached the SUV, they reported smelling marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. During the investigation, officers developed probable cause to search the SUV, Toccoa Police Chief Brad Carlisle said.
The driver, identified as Sherri Thiab of West Virginia, was taken into custody at the scene.
Police charged Thiab with possession with intent to distribute, possession of a Schedule I controlled substance, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of drug-related objects, and violation of Georgia’s hands-free law.
LULA, Ga. — A house fire in Lula left four people displaced and sent one person to the hospital late Sunday morning.
At approximately 10:30 a.m., crews with Hall County Fire Rescue responded to the 4600 block of Cagle Mill Road following reports of a residential fire.
When first responders arrived, they found a single-story home with a partial basement fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters immediately began attacking the fire from the exterior.
Because there were no fire hydrants near the property, crews had to shuttle water to the scene and use a water tender to supply the operation.
Three adults and one child were displaced by the fire. One adult was transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville for treatment. Officials did not release information about the extent of the injuries.
The home was declared a total loss.
The cause of the fire remains unknown. The Hall County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating.
23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan, left, reacts with Bubba Wallace, right, after a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Hampton, Ga. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Whether on or off the racetrack, all Michael Jordan does is win in NASCAR.
For the second consecutive Sunday to open the season, the basketball great and co-owner of 23XI Racing celebrated in victory lane with driver Tyler Reddick. This time, after a thriller at Echo Park Speedway.
Jordan’s team now has the top two drivers in the Cup Series points standings with Reddick and Bubba Wallace. The six-time NBA champion already added a ring last week with Reddick in the Daytona 500, the crown jewel of stock-car racing.
Oh, and Jordan also settled a federal antitrust lawsuit with NASCAR in December, a major legal victory that secured a permanent franchise-style model and ensured his team would remain in business for the long-term.
“The guys worked hard all summer, and I know we had our little ordeal,” Jordan said after Reddick’s victory Sunday, referring to the bruising court battle that ended with him making peace with NASCAR CEO and chairman Jim France. “They kept working hard and this is the fruit of their labor. They put forth the effort, and for us to come out and win the first two races says a lot about our whole team.”
This time, he led a race-high 53 laps on the 1.54-mile oval south of Atlanta – including the final two in a double-overtime restart. He snatched the lead from Wallace despite the right-front fender of his No. 45 Toyota being damaged in a nine-car crash on the 224th of a scheduled 260 laps. Reddick fell two laps down for repairs but came roaring back from 27th for his 10th career victory.
“I mean, that’s crazy, ain’t it?” said Reddick, who became the first driver since Matt Kenseth in 2009 to win the first two NASCAR Cup Series races of the season. “I just found a way to get back in the top five, and I tried to stay committed to somebody.”
He got a helpful push from runner-up Chase Briscoe. Ross Chastain finished third, followed by the Spire Motorsports tandem of Carson Hocevar (who triggered a large crash in the first overtime) and Daniel Suarez.
“Tyler had like another gear,” Chastain said. “(He had) no fender, and he pulled us so fast.”
In a race that featured a track-record 57 lead changes, Wallace was first entering the final restart but shuffled to eighth. He still gained the second-most points (48) by winning the second stage and leading 46 laps.
“Tyler did an unbelievable job,” Jordan said. “I feel bad for Bubba because he had an unbelievable day. But Tyler drove his ass off. I’m very happy for Tyler. I’m very happy for 23XI.”
Green turns to yellow
Austin Cindric took advantage of a stretch of 61 green-flag laps to open the race, winning the first stage after starting 30th.
It was the second consecutive year that the first stage in the February race was completed without a yellow flag – an oddity for a track known for chaos since its 2022 reconfiguration into a high-banked drafting oval.
The cautions quickly picked up pace in the second stage with three yellow flags in 40 laps that collected 16 cars and eliminated notable drivers Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch. The 160-lap middle segment ended under another yellow when defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson slammed the outside wall after a collision with Shane van Gisbergen.
No Las Vegas love lost
Busch was perturbed after his No. 8 Chevrolet “got rammed” exiting Turn 2 by the No. 4 Ford of Noah Gragson on the 125th lap.
Though both drivers hail from Las Vegas, Nevada, the 40-year-old Busch felt little kinship in taking issue with the aggressive style of Gragson, who is 13 years younger.
“He didn’t give me an opportunity to make sure I was straight before hitting me or get into me gently to try and get the momentum back,” said Busch, who finished 33rd. “He just drove right through me.”
Up next
The NASCAR Cup Series will race at the Circuit of the Americas, the first road course of the 2026 season, on Sunday, March 1. Christopher Bell outdueled Kyle Busch and William Byron to win at the Austin, Texas, track last year.
