Cup Series: Bell makes it three in a row with thrilling Phoenix victory

6 hours ago5 min read

Written by Sean McKean

Bell celebrating his victory in COTA | Credit: James Gilbert / Getty Images

In a thrilling last-lap battle, it was Christopher Bell who took his third consecutive victory in Phoenix. It was the first time a driver has won three races in a row in the NextGen era,

As it unfolded

Prior to the weekend, NASCAR stated that they would utilise the option-prime tyre system first used in North Wilkesboro last year. This added an entirely new strategic element to the hot racing surface of Phoenix, Arizona.

William Byron led the way from pole, and despite Joey Logano managing to lead Lap 1, Byron snatched the lead away by Lap 2.

It didn’t take long for the first caution of the day, as it came out on Lap 4 for debutant Katherine Legge. Coming off Turn 4, Legge’s car snapped loose and went for a spin. She continued without damage.

Byron led again on the Lap 10 restart but quickly lost the lead exiting Turn 2. Luckily for Byron, the caution came out on the corner exit. Whilst trying to pass below the line, Cole Custer got loose and spun into John Hunter Nemechek, who in turn spun Ricky Stenhouse Jr. All drivers drove away with little damage.

Under the caution, Ryan Preece’s team made the call to switch onto the softer option tyres. This would grant him an enormous grip advantage.

Logano seemed to get a good jump on the inside and took the lead on Lap 15. However, Logano was penalised for jumping below the yellow line before the start-finish line. The three-time champion subsequently served a pass-through on Lap 20, relinquishing the lead to Byron.

Only seven laps following the restart, Preece – on the options – had already made up 17 spots. By 25 laps after the restart, he made it to fourth.

The stage concluded quietly with William Byron staying out front. Tyler Reddick and Preece followed behind.

Stage 1 Results:

No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 45 - Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing)
No. 60 - Ryan Preece (Roush Fenway-Keselowski Racing)
No. 20 - Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)
No. 21 - Josh Berry (Wood Brothers Racing)
No. 77 - Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports)
No. 11 - Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)

Most drivers elected to pit under the caution. Byron kept his lead. Both Austin Cindric – who came out in 14th – and Justin Haley notably put on the option tyres.

Byron led the Lap 72 restart and kept the lead.

The options showed their strength even more by Lap 88, when Austin Cindric took the lead away from Byron. Further, Haley moved into fourth and Daniel Suarez took sixth.

Before the option runners could see big gains, the caution came out on Lap 92. In Turn 3, the right-rear tyre on Michael McDowell gave out – sending the Spire driver into the barrier. He continued but with damaged.

On the Lap 99 restart, a big crash off of Turn 2 occurred. Justin Haley and Chase Briscoe came into contact, setting off a chain reaction crash that collected Carson Hocevar, Cole Custer, Riley Herbst and Shane van Gisbergen. All seven cars retired from the crash.

Most primary tyre drivers took to the pits. Bell was the first out of the pits. Joey Logano notably took the options.

Bell restarted with the lead on Lap 113. However, Logano closed in fast, taking the lead for himself by Lap 130.

The options advantage was only temporary for the No. 22 team, losing the lead to Bell on Lap 178.

Bell crossed the line to win the stage. Logano finished second with Byron in third.

Stage 2 Results:

No. 20 - Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 22 - Joey Logano (Team Penske)
No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)
No. 45 - Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing)
No. 11 - Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 2 - Austin Cindric (Team Penske)
No. 99 - Daniel Suarez (Trackhouse Racing)
No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 21 - Josh Berry (Wood Brothers Racing)

With 118 laps to go and most of the field on options, Logano managed to keep the lead.

98 laps to go saw the caution come out once more. Coming off Turn 2, Katherine Legge tried to stay off Josh Berry on corner exit but misjudged it, spinning around and subsequently getting hit by Daniel Suarez.

This changed the strategy for all the current options runners. Thus, most drivers on the tyre decided to move back onto the primaries. Only Ryan Preece, Erik Jones and Todd Gilliland went onto the options.

Bell led the way with only 89 laps to go, but with 80 laps to go, Preece made his way to the lead whilst Jones sat in sixth. Ty Dillon, also on the options, made his way to eighth.

Preece’s advantage started to dissipate by 55 laps remaining.

But, with 46 laps to go, another caution came out that threw strategy out of the window – this time, for a brake rotor failure from Bubba Wallace in Turn 1.

Everyone went down pit road to take the options. Most drivers were penalty-free, but Tyler Reddick – who had been running top three all day – was caught speeding in pit road.

Bell led again with 36 to go and took the lead decisively. However, Denny Hamlin began reeling in the two-time winner this season.

With 23 laps to go, the caution came back out. Ryan Blaney suffered a terminal engine failure.

Only a few drivers took to the pits, most coming for used options. This group included Joey Logano and Erik Jones.

Bell again retained his lead on the 17-to-go restart. He looked clear to win, but a tyre failure from Ty Gibbs with only eight laps remaining brought the caution back out.

The restart with two laps to go was as intense as it gets, with Bell, Hamlin and Larson duking it out for victory. At race’s end, though, Bell managed to hold off the two of them with a last corner dive.

Provisional Results: