Bell Triumphs In Rain-Shortened Coca-Cola 600

CONCORD, N.C. – Christopher Bell won a rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, as the oft-proclaimed “greatest day in motorsports” ended with a whimper.

After a Monaco Grand Prix that more closely resembled a parade than a race, and an Indianapolis 500 that was delayed four hours by rain, the longest night on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule finished after 249 of 400 laps due to a strong line of thunderstorms that came through the greater Charlotte area.

The bottom fell out of the sky just after 9:30 p.m. ET, with torrential rain drenching the 1.5-mile CMS quad-oval amid a muggy, humid Southeastern night.

Though track-drying efforts began at 10:28 p.m., it was clear that the likelihood of resuming before the wee hours of Monday morning was virtually nonexistent, leading NASCAR officials to declare the race official at 11:30 p.m.

That gave Bell, the 29-year-old from Norman, Okla., his eighth career Cup Series win and second of the season, following a March triumph at Arizona’s Phoenix Raceway.

“Man, it feels so good — win or lose — just to have a great race to go off of,” said Bell, who led a race-high 90 laps. “This was a race where we led laps. We were able to pass cars. We lost the lead at times and were able to drive back to the lead.

“We had great pit stops. It was a team effort, and it was amazing to have a good race. Hopefully, this is something we can build on and get back to being more consistent.”

Sunday night also marked Bell’s first victory in one of NASCAR’s four crown jewel events – the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Brickyard 400, and Southern 500.

“This feels so good,” he added. “Really, the last two Coca-Cola 600s, I felt like we had the potential to go to victory lane … and both times, we weren’t able to do it. So to come back this year after being in a slump for several weeks and have a banner day at a high-profile, prestigious event is big for us.

“A great points day to get points in every stage and the playoff points that come with that. It was much-needed, for sure.”

Though the 600-mile race got underway as scheduled shortly after 6 p.m., it was clear from the radar at the start that weather would likely play a factor in the eventual outcome, leading to aggressive racing throughout the field as drivers jockeyed to put themselves in position toward the front of the field.

Polesitter Ty Gibbs led 63 of the first 71 laps, but was overhauled late in the first 100-lap stage by William Byron, who went on to collect the stage win at his hometown racetrack.

The pair battled furiously inside of 10 to go before the first stage break. Byron’s pass on lap 94, however, proved to be decisive.

Gibbs won the race off pit road during the stage break, but lost the lead on the ensuing lap-111 restart to Ross Chastain, who led briefly before Bell took control for the first time at lap 121.

From there, green-flag pit stops and a smattering of cautions for incident shuffled the deck through the middle of stage two, but Bell passed Byron on lap 189 and earned the second stage win as the race reached its scheduled halfway point.

As has become tradition during the Coca-Cola 600, the field was brought down pit road on lap 200 and the engines silenced for a moment of remembrance, in honor of the fallen military service members who made the ultimate sacrifice in service for their country.

Bell won the race off pit road after that, maintaining his lead at the start of stage three and holding control through the night’s sixth caution flag on lap 229, when Corey LaJoie spun in turn two.

That generated one final round of pit service and an intense sprint to the impending rain, where Bell aced what turned out to be the race’s final restart on lap 236.

Just 10 more green-flag laps were run before the rain began to fall, signaling the premature end of NASCAR’s traditional 600-mile marathon.

Brad Keselowski, who snapped a winless streak of more than 100 races two weeks ago at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, ended up as the runner-up in his attempt to win a second Coca-Cola 600 in five years.

Keselowski was one of 10 leaders on the night, spending one lap out front during the final round of pit stops.

Byron was credited with third ahead of Tyler Reddick, who rallied to finish fourth after a pass-through penalty at the start of the race for unapproved underwing adjustments discovered after pre-qualifying inspection on Saturday.

Denny Hamlin closed the top five, followed by Gibbs, Chase Elliott, Chastain, Alex Bowman, and Josh Berry.

In his fill-in role for Kyle Larson, JR Motorsports NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Justin Allgaier showed solid speed as the race went on and ended up finishing 13th, his best Cup Series result since the 2015 Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

Larson competed in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 and finished 18th before flying to CMS and arriving at 9:18 p.m., just before the rain arrived. He never got to turn a lap in his No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 despite being ready and suited up on the pit box when the seventh and final yellow flag waved.

Two notable incidents marred the earlier laps, with defending Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney hitting the wall before being stranded on pit road at lap 158, leading to the night’s second caution.

The damage to Blaney’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse was enough to rule him out of the remainder of the race, relegating the reigning Cup Series champion to a 39th-place finish.

Noah Gragson was the other driver who found major trouble, spinning into the inside wall on the backstretch on lap 171 in an incident that crushed the front of his No. 10 car.

With Larson not able to participate in Sunday’s race, Hamlin assumed the point lead by five over Truex. Larson dropped to third in the standings, but is still well in contention for the regular season title.

He’s anticipated to receive a playoff waiver from NASCAR to remain eligible for a championship run.

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues Sunday, June 2 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., with the running of the Enjoy Illinois 300 at the 1.25-mile oval.

Broadcast coverage is slated for 2 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.