Bell Snags Superspeedway Win In Another Atlanta Classic

Christopher Bell celebrates in victory lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (HHP/Jacy Norgaard photo)

HAMPTON, Ga. – Atlanta Motor Speedway delivered another last-lap NASCAR Cup Series thriller Sunday night, and though it wasn’t at the flagstand, Christopher Bell just cared that he got the trophy.

Bell made a last-gasp charge in overtime to win the Ambetter Health 400, leading only the final lap en route to his 10th career Cup Series victory and first in exactly eight months.

He restarted second in the outside lane, behind friend and longtime rival Kyle Larson, for the deciding two-lap sprint and pushed Larson clear to the lead in turn three as the field raced toward the white flag.

Bell then used a huge boost of momentum from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to get alongside Larson in turns one and two on the final lap, racing side-by-side down the backstretch before a shot in the shorts by sophomore Cup Series driver Carson Hocevar propelled the No. 20 Toyota ahead for good.

A crashing Josh Berry behind the lead pack moments later forced a race-ending caution flag, just as Hocevar found a lane in between Bell and Larson to try and make it three-wide for the victory.

Though the trio raced it back to the checkers to be safe, Bell was ahead by a half-car length at the moment of caution, giving him his first win on a drafting track at NASCAR’s top level.

It was a triumph that had the Norman, Okla., native beaming from ear to ear in victory lane.

“I’ll tell you what, that right there is what you dream of, to be able to restart on the first or second row on a green-white-checkered [and win at] a speedway,” said Bell. “You never know how those things are going to play out, but I’ll be the first to tell you, I love superspeedways (laughing).

“Truly, I don’t know. This style of racing has always been a little bit of a struggle for me, and throughout the day we obviously were just stuck way in the back (after qualifying 32nd),” Bell added. “Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and these boys back here, they did an amazing job getting tuned up to where I could just hold my foot down. That’s what it’s all about.

“You have to be able to stay in the throttle here, and the last half of the race, we were at our best.”

An incident-free opening stage was not an omen of things to come, as beyond lap 60, 11 cautions dotted the remainder of the race and turned the narrative on its proverbial head numerous times.

The biggest incident of the day was an eight-car crash on the frontstretch, sparked on lap 184 after Daniel Suarez checked up and got tagged around by Ty Gibbs, but the two most consequential moments of the race came even deeper in the final stage.

After running inside the top 10 for the majority of the race, polesitter Ryan Blaney spun in turn one with 27 laps left in regulation, setting up a furious scramble over the closing laps that included seven lead changes among four different drivers and all three manufacturers.

Though Team Penske’s Austin Cindric controlled 17 straight circuits down the stretch run, Larson worked his way into the top spot with two to go, then squeezed Cindric into the outside wall off turn two in a sequence that ended with Cindric spinning down into Daytona 500 winner William Byron on corner exit.

Both Cindric – who led 47 laps Sunday – and Byron crashed against the inside wall, ending their chances at victory and ultimately sending the race six laps past its scheduled distance.

Christopher Bell (20), Carson Hocevar (77), and Kyle Larson race to the finish line at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (HHP/David Graham photo)

While Hocevar found just enough space to eke out the runner-up honors, it was Larson who led at the white flag before ending up third in his pursuit of a long-awaited drafting track triumph.

“Obviously the 20 (Bell) got to my right side, but I don’t know what I did wrong or right,” Larson admitted. “I thought maybe the 20 picked me up and he was just going to push me and get clear of me into (turn) one anyway. I think it kind of worked out OK, though. Just didn't get the caution to come out late enough until I got the run back to the inside.

“Came up a little bit short, but proud of the effort today by everybody on our HendrickCars.com Chevy team,” Larson added. “Glad we finally finished at Atlanta and finally got to run up front.”

With four fresh tires and plenty of grit, Blaney rallied all the way back to fourth at the finish, followed by Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in his best finish since winning at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last October.

Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, and John Hunter Nemechek closed the top 10 finishers. Chastain restarted on the front row for overtime before fading back in the final moments.

Joey Logano led eight times for a race-high 83 laps, but lost track position in the final stage and ended up stuck in the middle of the pack, finishing a disappointing 12th.

After crashing on the final lap, Berry was scored 25th despite spending 56 laps out front on Sunday.

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues, Sunday, March 2 at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, with the running of the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix. Byron is the defending event winner.

Broadcast coverage is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET, live on FOX, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.