The Joe Gibbs Racing driver passed Kyle Busch with five laps to go and held off William Byron for the win.
AUSTIN, Texas β Christopher Bell conquered the corners of Circuit of the Americas to win his secondΒ NASCAR Cup Series race in a row.
Bell took the lead away from win-starved Kyle Busch with five laps to go and held off William Byron and Tyler Reddick to score the win. Byron finished second, Reddick finished third, Chase Elliott finished fourth, and Busch finished fifth after leading a race-high 42 laps.
“These road course races are so much fun,” Bell said. “So happy for [my team].”
Busch seemed to be on his way to his first win in 59 races but his tires wore out in the closing laps, allowing Bell to close in and take the lead.
Sunday’s race was the Cup Series’ first time using the 2.4-mile configuration of the track rather than the 3.4-mile version used the preceding four years.
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The treacherous first turn claimed its first victims on lap one. Ross Chastain made a daring move from ninth place and clipped the back of Chase Elliott, spinning him out and derailing his day. Denny Hamlin and Connor Zilisch also suffered damage in the incident.
The race ran mostly clean after that point. Several drivers were impacted by spins in typical road course fashion. The worst incident happened on lap 50 when Daniel SuΓ‘rez spun out and was slammed by Zilisch, taking out both drivers.
Busch traded the lead with Shane Van Gisbergen for much of the race but the latter driver’s car fell off as the race wore on. Christopher Bell became Busch’s biggest challenger in the closing laps.Β
The win is the second in a row for Bell, who held off Carson Hocevar and Kyle Larson at Atlanta last week. The win gives him 10 playoff points and makes him an early championship favorite.Β
The next NASCAR Cup Series race is at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, March 9. Bell is the defending winner.
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