Christopher Bell completes JGR Playoff round sweep with Bristol win
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
BRISTOL, Tenn.—With a charge to the lead from fifth place with four laps left in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell kept Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota perfect in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Bell survived a hard, square shot to his rear bumper from Brad Keselowski in the final corner and steered straight to the finish line, 0.343 seconds ahead of the Roush Fenway Keselowski co-owner and driver.
Joining JGR teammates Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin as winners in the Playoff’s Round of 16, Bell advanced to the Round of 12, which begins Sept. 21 at one of his best tracks, New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The race marked the end of the Playoffs for the four drivers who came to Thunder Valley below the elimination line—Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Shane van Gisbergen and Josh Berry.
Of the four, only Bowman made a significant charge, finishing 10 points below Austin Cindric, the final Round of 12 qualifier.
Six days after complaining bitterly about strategy in a seventh-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Bell was back on top, scoring his fourth victory of the season, his first at Bristol and the 13th of his career.
On fresh right-side tires after a pit stop on Lap 491, the driver of No. 20 Camry took the lead from fifth on Lap 497 of 500 and kept Keselowski, on four new tires, at bay for the duration, even though Keselowski got to Bell’s rear bumper on the final circuit.
With new, softer right-side tires supplied by Goodyear for the race, the extent of tire wear was a shock the drivers and crew chiefs.
“Well, I’ll tell you what, I was nervous on the twos (tires),” Bell said. “I didn’t know if I wanted to be on the bottom or the top, and whenever Brad picked the top (lane) didn’t really give me an option. I had to pick the bottom.
“All night long, I don’t know, old tires just really, really pushed up in the middle of the corners, so I was hoping that those guys (starting ahead of him) on old tires would push up, and they did. They did, and I was able to get by or get underneath them.
“It wasn’t pretty there at the end, but we got her done.”
Keselowski rued his pick of the top lane for the final restart.
“Just the story of our season, just a 50/50 shot on the restart and I got the lane that couldn’t launch,” Keselowski said. “Just frustrating. We had a great car, great strategy, put ourselves in position to, if not win, at least have a really, really solid day, and on that last restart, (we) just rolled the dice and didn’t get anything good.”
Bell’s teammate, Ty Gibbs, led a race-high 201 laps, but overshot his pit stall on the last green-flag stop and finished 10th. Briscoe was out front for 127 laps and finished ninth after a late green-flag stop for fresh tires.
Non-Playoff driver Zane Smith ran third, followed by Team Penske title contenders Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano. Part-timer Corey Heim scored a career-best sixth, followed by non-Playoff driver Carson Hocevar and Bowman.
For practical purposes, most of the Round of 16 eliminations were settled early. On Lap 75, Josh Berry brought his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford to pit road with smoke from the right-front wheel well filling the cockpit.
Berry climbed from the car, finishing last for the third straight event, out of the race and out of the Playoffs.
“It’s hard to put into words, but I’d be way more disappointed if we just ran like crap for three weeks,” said Berry, who had qualified 10th and moved forward from his starting spot. “We’ve been up front. We’ve qualified well. We had the issue at Darlington, bottoming out. Last week, we got clipped by the 9 (Chase Elliott), and then tonight the car catches on fire…
“Honestly, I think the way that was playing out we would have 100 percent had a chance to win tonight.”
By the time Berry exited, Austin Dillon, who entered the race 11 points below the cut line, already had experienced severe cording of his right-side tires. Dillon pitted on Lap 28 and compounded his issues with a pit road speeding penalty.
Dillon was 30th at the end of Stage 1, the last driver one lap down, with little hope of remaining in the Playoffs. By the end of Stage 2, he was two laps down in 33rd. Dillon finished 28th, missing the Round of 12 by 14 points.
Shane van Gisbergen, 15 points down at the start of the race, steadily lost ground throughout the first two stages. The coup de grace for the New Zealander was a spin in Turn 4 after a bump from William Byron.
Another spin and a 26th-place finish left the Sunoco rookie 16 points behind Cindric in his first trip to the postseason.
Of the drivers who started below the cut line, only Bowman mounted a concerted threat. Recovering from a spin on Lap 100, the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet surged forward on new tires and finished third behind Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney in Stage 2.
Bowman had come to Bristol 35 points down, but with the eight points he collected in the second stage, he moved to 11 points behind Ross Chastain for the final transfer spot into the Round of 12 for the start of the final stage.
Chastain recovered a lost lap and finished 19th, preserving his berth in the Round of 12, but Cindric had a close call when his right-front wheel well started spewing flames on Lap 457. Cindric lost five laps on pit road, as Bowman closed with a point of the transfer spot, but the gap widened in the closing laps.
Chase Elliott crashed on Lap 311 after contact with John Hunter Nemechek’s Toyota and finished 38th, but the Hendrick driver had enough of a cushion to move on to the Round of 12.
Other drivers advancing to the next Playoff round on points were Blaney, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and Logano.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 29
Race Results for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race - Saturday, September 13, 2025
Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, TN - 0.533 - Mile Concrete
Total Race Length - 500 Laps - 266.5 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 9/13/2025 @ 11:38 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 9 20 Christopher Bell (P) DEWALT Toyota 500 40 Running 4 12 5
2 18 6 Brad Keselowski Castrol/Travel Centers of America Ford 500 8 4 45 Running 3 33
3 24 38 * Zane Smith Long John Silver's Ford 500 5 9 42 Running 2 5
4 2 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Menards/Sylvania Ford 500 1 2 52 Running 3 30 1
5 22 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 500 32 Running 1 7
6 38 67 * Corey Heim(i) Robinhood Toyota 500 0 Running
7 12 77 Carson Hocevar Delaware Life Chevrolet 500 5 36 Running 4 26
8 15 48 Alex Bowman (P) Ally Open Road Sweeps Chevrolet 500 3 37 Running 2 5
9 31 19 Chase Briscoe (P) Bass Pro Shops Toyota 500 28 Running 3 127
10 4 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 500 2 1 46 Running 7 201 1
11 21 17 Chris Buescher Body Guard Ford 500 6 7 35 Running
12 7 24 William Byron (P) Raptor Chevrolet 500 3 33 Running
13 17 7 Justin Haley NationsGuard Chevrolet 500 24 Running
14 19 42 John Hunter Nemechek Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 499 9 25 Running
15 14 45 * Tyler Reddick (P) Pinnacle Toyota 499 22 Running
16 32 8 Kyle Busch Lucas Oil Chevrolet 499 21 Running
17 25 71 Michael McDowell Gainbridge Chevrolet 499 20 Running
18 29 35 * Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota 499 19 Running
19 13 1 Ross Chastain (P) Moose Fraternity Chevrolet 499 18 Running
20 27 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 499 17 Running
21 20 60 Ryan Preece Kroger/SToK Ford 499 16 Running
22 11 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Energy Chevrolet 499 10 16 Running 1 5
23 30 4 * Noah Gragson Rush Truck Centers Ford 498 14 Running
24 36 34 * Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 498 13 Running
25 33 33 * Austin Hill(i) United Rentals Chevrolet 497 0 Running
26 28 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # (P) Wendy's Breakfast Baconator Chevrolet 497 11 Running
27 37 10 Ty Dillon Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 497 10 Running
28 23 3 Austin Dillon (P) Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet 496 9 Running
29 34 51 Cody Ware Arby's Classic Ford 496 8 Running
30 3 2 Austin Cindric (P) Discount Tire Ford 496 6 12 Running 2 10
31 6 11 Denny Hamlin (P) King's Hawaiian Toyota 495 10 7 Running 1 3
32 5 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 495 5 Running
33 26 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 488 4 Running
34 8 23 * Bubba Wallace (P) Robinhood Toyota 487 4 8 13 Accident 2 12
35 39 66 * Chad Finchum Barger Precast Ford 458 2 Brakes
36 1 16 AJ Allmendinger Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 408 7 6 Steering 2 24
37 35 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 364 1 Accident
38 16 9 Chase Elliott (P) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 311 1 Accident
39 10 21 Josh Berry (P) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 75 1 Brakes
Fastest Lap Bonus: # 16 lap 3 / 15.549
16
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 48 Mins, 10 Secs. Average Speed: 69.686 MPH Margin of Victory: .343 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 12, 54, 24, 23, 38, 17, 16, 6, 42, 47
Stage 2 Top 10: 54, 12, 48, 6, 77, 2, 17, 23, 38, 11
Race Comments: Christopher Bell won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, his 13th NASCAR Cup Series victory. Prior to the green flag, no cars dropped to the rear.
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 14 for 137 laps; Laps: 81-94 (Debris pit road [42]); 101-107 (#35, 48 incident turn 2 [19]); 127-137 (Stage 1 Conclusion [43]); 148-155 (#47, 88, 43, 71 incident frontstretch [20]); 239-246 (#24, 88 incident turn 4 [None]); 252-265 (Stage 2 Conclusion [24]); 270-276 (#10, 88 incident turn 1 [71]); 282-288 (#10, 41 incident turn 1 [16]); 294-300 (#10, 4, incident backstretch [1]); 312-329 (#9, 42 incident turn 3 [45]); 355-361 (#23, 47 incident turn 1 [7]); 366-373 (#5 spin turn 4 [47]); 385-397 (#11, 24, 16 incident turn 4 [8]); 489-496 (#23, 41 incident turn 2 [24]).
Lead Changes: 36 among 14 drivers; A. Allmendinger 1-23; T. Gibbs 24-30; R. Blaney (P) 31-48; A. Cindric (P) 49-56; R. Blaney (P) 57-62; T. Gibbs 63-123; R. Blaney (P) 124-129; A. Allmendinger 130; T. Gibbs 131-137; *. Wallace (P) 138-141; T. Gibbs 142-209; C. Hocevar 210; A. Cindric (P) 211-212; A. Bowman (P) 213-216; C. Hocevar 217-227; T. Gibbs 228-240; A. Bowman (P) 241; R. Stenhouse Jr. 242-246; T. Gibbs 247-276; C. Briscoe (P) 277-323; *. Wallace (P) 324-331; C. Briscoe (P) 332-356; C. Bell (P) 357; D. Hamlin (P) 358-360; C. Briscoe (P) 361-415; T. Gibbs 416-430; C. Bell (P) 431-436; B. Keselowski 437-438; *. Smith 439-442; J. Logano (P) 443-449; B. Keselowski 450-465; C. Hocevar 466-474; *. Smith 475; B. Keselowski 476-490; C. Bell (P) 491; C. Hocevar 492-496; C. Bell (P) 497-500.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: September 21, 2025 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway
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CURRENT NASCAR CUP SERIES PLAYOFF STANDINGS
NO. DRIVER MFR +/-
1 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota +26 5 TOTAL WINS - 1 PLAYOFF WIN
2 24 William Byron Chevrolet +24 2 TOTAL WINS
3 5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet +24 3 TOTAL WINS
4 20Christopher Bell Toyota +20 4 TOTAL WINS - 1 PLAYOFF WIN - ALL STAR RACE WIN
5 12 Ryan Blaney Ford +19 2 TOTAL WINS
6 19 Chase Briscoe Toyota +10 2 TOTAL WINS - 1 PLAYOFF WIN
7 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet +5 1 TOTAL WIN - BUSCH LITE CLASH WIN
8 23 Bubba Wallace Toyota +1 1 TOTAL WIN
CUTOFF LINE - FOUR DRIVERS ELIMINATED AFTER CHARLOTTE (OCT. 5)
9 2 Austin Cindric Ford -1 1 TOTALWIN
10 22 Joey Logano Ford -2 1 TOTAL WIN
11 1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet -2 1 TOTAL WIN
12 45 Tyler Reddick Toyota -3
DRIVERS ELIMINATED FROM TOUND OF 16
48 Alex Bowman
3 Austn Dillon 1 TOTAL WIN
88 Shane Van Gisbergen 4 TOTAL WINS
21 Josh Berry 1 TOTAL WIN
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