Bell Breaks Through at Darlington to Snap Winless Streak in Cup Chase Opener

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Bridesmaid no more.

It’s been a long season of racking up runner-up finishes for Christopher Bell and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team, but if there were a time to break through and finally capture a win, the first race of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase was the time to do it.

With a tire advantage at his disposal over the course of the final run in Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Bell bided his time behind then leader Kyle Larson before making his move with 12 to go and holding serve for the remaining laps to score the win.

Prior to Sunday night, Bell had finished second on seven different occasions – a mark he held in a tie with Harry Gant, who finished runner-up seven times in the 1981 season.

“It’s been too damn long. Oh, my gosh, man,” said Bell. “I’m just so, so proud of all of these guys on this No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota, all the mechanics, all the pit crew members. They deserve it more than anyone.

“This has been a long time coming. Darlington has been one that I’ve always wanted to win since I got into the sport. This is the ultimate driver’s track. You fans, you guys are the best. That’s why we’re here.”

Crew chief Adam Stevens noted afterwards that having so many runner-up finishes was not necessarily a bad thing, with the team being in position to run that well and just needing things to fall their way.

They did on Sunday.

“You know, you have stretches like that in this sport. Maybe this one was a little bit unprecedented, but it happened, and then it didn’t happen because we weren’t doing the right things as a team. That’s what you have to stress to him, and you have to constantly point out, hey, we’re in this situation because we are doing the right things,” said Stevens.

“…You have to take them as they come and try not to let that baggage affect your decision-making or let those emotions, you know, guide you in the future. You have to really come into each weekend with a clean slate, and he’s done a fantastic job with that.”

The victory also boosted Bell up the standings, as he now sits 12 points behind points leader Denny Hamlin after starting the night 50 points in arears of the lead.

Bell would be followed across the line by his JGR teammate Ty Gibbs, along with a third Toyota in Tyler Reddick. Ryan Blaney was the best Ford of the night, finishing the race in fourth, with Larson rounding out the top-five.

Larson also led the most laps on the night with 99 circuits up front on five different occasions.

Chase Briscoe looked to be in the mix to make it three Southern 500 wins in a row before coming home in sixth, with Josh Berry carrying the flag for the non-Chase drivers in seventh – his sixth top-10 finish in a row.

“The cars have been a lot better this last two months and its shown,” said Berry. “To come here, the first race of the Chase and to be the first non-Chase car and probably wasn’t even close for most of the night for how we ran, so I’m just proud of the guys.

“They’ve dug in hard and obviously I’m excited to get another top 10 and keep the streak going, but I felt like there was more out there tonight.”

Bubba Wallace finished the night in eighth, with Joey Logano in ninth, and Ryan Preece in 10^th.

The other seven Chase drivers finished the race outside the top-10, with Carson Hocevar in 11^th, Austin Cindric in 13^th, Chase Elliott in 14^th, Denny Hamlin in 18^th, Chris Buescher in 20^th, Daniel Suarez in 21^st, and William Byron in 34^th.

Hamlin was battling outside the top-10 early in the final stage when he and Michael McDowell made contact and Hamlin wound up in the wall, dropping like a rock back through the field.

His team was able to get his car in drivable enough condition to be able to continue through the remainder of the race, mitigating what could have been a disastrous night in the points race.

Prior to the incident with McDowell, Hamlin had gained a number of stage points, finishing third in both of the first two stages and leading 68 laps on the night.

“Certainly not the finish we were hoping for,” said Hamlin. “Good first couple of stages, just got where our car was actually the best right before that wreck in Stage 3. So, we certainly had made gains on it all day. It was really good in the short run. We got good in the long run by the time that third stage came, but never got to see it through.”

On the other hand, Byron’s Chase went from bad to worse as he started the race hoping to make up some of the 85-point deficit he began the postseason with, but a spin and subsequent mechanical failure ended his night early and he not brings up the back of the Chase field, sitting 114 points back of the lead.

The Cup Series heads to the banks of the Mississippi River next weekend as they get set to take on World Wide Technology Raceway and Sunday’s running of the Enjoy Illinois 300, scheduled for 3:00 pm ET on USA Network.

Hamlin is the defending race winner.