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Cup Series: Bell makes it back-to-back victories in tense late-race battle at COTA

Writer's picture: Sean McKeanSean McKean
13 hours ago5 min read

Written by Sean McKean


Bell celebrating last weekend's victory in Atlanta | Credit: Chris Graythen / Getty Images
Bell celebrating last weekend's victory in Atlanta | Credit: Chris Graythen / Getty Images

Despite a whole bunch of pressure from William Byron and Tyler Reddick, it was Christopher Bell who took his second consecutive victory in COTA. It was the first time a driver went back-to-back in the first three races of the season since Kevin Harvick in 2018.


As it unfolded


23XI teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace maintained their top-two spots, but further incidents happened close behind. 2022 winner Ross Chastain attempted a dive down the inside of Chase Elliott in Turn 1, but he misjudged his braking point. This sent Chase Elliott into a spin on corner’s exit, of which a few drivers got collected. Denny Hamlin and Connor Zilisch picked up damage from the crash.


Everyone remained orderly until Lap 4, when Ty Dillon went for a spin on the front stretch whilst battling Austin Cindric for 30th, continuing with minor front-end damage. One corner later, Noah Gragson went for a spin in an unrelated Turn 1 incident.


On Lap 5, Bubba Wallace was hit with a stop-and-go penalty for cutting the esses. This dropped the two-time race winner to eighth. 


Behind Reddick was now Shane van Gisbergen, who closed rapidly on the 23XI driver. Only three laps later, van Gisbergen got by him for the lead. 


Van Gisbergen led until Lap 18, when most drivers took the opportunity for green flag pit stops before pit lane closed.


With an alternate strategy, Bubba Wallace took stage victory in spite of his pit penalty – his first at a road course. Joey Logano and van Gisbergen followed behind.


Stage 1 Results:

  1. No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)

  2. No. 22 - Joey Logano (Team Penske)

  3. No. 88 - Shane van Gisbergen (Trackhouse Racing)

  4. No. 8 - Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Racing)

  5. No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)

  6. No. 45 - Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing)

  7. No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)

  8. No. 99 - Daniel Suarez (Trackhouse Racing)

  9. No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)

  10. No. 16 - AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing)


Kyle Busch led the restart on Lap 26, but Shane van Gisbergen quickly got the lead. However, only one lap later, Busch took the lead. The two jockeyed for a number of laps, but the long run ultimately served van Gisbergen best, who took the lead on Lap 35.


Most drivers took to the pits on Lap 43 prior to the stage's end. However, Kyle Larson’s crew did not secure the right-front properly – sending the wheel onto the racing surface on Lap 44. This resulted in a two-lap penalty for the No. 5 team.


At stage’s end, Ryan Preece took top honours. He was followed by Ryan Blaney and Michael McDowell.


Stage 2 Results:

  1. No. 60 - Ryan Preece (Roush Fenway-Keselowski Racing)

  2. No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)

  3. No. 71 - Michael McDowell (Spire Motorsports)

  4. No. 8 - Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Racing)

  5. No. 88 - Shane van Gisbergen (Trackhouse Racing)

  6. No. 16 - AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing)

  7. No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)

  8. No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)

  9. No. 20 - Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing)

  10. No. 99 - Daniel Suarez (Trackhouse Racing)


Kyle Busch quickly took the lead on the Lap 50 restart. But, a crash between two Trackhouse teammates brought out the first caution for cause. In the penultimate corner, Daniel Suarez clipped the grass on entry and went for a spin. While Suarez attempted to save it, debutant Connor Zilisch clipped his car and went for a hard hit into the barriers. Both drivers were okay but retired from the race.


Busch led the restart again whilst teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe made their way into the top three.


Alex Bowman went for an unassisted spin on Lap 56 and continued unscathed. Meanwhile, William Byron got ahead of Briscoe for third.


On Lap 64, van Gisbergen finally cleared Briscoe into the top five. At the same time, a pair of green flag stops started whilst Bell pressured Busch for the lead. Once everything cycled through, Busch led from Byron and Bell.


With 18 laps to go, Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon brought out the caution. Going into Turn 6A, Hamlin locked the rears and barreled into the side of Dillon’s car. The RCR driver beached into the gravel whilst Hamlin drove away without damage.


The only drivers that took to the pits were mostly ones from 17th and back.


Busch led the restart with 13 laps to go and maintained the lead. Further back, Shane van Gisbergen got shuffled out wide and lost a number of spots. Ty Gibbs went for a spin on the same lap in Turn 6A, but no caution came out.


Kyle Larson went for a spin with 10 laps to go. He continued.


With nine laps to go, Bell went for the dive in Turn 1 but locked up the brakes. This made Bell lose over half a second to Busch. However, Bell quickly made that time back up in only one lap.


With another bad line in Turn 2, Bell started beating around with Busch in front of him. Whilst all of this happened, William Byron joined the race for the lead. Six laps remaining.


At five to go, Bell took his first lead of the day and cleared Busch. Byron quickly made work of the two-time champion as well. Tyler Reddick – who only just recently joined the fight – also passed Busch.


An error for Bell with three to go allowed Byron to set up a move at Turn 1 with two to go. 


Despite the pressure everlasting until the chequered, it was Christopher Bell who took his second victory in a row. 


Provisional Results:

  1. No. 20 - Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing)

  2. No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)

  3. No. 45 - Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing)

  4. No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)

  5. No. 8 - Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Racing)

  6. No. 88 - Shane van Gisbergen (Trackhouse Racing)

  7. No. 17 - Chris Buescher (Roush Fenway-Keselowski Racing)

  8. No. 4 - Noah Gragson (Front Row Motorsports)

  9. No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports)

  10. No. 34 - Todd Gilliland (Front Row Motorsports)

  11. No. 71 - Michael McDowell (Spire Motorsports)

  12. No. 1 - Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing)

  13. No. 77 - Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports)

  14. No. 19 - Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing)

  15. No. 6 - Brad Keselowski (Roush Fenway-Keselowski Racing)

  16. No. 7 - Justin Haley (Spire Motorsports)

  17. No. 35 - Riley Herbst (23XI Racing)

  18. No. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Hyak Motorsports)

  19. No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)

  20. No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)

  21. No. 11 - Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing)

  22. No. 42 - John Hunter Nemechek (Legacy Motor Club)

  23. No. 41 - Cole Custer (Haas Factory Team)

  24. No. 22 - Joey Logano (Team Penske)

  25. No. 2 - Austin Cindric (Team Penske)

  26. No. 21 - Josh Berry (Wood Brothers Racing)

  27. No. 43 - Erik Jones (Legacy Motor Club)

  28. No. 10 - Ty Dillon (Kaulig Racing)

  29. No. 38 - Zane Smith (Front Row Motorsports)

  30. No. 16 - AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing)

  31. No. 51 - Cody Ware (Rick Ware Racing)

  32. No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)

  33. No. 60 - Ryan Preece (Roush Fenway-Keselowski Racing)

  34. No. 54 - Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)

  35. No. 3 - Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing) [DNF]

  36. No. 99 - Daniel Suarez (Trackhouse Racing) [DNF]

  37. No. 87 - Connor Zilisch (Trackhouse Racing) [DNF]

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