Christopher Bell sails to NASCAR Cup prize at Phoenix
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
AVONDALE, Ariz. — There were so many variables in Christopher Bell’s victory in Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway that it’s difficult to pinpoint the determinative factor.
First, Toyota introduced a new body style in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. Second, NASCAR debuted a new short-track competition package in Sunday’s race. Third, the Toyotas unloaded for Friday’s 50-minute practice with consistent speed—allowing them to test their long-run prowess.
That combination of factors conjured up a decisive victory for Bell at a track where Toyota drivers had led a total of 15 laps in four Next-Gen-era races combined.
Bell and his Camry compatriots turned that statistic upside down on Sunday, combining to lead 298 of 312 laps. After Denny Hamlin started from the pole position, all four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers led significant numbers of laps—Hamlin with 68, Ty Gibbs with 57, Martin Truex Jr. with 55 and Bell with 50.
Tyler Reddick, a 23XI Toyota driver, contributed 68 laps led, as Bell ended Chevrolet’s three-race winning streak to start the season.
And while some drivers had difficulty in dirty air, Bell’s No. 20 Camry had no trouble passing cars, coming from 20th on a restart on Lap 221 to claim the lead and beat Ford driver and runner-up Chris Buescher to the finish line by a distant 5.465 seconds.
“Man, this one feels really good,” said Bell, who was eliminated from last year’s Championship 4 race at Phoenix when his brake rotor exploded. “Just a credit to (crew chief) Adam (Stevens), man. Adam, my engineers… all the mechanics on this thing.
“You don’t get cars like that very often, as you know. Just super, super proud. Proud to be on this 20 car. This Rheem Camry was amazing today. I feel like we have capability of running races like this a lot. Hopefully, this is the first of many this year.”
The victory was Bell’s first at Phoenix and the seventh of his career.
Divergent pit strategies under the sixth and final caution for Hamlin’s spin in Turn 2 on Lap 215—as he broke loose to the inside of Reddick’s car while fighting for the lead—scrambled the running order, with Truex and eight other drivers staying on track while the rest of the field came to pit road.
With the final 92 laps running caution-free, Truex had to pit for fuel and tires on Lap 272, surrendering the lead to Bell, who held it the rest of the way.
After crashing out in 37th place last Sunday at Las Vegas, Buescher was happy with his solid second-place run.
“I didn’t quite see the 20 (Bell) there at the end, so I know they were lights-out,” Buescher said. “We have some work to do to get to that point. What thrills me is we were by no means perfect on balance, so we have a lot of room to make this thing better, which is awesome.”
Gibbs, who regained track position with a two-tire pit stop on Lap 218, came home third, a career-best finish. Brad Keselowski ran fourth, two spots behind his Roush Fenway Keselowski teammate; and reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney came home fifth, ending a streak of three straight runner-up finishes at the one-mile track in the Sonoran Desert.
Ross Chastain, a Phoenix winner last November, was sixth, and Truex worked his way through the field on fresher tires to finish seventh. Michael McDowell, Chase Briscoe and Reddick completed the top 10. Hamlin finished 11th after his Lap 215 spin.
Blaney overtook 14th-place finisher Kyle Larson for the series lead. He leaves Phoenix 10 points ahead of Larson and Truex, who are tied for second in the standings.
Notes: Chastain was the only Chevrolet driver to finish in the top 12… The only non-Toyota driver to lead laps was Todd Gilliland, who ran long in his Front Row Motorsports Ford during a cycle of green-flag pit stops in Stage 2 and held the top spot for 14 circuits… Reddick won the first stage, and Bell claimed victory in the second stage.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 4
Race Results for the Shriners Children?s 500 - Sunday, March 10, 2024
Phoenix Raceway - Avondale, AZ - 1. - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 312 Laps - 312. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 3/10/2024 @ 07:00 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 13 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 312 1 50 Running 2 50 6
2 14 17 Chris Buescher BuildSubmarines.com Ford 312 10 36 Running
3 2 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 312 2 43 Running 1 57
4 18 6 Brad Keselowski Consumer Cellular Ford 312 9 35 Running
5 16 12 Ryan Blaney Advance Auto Parts Ford 312 7 6 41 Running
6 12 1 Ross Chastain Kubota Chevrolet 312 31 Running
7 11 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 312 10 5 37 Running 1 55
8 9 34 Michael McDowell Horizon Hobby Ford 312 8 32 Running
9 8 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 312 9 30 Running
10 6 45 Tyler Reddick Mobil 1 Toyota 312 1 2 46 Running 3 68 1
11 1 11 Denny Hamlin Mavis Brakes Plus Toyota 312 3 3 42 Running 2 68
12 7 10 Noah Gragson SERVPRO Ford 312 8 28 Running
13 15 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 312 24 Running
14 17 5 Kyle Larson Valvoline Chevrolet 312 23 Running
15 10 77 Carson Hocevar # Delaware Life Chevrolet 312 22 Running
16 22 23 Bubba Wallace U.S. Air Force Toyota 312 21 Running
17 29 38 Todd Gilliland gener8tor Ford 312 20 Running 1 14
18 5 24 William Byron RaptorTough.com Chevrolet 312 6 4 31 Running
19 3 9 Chase Elliott Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet 312 5 7 28 Running
20 25 48 Alex Bowman Ally Best Friends Chevrolet 312 17 Running
21 20 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fry's/Coca-Cola Spiced Chevrolet 312 16 Running
22 31 8 Kyle Busch zone Chevrolet 311 15 Running
23 27 41 Ryan Preece United Rentals Ford 311 14 Running
24 33 51 Justin Haley Fraternal Order of Eagles Ford 311 13 Running
25 19 42 John Hunter Nemechek Albertson's Toyota 311 12 Running
26 36 4 Josh Berry # SunnyD Ford 310 11 Running
27 24 21 Harrison Burton Draiver Ford 310 10 Running
28 21 31 Daniel Hemric Poppy Bank Chevrolet 310 9 Running
29 28 71 Zane Smith # Focused Health Chevrolet 309 8 Running
30 32 15 Kaz Grala # N29 Capital Partners Ford 309 7 Running
31 4 43 Erik Jones Family Dollar Toyota 305 4 13 Running
32 30 3 Austin Dillon Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet 304 5 Running
33 35 7 Corey LaJoie Group 1001 Chevrolet 204 4 Accident
34 23 22 Joey Logano Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford 203 3 Accident
35 26 16 Derek Kraus Western States Flooring Chevrolet 203 2 Accident
36 34 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Duracell Ford 6 1 Accident
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 0 Mins, 45 Secs. Average Speed: 103.568 MPH Margin of Victory: 5.465 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 45, 54, 11, 43, 9, 24, 12, 34, 14, 19
Stage 2 Top 10: 20, 45, 11, 24, 19, 12, 9, 10, 6, 17
Caution Flags: 6 for 40 laps; Laps: 7-12 (#16, 2, 3 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 62-69 (Stage 1 Conclusion [3]); 187-194 (Stage 2 Conclusion [41]); 197-202 (#8 Spin Backstretch [7]); 206-212 (#22, 42, 7, 16, 77, 4 Incident Turn 1 [None]); 216-220 (#11, 45 Incident Turn 2 [8]).
Lead Changes: 10 among 6 drivers; D. Hamlin 0; T. Gibbs 1-57; T. Reddick 58-64; D. Hamlin 65-119; T. Gilliland 120-133; T. Reddick 134-180; C. Bell 181-189; D. Hamlin 190-202; T. Reddick 203-216; M. Truex Jr. 217-271; C. Bell 272-312.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: March 17, 2024 - Bristol Motor Speedway
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