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Jim Utter

NASCAR Cup Martinsville: Bell claims win to make last-gasp advance to playoff final

Bell's only chance of advancing into the final round of the playoffs was in securing victory, and the Joe Gibbs Racing driver came in to pit for new tyres on the final caution, produced by Landon Cassill, and lined up sixth on the restart with 24 of 500 laps remaining.

This gave him the opportunity to pick his way past the front five, and methodically ran down and passed leader Chase Briscoe with four laps to go to reclaim the lead. He ultimately held off Kyle Larson by 0.869 seconds to claim victory at the 0.526mi "paperclip" oval.

The victory makes Bell one of the four drivers who will compete for the 2022 series title next weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

“I can't believe it, man," Bell exclaimed after exiting his #20 Toyota.

"To come here in Martinsville, this place has always been so tough on me. Just pre-race looking up, seeing all the fans, this place is packed.

“I don’t even know what to say. Just thank you so much to everyone on this Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 team. They believed in me since day one.

“We went to Xfinity and did pretty well, struggled on the Cup side for the first little bit. They stayed with me. Very appreciative to be here. I don’t even know what to say.”

It was the second time in the playoffs Bell had produced a victory in a must-win situation. Having needed to finish first at the Charlotte Roval on 9 October to advance to the semi-final round, Bell duly obliged.

Joining Bell with a chance to win the title at Phoenix are Joey Logano – who was already locked in by virtue of a win at Las Vegas, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain, who made a stunning last-ditch move riding the Turns 3 and 4 walls with the throttle wide open to capture fifth.

Chastain went from 10th to fifth in the final corner, and the swing in points proved enough to claim the last Championship 4 position by four points over Denny Hamlin, who finished sixth.

Hamlin looked to have done everything right to cement the last place in the playoffs final, winning Stages 1 and 2 over Elliott, but it was ultimately in vain as Chastain perfectly judged his late-race wall-ride to pip the #11 Toyota to the line.

Ryan Blaney took third behind Larson, as Brad Keselowski held onto fourth despite Chastain steaming towards them at a vast rate of knots on the final straight.

Logano and William Byron finished behind Hamlin, as Bubba Wallace was ninth on his return after serving a one-race ban for his clash with Larson at Las Vegas. Briscoe completed the top 10 over Elliott.

NASCAR Cup Martinsville results - 500 laps

Cla Driver Manufacturer Time Gap
1 United States Christopher Bell Toyota 3:24'18.046  
2 United States Kyle Larson Chevrolet 3:24'18.915 0.869
3 United States Ryan Blaney Ford 3:24'20.274 2.228
4 United States Brad Keselowski Ford 3:24'20.851 2.805
5 United States Ross Chastain Chevrolet 3:24'20.965 2.919
6 United States Denny Hamlin Toyota 3:24'21.038 2.992
7 United States Joey Logano Ford 3:24'21.387 3.341
8 United States William Byron Chevrolet 3:24'21.441 3.395
9 United States Bubba Wallace Toyota 3:24'21.787 3.741
10 United States Chase Briscoe Ford 3:24'22.908 4.862
11 United States Chase Elliott Chevrolet 3:24'23.329 5.283
12 United States Harrison Burton Ford 3:24'23.696 5.650
13 Mexico Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 3:24'24.757 6.711
14 United States Todd Gilliland Ford 3:24'25.037 6.991
15 United States Cole Custer Ford 3:24'25.083 7.037
16 United States Aric Almirola Ford 3:24'25.744 7.698
17 United States Kevin Harvick Ford 3:24'26.334 8.288
18 United States Michael McDowell Ford 3:24'28.346 10.300
19 United States Erik Jones Chevrolet 3:24'26.086 2 Laps
20 Ty Gibbs Toyota 3:24'26.331 2 Laps
21 United States Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 3:24'26.560 2 Laps
22 United States Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 3:24'26.562 2 Laps
23 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chevrolet 3:24'28.320 2 Laps
24 United States A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 3:24'31.078 2 Laps
25 United States Chris Buescher Ford 3:24'26.919 3 Laps
26 United States Noah Gragson Chevrolet 3:24'27.245 3 Laps
27 United States Austin Cindric Ford 3:24'31.492 3 Laps
28 United States Justin Haley Chevrolet 3:24'32.989 3 Laps
29 United States Cody Ware Ford 3:24'28.660 5 Laps
30 United States Kyle Busch Toyota 3:24'25.420 6 Laps
31 United States J.J. Yeley Ford 3:24'39.671 12 Laps
32 United States Ty Dillon Chevrolet 3:12'30.566 34 Laps
33 United States Landon Cassill Chevrolet 3:07'04.304 40 Laps
34 United States Austin Dillon Chevrolet 2:05'12.767 184 Laps
35 United States B.J. McLeod Ford 1:25'01.090 275 Laps
36 United States Tyler Reddick Chevrolet 1:10'49.286 312 Laps

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