Christopher Bell went a long time without winning, but true to Joe Gibbs Racing’s form in the playoffs, he broke that streak Saturday night.
On a chaotic evening when tires wore quickly, the Toyota racer passed the front row of cars on a late restart and won a four-lap sprint in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Bass Pro Shops Night Race, an elimination event at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn.
After Bubba Wallace’s wreck for the 14th caution with 12 laps left, eight cars were left on the lead lap. With Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith occupying the front row, Bell slipped his No. 20 Toyota into the lead.
Bell beat Brad Keselowski’s No. 6 RFK Racing Ford by 0.343 seconds for his first win since March 9 but fourth overall. JGR won all three races in the Round of 16.
“Whenever Brad picked the top, I didn’t have any option (on the restart),” said Bell, who won three straight races in the spring but last took the checkers at Phoenix on March 9. “All night long, old tires really pushed up in the corners, so I was hoping those guys on old tires would push up. And they did and I was able to get by.
“It wasn’t pretty at the end, but we got her done.”
The win was the first at BMS for Bell, who led only 12 laps, and Toyota’s third in the past five races in Thunder Valley.
Zane Smith, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano were the top-five finishers, while Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Josh Berry and four-time race winner Shane van Gisbergen were eliminated.
Polesitter AJ Allmendinger led 23 laps to start, but tire wear became a major issue for his No. 16 Chevrolet and much of the field as the rubber began to come apart.
Berry’s No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford had flames coming out of it on Lap 74 after rubber build-up, and he brought it to pit road for good to end his night and title chances during the first caution period.
With tire-issue problems arising, Blaney made a late pass of Ty Gibbs to claim Stage 1’s maximum 10 points. Following Gibbs were William Byron, Wallace and Smith.
Gibbs was strong in the second segment and led the 39-car field as teams tried to take care of their rubber and not push too hard on the high-banked short track. However, Hocevar was the hardest charger in his No. 77 and moved up to second by Lap 170.
The same duo was again battling at the end of Stage 2, but Gibbs held off Blaney for the segment win. Bowman, Keselowski and Hocevar rounding out the stage’s best five.
Chase Elliott took the biggest hit with a hard smack into the wall on Lap 311 for the 10th caution to end his night. The 2020 champ finished 38th.
Approaching the 400-lap mark, Denny Hamlin lost a wheel for the 13th caution. The accident involved Allmendinger and Byron and cost the No. 11 Toyota a two-lap penalty.
–Field Level Media
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