Christopher Bell Complicates NASCAR Cup Playoff Picture with New Hampshire Win

• The victory was Christopher Bell’s first this season, only the second of his career, and his first at the 1.058-mile true oval near Loudon.

• He won by almost 5.50 seconds over Chase Elliott.

• Bell led just once all afternoon, but that was for the final 42 laps after passing Elliott after a late restart.

Christopher Bell, generally overshadowed by his more successful and better-known teammates on the powerful Joe Gibbs Racing team, squeezed every ounce of fuel from his Toyota in winning Sunday afternoon’s Ambetter 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The victory was Bell’s first this season, only the second of his career, and his first at the 1.058-mile true oval near Loudon. He is this year’s 14th winner in the Cup Series’ first 20 starts, and Sunday’s victory qualified him for the upcoming 16-driver, 10-round Championship Playoff Series.

He won by almost 5.50 seconds over Chase Elliott, followed by Bubba Wallace, JGR teammate pole-winner Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, teammate Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, and Kurt Busch. Nine cautions for 52 laps slowed the average winning speed to barely over 98 miles per hour.

“That was a blast,” Bell said, standing amidst his burnout smoke and grinning broadly at the start-finish line. “I can’t believe it. Man, that one was much needed right there. It just seems we’ve been close and then we’ve fallen off a little bit. Earlier in the year, I felt we were right on the verge of winning, but the last couple weeks we were pretty far away. But, hey, here we are today.

“It was helluva race from my viewpoint.” (He finished sixth in Stage 1 and ninth in Stage 2). “That was so much fun racing with the 45 (Kurt Busch), the 22 (Joey Logano), and the 9 (Elliott). We were all running different lines. I’m just so happy … so happy.”

Bell led just once all afternoon, but that was for the final 42 laps after passing Elliott after a late restart. Seven drivers swapped the lead eight time, with pole-winner Martin Truex Jr. leading 172 before finishing fifth. Bell led 42, Kurt Busch 40, Logano 25, Elliott 13, Chase Briscoe six, and Harrison Burton three.

Loudon was Round 20 of the 26-race regular season. Upcoming races on consecutive weekends at Pocono, the Indianapolis road course, Michigan, Richmond, Watkins Glen, and Daytona Beach will set the field for the 16-driver, four-round, 10-race Championship Playoffs.

That series opens on Sept. 4 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Victories and points after Darlington, Kansas City, and Bristol will trim the 16-driver championship field to 12. Four more drivers will be cut after Fort Worth, Talladega, and Charlotte, then four more will be eliminated from championship contention after Las Vegas, Homestead, and Martinsville.

The final four will advance to the Nov. 6 season-finale at Phoenix Raceway in Avalon, Az. The 2022 champion will be the driver who beats the other three finalists, regardless of where they finish on the overall race rundown.

NASCAR Cup Series Results

30th Annual Ambetter 301

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

1. (5) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 301.

2. (2) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 301.

3. (4) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 301.

4. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 301.

5. (10) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 301.

6. (14) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 301.

7. (9) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 301.

8. (18) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 301.

9. (19) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 301.

10. (3) Kurt Busch, Toyota, 301.

11. (6) William Byron, Chevrolet, 301.

12. (17) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 301.

13. (28) Austin Cindric #, Ford, 301.

14. (8) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 300.

15. (29) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 300.

16. (20) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 300.

17. (16) Chris Buescher, Ford, 300.

18. (11) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 300.

19. (22) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 300.

20. (25) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 300.

21. (13) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 300.

22. (24) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 300.

23. (30) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 300.

24. (12) Joey Logano, Ford, 300.

25. (26) Todd Gilliland #, Ford, 300.

26. (31) Harrison Burton #, Ford, 300.

27. (23) Cole Custer, Ford, 300.

28. (15) Michael McDowell, Ford, 299.

29. (33) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 299.

30. (36) Cody Ware, Ford, 297.

31. (7) Aric Almirola, Ford, 282.

32. (21) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, Accident, 88.

33. (35) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 5.

34. (34) Josh Bilicki(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 5.

35. (27) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 4.

36. (32) BJ McLeod(i), Ford, Accident, 4.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 98.113 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 14 Mins, 45 Secs. Margin of Victory: 5.439 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 9 for 52 laps.

Lead Changes: 8 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders: M. Truex Jr. 1-95;J. Logano 96-120;M. Truex Jr. 121-188;H. Burton # 189-191;C. Briscoe 192-197;M. Truex Jr. 198-206;K. Busch 207-246;C. Elliott 247-259;C. Bell 260-301.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Martin Truex Jr. 3 times for 172 laps; Christopher Bell 1 time for 42 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 40 laps; Joey Logano 1 time for 25 laps; Chase Elliott 1 time for 13 laps; Chase Briscoe 1 time for 6 laps; Harrison Burton # 1 time for 3 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 19,23,5,9,4,20,45,10,24,11

Stage #2 Top Ten: 19,4,9,22,5,45,1,24,20,23