Christopher Bell is no longer a bridesmaid this season in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver FINALLY eliminated the goose egg in the win column on Sunday at Darlington Raceway, winning the Cook Out Southern 500, the first of 10 races in The Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
Bell entered Sunday’s 500-mile contest with seven runner-up finishes in the first 26 events of the NASCAR Cup Series campaign but avoided what could have been a record-breaking eighth by making a late-race pass on Kyle Larson – who chose to stay on the racetrack late in the race with tires that had five green-flag laps on them.
The Norman, Oklahoma-native completed the pass with 13 laps to go, and set sail over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs, who came home in the runner-up position, 1.038 seconds behind the No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE.
“It’s been too damn long, oh my gosh man,” Bell said with audible excitement. “I’m just so, so proud of these guys on this No. 20 car – all of the mechanics, all the pit crew members, they deserve it more than anyone and, oh my gosh man, this has been a long-time coming. Darlington has been one that I’ve always wanted to win since I’ve got into the sport, this is the ultimate drivers track.”
It’s the 14th NASCAR Cup Series win for Bell, who entered The Chase as the sixth seed.
“I knew that we’d be able to win it, no matter what, I knew we’d be able to win it, we can win any week, we just haven’t been able to do it. Whenever I was sitting in the infield care center at Michigan [after breaking his wrist] I though my season was over, I thought I was going to be out a couple weeks, I wasn’t going to be able to make The Chase.”
“We’re still in it baby,” Bell chanted before going to celebrate with his team.
Bell, by virtue of his 55-point victory (plus stage points), jumps into second in NASCAR Cup Series point standings, just 12 points behind the No. 1 seed, Denny Hamlin, who finished 18th-place on the evening after sustaining damage after hitting the outside wall.
Ty Gibbs finished in the second position after having a quiet evening at Darlington Raceway. Polesitter Tyler Reddick finished in the third position, with Ryan Blaney just behind in fourth. Larson, after coming within 13 laps of going to Victory Lane, faded quickly to finish fifth.
Chase Briscoe looked like he was in position to win his third consecutive Southern 500, after a stellar late restart that put the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE at the front of the field, however, another yellow due to precipitation forced a split strategy, and a poor restart on new tires, cost him spots to several drivers ahead.
Josh Berry continued an incredible streak of finishes to end up seventh, with Bubba Wallace in eighth, Joey Logano in ninth, and Ryan Preece, after cycling to the back after having to pit a seond time, managed to salvage a top-10, after spending most of the race outside the top-15.
Several other drivers in The Chase finished outside the top-10, including Carson Hocevar (11th), Austin Cindric (13th), Chase Elliott (14th), Denny Hamlin (18th), Chris Buescher (20th), Daniel Suarez (21st) and William Byron (37th).
Byron had spent the majority of the race running inside the top-10 and was on-track to gain several spots in points until the engine expired on the No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet, ending his evening and forcing him to retire from the event.
Denny Hamlin continues to lead the NASCAR Cup Series point standings after Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, with Christopher Bell in second, 12 points behind. Ryan Blaney (-16), Tyler Reddick (-24), and Chase Briscoe (-37) round out the top-five.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to World Wide Technology Raceway next weekend in St. Louis, Illinois for the Enjoy Illinois. Coverage of the event will be on Sunday, September 13 at 3:00 PM ET on USA Sports.
