Christopher Bell Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a three-race stretch of short tracks, the second quarter of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule begins with a visit to Talladega Superspeedway for Sunday’s running of the GEICO 500. The first nine races of the season have embodied unpredictability, with eight different winners in the first quarter of the season. That trend is likely to continue this weekend as superspeedway racing, especially at Talladega, is all about unpredictability. Since opening its doors in 1969, the 2.66-mile track just off Interstate 20 in Eastern AlabamaRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service An emotional Alex Bowman could only shake his head and give kudos to the crew of his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet following a dramatic victory over Denny Hamlin Sunday in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway. Bowman took the lead for the first time all race on a restart with 10 laps remaining and easily pulled away from Hamlin, who had been the day’s most dominant driver. Bowman’s .381-second winning margin earned the 27-year old his first victory of the season, thirdRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The last month of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule has been all about the short tracks, with Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway wrapping up a three race stretch at tracks under 1 mile in length. Often described as the perfectly designed race track by drivers, the 0.75-mile track lends itself to not only short track characteristics of beating and banging, but also the characteristics of a larger track with the side-by-side racing that will take place throughout the event. After missing out onRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Martin Truex Jr. passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on Lap 485 of Sunday’s rain-delayed Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway and pulled away to win for the third time in his last four starts at the .526-mile short track. The victory was Truex’s second this season, ending a streak of seven straight different winners to start the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. The driver of the No. 19 Toyota triumphed for the 29th time in his career and for theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Dirt—that’s the great unknown when NASCAR Cup Series drivers venture to the transformed Bristol Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). NASCAR’s top series hasn’t raced on dirt since Sept. 30, 1970, when Richard Petty beat runner-up Neil Castles by more than two laps at North Carolina State Fairgrounds Speedway in Raleigh. Accordingly, Sunday’s event is arguably the most anticipated race of the Cup season. Conventional wisdom says that drivers with extensive experienceRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor A year after the COVID-19 pandemic threw the brakes on the 2020 season, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the epicenter of where it all came to a screeching halt – Atlanta Motor Speedway. The series would return to the 1.5-mile quad oval later in the year to make up the rescheduled Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, albeit without spectators. Fast forward to this Sunday and NASCAR’s best will have a limited number of fans in the stands to cheer them on as they tackle Atlanta’sRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Martin Truex Jr. overcame an early-race brush with the wall and took the lead on the final restart with 25 laps remaining to earn his first victory of 2021 and first in 31 career starts at Phoenix Raceway. Truex’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota ultimately held off Joey Logano’s No. 22 Penske Racing Ford by a convincing 1.698-seconds for the win in the Instacart 500. The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Truex took the race lead from the outside on a bold restartRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Larson left little to chance Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway leading a race best 103 laps and pulling away to a convincing 3.156-second win over former NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski to win the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube – his first victory in two years. Larson, 28, of Elk Grove, Calif. became the quickest winner in Hendrick Motorsports long and esteemed history, taking the checkered flag in only his fourth start in the team’s famous No. 5 Chevrolet. ItRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The last two weeks, Joey Logano has found himself in contention for the win at Daytona International Speedway with a few laps to go, but will leave with a goose-egg in the win column. Logano was leading the pack into Turn 3 on the final lap of the Daytona 500 before a run-in with his Team Penske teammate, Brad Keselowski, saw him getting swept up in a fiery, multi-car crash. Fast forward to Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 on the Daytona road course and once again,Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the second consecutive week, Daytona International Speedway crowned a first time NASCAR Cup Series race winner. Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Christopher Bell, earned the honor Sunday on the track’s road course, taking the lead from Joey Logano with two laps to go and pulling away to a comfortable 2.119-second victory over the former series champion. Bell, 26, is the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion and this is his second season at the premier level – his firstRead More