Christopher Bell doesn’t seem like someone all that likable. Too clean. Too young. But when you learn he came up through dirt tracks, and that he’s Oklahoman, he stops seeming like a silver-spoon NASCAR guy. That doesn’t mean he isn’t a silver-spoon NASCAR guy (a silver-throttle guy?), but all I need is for him to not seem like one. Seems like he’s had to grind more than some. That’s enough for me.
Regardless of whether I like him or not, Bell is a Cup Series race winner. It’s the first time for the 26-year-old, who’s in just his second year in NASCAR’s top flight.
Bell finished last season 20th in the standings, running in the 95 car for Leavine Family Racing. It was a promising campaign, and Joe Gibbs Racing—for whom Bell had driven in the Xfinity Series from 2017 through 2019—pushed a fine Erik Jones out of the 20 car to make room for a new guy.
That confidence in Bell paid off yesterday, as the sophomore brought home JGR’s first Cup Series win of the season and locked their least-likely playoff driver into the playoffs.
The Winner
Bell’s aggression had been the cause of the early big one at last weekend’s Daytona 500. He wasn’t the only one racing aggressively so early, but his was the bump that sparked the chaos. Good turnaround for the 20.
The Race
For most of the day, it looked like road course wizard Chase Elliott was going to get his first win of the season. He had some pit road issues, and he opted for fresh tires on a late caution, but when he wasn’t in the lead he was consistently picking cars off. With just a few laps to go, though, Elliott spun out, and with Martin Truex Jr.—another good road course racer—spinning a few laps earlier, the race was suddenly open for the taking. Joey Logano had found himself in the lead, and with Kurt Busch holding Bell off for a long time (and Bell picking up a knock on the front right corner of his car trying to get around the elder Busch), the 22 had a big lead late.
Bell, though, was running flawlessly. And Logano’s brakes were wearing down.
It was a war of attrition for everyone. Cars were locking up from the opening moments of the race. Cars were beat up from trying to pass one another on an unfamiliar, crowded track. Nobody’s car was really damage-free by the end of it, and if anyone’s was, their brake rotors were glowing red hot. And so it was that over just two or three laps, Bell erased three or four seconds of gap, passing Logano right before the white flag and then cruising to victory.
Notable Names
Elliott wound up in 21st.
Logano finished 2nd.
Denny Hamlin, who won Stage Two and was a factor late, helping to catalyze the Elliott spin, was 3rd.
Kurt Busch finished 4th.
Brad Keselowski, who had all sorts of problems managing his brakes, ended up 5th.
Kevin Harvick quietly came in 6th.
Last week’s winner, Michael McDowell, who opened the race with a flat tire, managed to come along in 8th.
Alex Bowman was 10th.
Truex was 12th.
Cole Custer was 13th.
Erik Jones was 14th.
Ryan Blaney was 15th.
Aric Almirola was 17th.
Ryan Newman was 20th.
Bubba Wallace had some big issues and may have even fallen a lap down at one point. He got back into the top ten late, but another spin took him out of contention, and he crossed the line in 26th.
Kyle Larson took a late, destructive spin and finished 30th.
Chase Briscoe’s car ended the race in tatters, with the rookie finishing 32nd.
William Byron was 33rd.
Austin Dillon was 34th.
Kyle Busch had a violent experience in the grass late and wound up 35th.
Matt DiBenedetto’s car was in pieces, and he landed in 37th.
Tyler Reddick’s car caught fire after he left the track and took out a sign (classic video game sequence). He wound up 38th.
Thoughts, Implications
Bell making the playoffs, as has been said, is big for Joe Gibbs Racing. They should get all four drivers in this year.
With McDowell also in, that’s two drivers who were not playoff shoe-ins already in the sixteen, which implies there’ll be a tight bubble this year. You’d assume Elliott, Harvick, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Logano, Blaney, and Truex will all find a way to win (though as Kyle Busch showed last year, that’s not a guarantee), so this is biggest news for guys like the Hendrick Motorsports Larson/Bowman/Byron trio, Almirola/Briscoe/Custer for Stewart-Haas, Reddick/Austin Dillon at Richard Childress Racing, Kurt Busch, Jones, Newman, DiBenedetto, and Wallace. If all goes as scripted, we’re effectively down to six spots for thirteen drivers, and that’s without any more unexpected winners from beyond the 23 listed here (these aren’t necessarily the 23 best, but given recent playoff fields, I’d say they’re the most notable—it’s debatable where to draw the line and where the order stacks up after a while).
The race showed off the benefits of road courses. There were a number of incidents that normally would have provoked cautions but didn’t because of the lower speed and longer track. The difficulty of handling a Cup car was on full display. It wasn’t edge-of-your-seat racing like it often is at Daytona or Talladega, but it was entertaining—much more entertaining than racing at a lot of the intermediate-length ovals.
The rain caution (there was a caution late due to rain on parts of the track) was controversial, as it chopped up the race to allow drivers to put on rain tires, which to my knowledge none utilized, but limiting the tower to one decision like that per race seems healthy in that it can’t become an overdone mistake. And whether it was or wasn’t a mistake isn’t universally agreed-upon.
What’s Next
The Cup Series goes down the coast next weekend to Homestead-Miami. Hamlin won the race last June, with Kyle Busch, Logano, Truex, and Harvick all also winners within the last decade, most of which saw it as the championship race (meaning those results might not be that representative of what happens there without the playoff effects in place as far as encouraging/discouraging aggression from different sets of drivers).
Videos, Fun Stuff
The winning pass:
Elliott’s spin:
Truex’s spin:
Elliott’s save before the spin:
The hole in Elliott’s front (I think this was after he accidentally wrecked Corey LaJoie, which came after LaJoie was forced to force Elliott off the track—which led to that save; Unfortunately, don’t expect any beef to come of it, since both seemed to acknowledge the happenings were accidents):
Chase Briscoe’s car falling apart:
Tyler Reddick on fire:
Kurt Busch taking the scenic route:
The Jeff Gordon/Clint Bowyer promo that launched a thousand rental car insurance lawsuits:
Larson’s spin:
Kyle Busch’s final wreck:
Kyle Busch’s first-lap troubles:
McDowell’s first-lap troubles:
Ross Chastain’s wreck relatively early:
An excellent way to ease yourself into Formula 1 is the Netflix series “Drive to Survive.” It’s entertaining and accessible, and it highlights the sport’s greatest asset: the marriage of amazing feats of technology with real human drama.
There are just two seasons, so “catching up” won’t be a challenge. The third season debuts on March 19.
I can (almost) guarantee that watching Drive to Survive will turn you into an F1 devotee. Then, you’ll have to pick a driver/team and there really is only one acceptable answer: Lando Norris, who drives for McLaren.
Thanks for the recommendation! Putting it on the list. And I do like the name Lando Norris…what a name that name is.
Excellent analysis, as always.
I think that NASCAR and Daytona did a great job when they designed this road course for Cup racing. When FOX gets the camera angles right and actually sticks with interesting battles for position, you can see how drivers have to set up passes several turns in advance of when they actually go for it.
And if road courses are your *thang* I certainly recommend checking out Formula 1. The races can be difficult to watch because they are on early in the morning, but it is a fantastic sport to follow.
I’ve been hearing good things about F1 for a few years now! Hoping to get into it this year, especially since it comes to Austin.
I wish the broadcasters had gotten more into the passing setups. Guess that’s a new-ish thing for NASCAR, though, as they add more road courses in. I like the mix, and I like that they’re pulling away from some of the intermediate lengths where there isn’t as much excitement.