Bell is the first driver to win three races in a row since Kyle Larson did so in 2021.
PHOENIX β Christopher Bell held off his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin at Phoenix to win his third NASCAR Cup Series race in a row.
Bell finished side by side with Hamlin on a late restart and won by half a car length, the second closest finish at Phoenix in series history. Bell led 105 of the race’s 312 laps for his second win at the track.
“It was all about who could get clear on the restart, neither of us could” Bell said. “We were just racing really hard coming to the line… JGR one-two how about that!”
Hamlin finished second with Larson just behind in third. Josh Berry and Chris Buescher rounded out the top five.
NASCAR brought “option” tires to Phoenix for the first time, resulting in more action at the track than usual. Teams were given two sets of softer tires that create more speed. Drivers had the faster tires on at varying parts of the race, allowing opportunities for anyone in the field to get to the front.
The tire differences also contributed to a large number of wrecks and on-track incidents. There were nine cautions during Sunday’s race, the most during the NextGen era.
William Byron started on the pole and battled for the top spot with Joey Logano in the early going. Katherine Legge, the first woman to start a NASCAR Cup Series race since 2018, brought out the first caution on lap five with a spin.
Logano received a penalty on the ensuing restart for changing lanes too soon, forcing him to drive through pit road under green. He later regained lead with option tires but finished 13th after the advantage subsided later in the race.
Bell and Byron traded the lead in the early stages, with the former driver proving to have the better car. Several drivers, including Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric, and Daniel SuΓ‘rez raced into the top 10 with option tires while the rest of the field saved their sets for later in the race.
The race’s largest crash happened on lap 99 when a few drivers were squeezed running four-wide midpack, resulting in an 11-car pileup. Ty Gibbs made contact with Justin Haley, sending him into Chase Briscoe and Carson Hocevar. The crash took out Haley, Briscoe, Hocevar, Riley Herbst, Brad Keselowski, Shane Van Gisbergen, and Cole Custer. Austin Dillon and Alex Bowman also suffered damage.
The next wreck happened on lap 216 when Legge spun out in front of SuΓ‘rez, ruining his top 10 run. SuΓ‘rez finished 23rd and Legge finished 30th.
Ryan Blaney, Gibbs, and Bubba Wallace suffered various car issues that brought out cautions later in the race.Β
Meanwhile, Bell remained the best car in the field as Hamlin challenged for the win.Β
The final restart came with just two laps left. Bell and Hamlin dueled side by side with Larson just behind. Bell proved the winner and has now won three races in a row. He’s the first driver to accomplish the feat since Kyle Larson in 2021.
The NASCAR Cup Series is next in action on Sunday, March 16 at Las Vegas. Larson is the defending winner.
