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Autosport
Autosport
Sport
Jim Utter

NASCAR Cup Bristol: Bell beats Reddick to claim win on dirt

Bell, who inherited the lead by staying out between Stages 2 and 3, led the final 100 laps but had to ward off repeated challenges, with the last coming from Reddick in the final five laps.

Reddick, who won Stage 2, pitted for new tyres during the break and put them to good use to challenge for the win .

On lap 224 of the 250-lap encounter, Reddick went to the inside of Chase Briscoe and moved into the second position to begin his hunt down of Bell.

The fight for victory was briefly suspended by a caution period, after Kyle Busch reported a mechanical problem with his #8 Chevrolet that later resulted in him spinning off at Turn 4 and down towards pitroad on lap 235.

The race resumed with eight laps remaining, with Bell in front followed by Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon and Briscoe.

With Reddick closing in for a final attempt at a pass on the last lap, he was denied by the 14th and final caution period of the race, for the stopped car of Ross Chastain at Turn 4, which secured the win for Bell.

Bell’s first triumph of the season also sees him leap to the top of the drivers’ standings – coupled with Chastain’s late dropout – and continues a remarkable start to the 2023 season for the 28-year-old, who has five top-five finishes in the first eight races of the campaign.

Race winner Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry (Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images)

“These are some of the longest laps of my entire life. This place is so much fun, whether it is dirt or concrete,” Bell said. “Whenever the cushion got up there on the top [lane], it was very tough because you couldn’t drive it super hard otherwise you’d get sucked in.

“If you got your right-front into it, you’d push a little bit. If you got your right-rear into it, you’d slide. It was a lot of fun.”

Several times in the last 25 laps, Bell looked like he may slam the wall in Turns 3 and 4, which he called “the scary corner”.

“If you got into it too far, you lost all your momentum. [Turns] 1 and 2, I think I kept hitting the wall a couple times. Seems like there was a little bit more moisture up there, it would hold me better.

“I am like, ‘Okay, I can really attack [Turns] 1 and 2.’ But 3 and 4 I had to be careful.”

With Reddick having to settle for second it did keep him clear of Dillon who claimed his best finish of the season, ahead of Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr, with Briscoe also taking his best result of the year in fifth.

Another new best result of the season came for Justin Healey with sixth, ahead of Martin Truex Jr and Todd Gilliland, as Kevin Harvick and Ty Gibbs completed the top 10.

After winning the opening stage, Kyle Larson clashed with Ryan Preece, with the Stewart-Haas driver hitting the wall and falling to the back of the pack, while early in the third stage Larson spun to drop him to 35th at the finish.

NASCAR Cup Bristol dirt - Race Results

Cla Driver Manufacturer Gap Interval
1 United States Christopher Bell Toyota    
2 United States Tyler Reddick Toyota 0.469 0.469
3 United States Austin Dillon Chevrolet 2.503 2.034
4 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chevrolet 3.277 0.774
5 United States Chase Briscoe Ford 4.711 1.434
6 United States Justin Haley Chevrolet 5.728 1.017
7 United States Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 5.760 0.032
8 United States Todd Gilliland Ford 7.283 1.523
9 United States Kevin Harvick Ford 7.601 0.318
10 Ty Gibbs Toyota 7.650 0.049
11 United States Michael McDowell Ford 7.651 0.001
12 United States Bubba Wallace Toyota 8.841 1.190
13 United States William Byron Chevrolet 9.329 0.488
14 United States Erik Jones Chevrolet 10.082 0.753
15 United States Harrison Burton Ford 10.530 0.448
16 United States A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 10.745 0.215
17 United States Brad Keselowski Ford 11.462 0.717
18 United States Chris Buescher Ford 14.197 2.735
19 United States Austin Cindric Ford 16.362 2.165
20 United States J.J. Yeley Ford 17.025 0.663
21 United States Ty Dillon Chevrolet 18.551 1.526
22 United States Denny Hamlin Toyota 19.670 1.119
23 United States Ryan Blaney Ford 21.111 1.441
24 United States Ryan Preece Ford 22.567 1.456
25 Mexico Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 22.582 0.015
26 United States B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 24.196 1.614
27 Josh Berry Chevrolet 28.895 4.699
28 United States Ross Chastain Chevrolet 1 Lap 1 Lap
29 United States Alex Bowman Chevrolet 2 Laps 1 Lap
30 United States Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 3 Laps 1 Lap
31 United States Aric Almirola Ford 10 Laps 7 Laps
32 United States Kyle Busch Chevrolet 14 Laps 4 Laps
33 United States Noah Gragson Chevrolet 45 Laps 31 Laps
34 United States Matt Crafton Ford 65 Laps 20 Laps
35 United States Kyle Larson Chevrolet 73 Laps 8 Laps
36 Jonathan Davenport Chevrolet 74 Laps 1 Lap
37 United States Joey Logano Ford 154 Laps 80 Laps

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