August 31, 2024 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Christopher Bell wins NASCAR Xfinity race at Darlington in overtime dash

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Christopher Bell survived a near-disaster with Cole Custer on the first lap of overtime and held on to win Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 over Custer and snakebit Sheldon Creed.

During a green-flag run that started on lap 97 of 150, Creed caught and passed Bell for the lead on Lap 139 and was poised to claim his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory after a record 11 runner-up finishes in the series.

But Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger slapped the outside wall on Lap 143, causing the sixth caution of the afternoon, and Creed lost the top spot with a slow 15-second stop on pit road, thanks to issues with the right rear tire.

Creed restarted third behind Bell in the outside lane. Contact between the cars of Bell and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Custer on the backstretch got both cars out of shape below the normal racing line, but the drivers recovered and held their positions.

“That was wild, for sure,” said Bell, who started from the pole and led 108 laps. “I thought I was headed nose-first into the inside wall… It’s a tough race track, and off of (Turn) 2, whether you’re on the bottom of the top, it flushes you to the wall, and then you kind of get a little bit of a wiggle coming down.

“Once again, I feel terrible for Sheldon, to essentially win the race on the long run there and then lose it on pit road. It’s a big bummer… It seemed like our car was really good on the short runs. Obviously, the 18, Sheldon, was really good on the long runs.

“Unfortunately for him, the race played out differently, and fortunately for us, we got another shot at it.”

The victory was Bell’s second of the season in as many starts, with the first victory having come at New Hampshire in June. But Bell’s triumph came at the expense of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.

As expected, Creed was disconsolate as he reflected on the race that got away.

“I lost one the same way a few years ago here,” lamented Creed, who led 30 laps and was pulling away from Bell before the final caution. “This has been a really good place for me. I’ve always loved racing here. Man, I don’t know if we could be any better than that.

“I felt like I put in one of my best performances today… Man, it’s a bummer. I’m so proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing on this 18 team. I took a chance on myself and brought all the money we could. I’m literally not even making a dollar this year.”

Creed will leave Joe Gibbs Racing to drive a Ford for the Haas Factory Team next year.

NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott finished fourth, followed by Sammy Smith, who leap-frogged Ryan Sieg into the final Playoff-eligible position on points. Smith leads Sieg by 10 points with three races left in the Xfinity regular season.

Jesse Love, Shane van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier completed the top 10.

Creed did pick up his first stage win of the season, beating Bell to the finish line in Stage 2. Bell won the opening 45-lap stage over Hill.


NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 23
Race Results for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 - Saturday, August 31, 2024
Darlington Raceway - Darlington, SC - 1.366 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 150 Laps - 204.9 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 8/31/2024 @ 05:46 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 20 Christopher Bell(i) Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 150 1 2 0 Running 7 108
2 21 00 Cole Custer Haas Automatiion Ford 150 9 6 42 Running  
3 2 18 Sheldon Creed Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota 150 5 1 50 Running 4 30 1
4 16 17 Chase Elliott(i) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 150  10 0 Running  
5 11 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 150 6 4 44 Running  
6 23 2 Jesse Love # Whelen Chevrolet 150   31 Running  
7 26 97 Shane Van Gisbergen # WeatherTech Chevrolet 150   30 Running  
8 5 81 Chandler Smith QuickTie Toyota 150 10  30 Running  
9 6 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 150 2 7 41 Running  
10 20 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 150 7 5 37 Running  
11 15 19 Joe Graf Jr. G Coin Toyota 150   26 Running  
12 24 92 Ross Chastain(i) Protect Your Melon Chevrolet 150   0 Running  
13 10 48 Parker Kligerman Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet 150 4 8 34 Running  
14 27 88 Carson Kvapil Clarience Technologies Chevrolet 150   23 Running  
15 29 30 Noah Gragson(i) Drop Zone Hunting Ford 150  9 0 Running  
16 30 11 Josh Williams Call 811 Chevrolet 150   21 Running  
17 17 27 Jeb Burton Celsius Chevrolet 150   20 Running  
18 13 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 150   19 Running  
19 22 38 Matt DiBenedetto ReMA Ford 150   18 Running  
20 28 44 Brennan Poole Macc Door Systems Chevrolet 150   17 Running  
21 34 43 Ryan Ellis Southern Elevator Chevrolet 150   16 Running  
22 31 28 Kyle Sieg Southern String Hat Co Ford 150   15 Running  
23 33 42 Leland Honeyman # RANDCO Industries Chevrolet 150   14 Running  
24 35 35 David Starr  Chevrolet 150   13 Running  
25 12 26 Corey Heim(i) Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota 150   0 Running  
26 14 5 Anthony Alfredo Ferguson Chevrolet 150   11 Running  
27 4 16 AJ Allmendinger LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 149 3 3 26 Running  
28 3 1 Sam Mayer 10X Health Chevrolet 149   9 Running 1 11
29 38 07 Greg Van Alst CB Fabricating Chevrolet 149   8 Running  
30 36 45 Garrett Smithley Ken McKnight AC Chevrolet 148   7 Running 1 1
31 25 51 Jeremy Clements Booze Pops Chevrolet 146   6 Running  
32 7 9 Brandon Jones Menards/Patriot Lighting Chevrolet 146   5 Running  
33 37 14 Chad Finchum Ted Russell Ford of Knoxville Ford 142 8  7 Running  
34 32 29 Blaine Perkins AutoParkit.com Ford 133   3 Running  
35 8 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 129   2 Running  
36 9 31 Parker Retzlaff Capital City Towing Chevrolet 125   1 Running  
37 19 91 Kyle Weatherman Mainline Fleet Maintenance Chevrolet 54   1 Accident  
38 18 15 Joey Logano(i) Panini Ford 12   0 Engine  

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 50 Mins, 49 Secs. Average Speed: 110.94 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.351 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 20, 21, 16, 48, 18, 8, 7, 14, 00, 81
Stage 2 Top 10: 18, 20, 16, 8, 7, 00, 21, 48, 30, 17

Failed to Qualify: (1) 74 Dawson Cram(i).

Caution Flags: 6 for 29 laps; Laps: 6-8 (#31 Stalled on Track [None]); 31-35 (Debris turns 3-4 [51]); 46-52 (#9, 97 incident backstretch / Stage 1 Conclusion [07]); 54-57 (#91 incident turn 3 [5]); 92-96 (Stage 2 Conclusion [35]); 144-148 (#16 incident turn 1 [35]).

Lead Changes: 12 among 4 drivers; C. Bell(i) 1-27; S. Mayer 28-38; C. Bell(i) 39-48; G. Smithley 49; C. Bell(i) 50-52; S. Creed 53-57; C. Bell(i) 58-76; S. Creed 77-92; C. Bell(i) 93; S. Creed 94-96; C. Bell(i) 97-138; S. Creed 139-144; C. Bell(i) 145-150.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: September 7, 2024 - Atlanta Motor Speedway

NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875