MADISON, Ill. — Christopher Bell sounded the warning early.

On Lap 32 at World Wide Technology Raceway, Bell told his team that his brakes were “very, very worrisome.” When asked what he was feeling, he described the pedal as soft and getting longer.

Bell continued on and eventually finished Stage 1 second.

But as Sunday’s race unfolded, his concerns became increasingly ominous.

A series of brake rotor failures struck several cars later in the afternoon, ending promising runs for Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe and Chris Buescher and dramatically reshaping the Chase race at Gateway.

For several contenders, speed was never the problem.

Making it to the finish was.

Blaney’s strong day ends abruptly

Few drivers were hit harder than Blaney.

The No. 12 Ford started third and spent much of the opening half of the race near the front. He finished Stage 1 fourth and remained fourth at the conclusion of Stage 2, positioning himself for another strong result.

Then, on Lap 155, a brake rotor failed.

The failure caused heavy right-front damage to Blaney’s Ford and immediately ended his afternoon.

A car that had spent most of the race inside the top five was eventually credited with a 35th-place finish.

It would not be an isolated incident.

Elliott and Briscoe join the list

Later in the final stage, Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe both crashed hard after suffering rotor failures of their own.

Both had shown competitive speed earlier in the afternoon.

Elliott finished fifth in Stage 1, while Briscoe finished seventh. Briscoe was still ninth at the end of Stage 2, with Elliott 12th.

By the finish, they were 31st and 32nd.

In a matter of laps, two more Chase contenders went from fighting for points to watching the remainder of the race from the sidelines following Elliott experiencing his own rotor failure.

The repeated nature of the failures made the situation increasingly difficult to ignore.

Different teams, different manufacturers, but the same basic problem.

Blaney. Elliott. Briscoe.

Buescher’s failure forces overtime

The rotor problems continued all the way to the closing laps.

With three laps remaining, Chris Buescher suffered another failure and crashed, bringing out the caution and sending the race into overtime.

Buescher had already endured a difficult afternoon, but his failure added another car to a growing list and ensured the rotor issue remained part of the story all the way to the finish.

By that point, Gateway had already become one of the most chaotic races of the Chase.

Several late crashes had involved William Byron, Bell, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Ty Gibbs and Daniel Suárez. A red flag stopped the race with 11 laps remaining, and Shane van Gisbergen’s spin ended the first overtime attempt.

Kyle Larson eventually survived the second restart to win, with Alex Bowman second and Joey Logano third.

But for several Chase contenders, the final results had little to do with the speed they showed earlier in the afternoon.

A race decided by survival

That is what made the rotor failures so consequential.

Blaney was fourth at the end of Stage 2.

Briscoe was ninth.

Elliott had run inside the top five earlier in the race.

Each had demonstrated enough pace to leave Gateway with a respectable result, or potentially much more.

Instead, all three finished outside the top 30.

Buescher joined them as another late casualty.

Bell’s early radio message also takes on added significance in hindsight. His No. 20 never suffered the same terminal rotor failure, but the brake concerns he reported less than 40 laps into the race foreshadowed what would eventually become one of Gateway’s defining storylines.

The Chase usually rewards speed, strategy and execution.

At Gateway, another requirement became just as important.

Keeping the brake rotors intact.

For several contenders, that proved impossible.