Christopher Bell Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – In an event fraught with pit road mistakes and mechanical issues, Kurt Busch ran an impeccable race. In an intensely competitive run to the finish of Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, Busch nosed past leader Kyle Larson at the finish line on Lap 259 of 267 and completed the pass two corners later off Turn 2, as Larson scraped the outside wall.  Seven laps later, Busch’s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota crossed the finish line 1.413 seconds ahead ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Christopher Bell became his own self-fulfilling prophecy in winning the pole position for Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).  “I think it’s a great track for me,” Bell said in a question-and-answer session with reporters before NASCAR Cup Series qualifying. “I got my first Xfinity win here. Cup cars haven’t been great to me here, but I’ve ran really well.  “The top is going to be the place to be.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Executing a decisive bash-and-run on the next-to-last-lap of Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, Joey Logano wrested the lead from William Byron and ended a NASCAR Cup Series 40-race winless streak dating to March of 2021 at the Bristol Dirt Track. After Logano gave Byron’s Chevrolet a jolt entering Turn 3 on the white-flag lap, Byron shot up the track into the outside wall and fell back to 13th at the finish. Driving a No. 22 Ford sporting the throwback paint scheme of hisRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service It was easy to hear the relief and elation in Joey Logano’s voice after the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford put his car on the pole for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “Oh, it was so much needed for all of us here,” said Logano, who struggled to a 29th-place finish last Monday at Dover. “The last couple of weeks were pretty rough, getting in a couple of crashes andRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service NASCAR Cup Series standings leader Chase Elliott earned his first victory of the season in Monday’s weather-delayed DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway. Elliott led the final 53 laps of the 400-lapper and pulled away from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for a 2.577-second victory in an action-packed race that was slowed 12 times for caution periods – including a red flag weather delay on Sunday that necessitated pushing the restart to Monday. It’s the 14th career win for the driver of the No. 9Read More

By NASCAR NASCAR and Texas Motor Speedway today announced the format and eligibility for the NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday, May 22, that features four stages and 125 laps of on-track competition for a $1 million payday, stage winner incentives, amplified roles for the pit crews, and a distinctive head-to-head elimination qualifying format. The NASCAR All-Star Race returns to Texas Motor Speedway for the second consecutive season and this 38th edition brings some unique twists for the eligible Cup drivers pursuing the winner-take-all $1 million payday. The most prominent twist willRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – A pair of Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas will lead the field to the green in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega after flexing their muscles in qualifying on the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Christopher Bell led the way with a lap of 52.927 seconds (180.928 mph) to clinch his second career NASCAR Cup Series pole, edging out teammate Martin Truex Jr by .081 seconds. “There is not much to say about the lap, just a lot to say about Toyota, TRD, the engine package they broughtRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kyle Busch has a special fondness for Bristol Motor Speedway, but the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota needed a huge stroke of luck on Sunday night to rekindle his love affair with the half-mile track. Busch won the Food City Dirt Race from a distant third place after the Ford of second-place Chase Briscoe slid up the high-banked dirt track into the Chevrolet of leader Tyler Reddick in the final corner, turning both cars sideways.  Reddick rightedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Charge from the back nets Cole Custer first pole on Bristol Dirt BRISTOL, Tenn. – Cole Custer charged from ninth to second in the first of four 15-lap qualifying heat races on Saturday to earn the pole position for Sunday night’s Food City Dirt Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt track (7 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Custer surged from fifth to second moments after a restart with six laps left in the qualifying race. He finished second toRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Perhaps there was no better place for Denny Hamlin to finally notch his first win of 2022. Much to the pleasure of the fans at Richmond Raceway, the hometown favorite from Chesterfield, Virginia took the lead of the Toyota Owners 400 from William Byron with five laps remaining and held off the field for a .552-second victory over Kevin Harvick and Byron. It was amazingly Hamlin’s first top 10 of the 2022 season, though it marked his fourth NASCAR Cup Series victory at theRead More