NASCAR Cup Charlotte: Bell wins rain-shortened Coke…

NASCAR Cup Charlotte: Bell wins rain-shortened Coke 600, Larson unable to start

During a caution for a spin by Corey LaJoie, Bell was the first off pitroad and took command when the race resumed on lap 236 of the scheduled 400 laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

In clear air, Bell was able to extend his lead over Brad Keselowski as Byron made a three-wide move on the frontstretch – crossing into the infield grass – to move into third.

Light rain forced NASCAR to throw a caution on lap 246 and three laps later lightning in the area forced the race to a halt. With the race able to be made official since it was more than half completed, NASCAR declared Bell the winner at 11:30pm local time.

"I knew there was going to be a chance [the race resumed]," Bell said. "I was literally on the couch like half-asleep and I'm already mentally prepared to go back racing. Then I see the [Fox broadcasters] come back [on TV] and I'm like, 'Wait a minute, what's going on?'

"My phone goes off and they say they called it. What a twist of emotions, man. I have never been through an emotional swing like that in my life."

Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, Rheem Toyota Camry (Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images)

NASCAR and Charlotte officials said track drying would have meant a restart after 1am local time and that would have been too late to complete the remainder of the race.

It’s the second win of the 2024 season for Bell, who also won earlier this year at Phoenix.

Keselowski was credited with the second-place finish ahead of Byron in third, as Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

The early halt to Sunday night’s race also prevented Kyle Larson from turning a single lap in his #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Earlier in the day, Larson competed in his first Indianapolis 500, but that race was delayed by four hours around due to rain. Xfinity Series regular Justin Allgaier started in Larson’s place.

Larson remained in Indy and finished 18th before departing almost immediately for Charlotte. He arrived at the track during the caution for rain and was prepared to get into his car if the red flag was lifted.

NASCAR Cup - Coca-Cola 600 race results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	249	3:00'43.255		11	67
2	B. Keselowski RFK Racing	6	Ford	249	+1.366 3:00'44.621	1.366	12	53
3	W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports	24	Chevrolet	249	+1.923 3:00'45.178	0.557	11	61
4	T. Reddick 23XI Racing	45	Toyota	249	+2.699 3:00'45.954	0.776	12	41
5	D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing	11	Toyota	249	+3.540 3:00'46.795	0.841	10	45
6	T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing	54	Toyota	249	+4.163 3:00'47.418	0.623	10	45
7	C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports	9	Chevrolet	249	+4.574 3:00'47.829	0.411	10	38
8	R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing	1	Chevrolet	249	+5.040 3:00'48.295	0.466	11	34
9	A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports	48	Chevrolet	249	+5.711 3:00'48.966	0.671	11	43
10	J. Berry Stewart-Haas Racing	4	Ford	249	+6.476 3:00'49.731	0.765	11	33
11	B. Wallace 23XI Racing	23	Toyota	249	+7.034 3:00'50.289	0.558	11	39
12	M. Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing	19	Toyota	249	+7.752 3:00'51.007	0.718	11	31
13	J. Allgaier Hendrick Motorsports	5	Chevrolet	249	+8.249 3:00'51.504	0.497	11
14	J. Logano Team Penske	22	Ford	249	+9.321 3:00'52.576	1.072	12	23
15	K. Busch Richard Childress Racing	8	Chevrolet	249	+10.064 3:00'53.319	0.743	12	22
16	M. McDowell Front Row Motorsports	34	Ford	249	+11.015 3:00'54.270	0.951	11	22
17	T. Gilliland Front Row Motorsports	38	Ford	249	+11.465 3:00'54.720	0.450	11	20
18	D. Hemric Kaulig Racing	31	Chevrolet	249	+11.997 3:00'55.252	0.532	11	19
19	E. Jones Legacy Motor Club	43	Toyota	249	+12.770 3:00'56.025	0.773	12	18
20	A. Cindric Team Penske	2	Ford	249	+13.448 3:00'56.703	0.678	11	17
21	C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports	77	Chevrolet	249	+13.939 3:00'57.194	0.491	11	16
22	J. Haley Rick Ware Racing	51	Ford	249	+14.407 3:00'57.662	0.468	14	15
23	C. Buescher RFK Racing	17	Ford	249	+14.964 3:00'58.219	0.557	11	14
24	D. Suarez TrackHouse Racing	99	Chevrolet	249	+15.414 3:00'58.669	0.450	12	13
25	C. Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing	14	Ford	249	+16.824 3:01'00.079	1.410	11	12
26	R. Preece Stewart-Haas Racing	41	Ford	249	+17.499 3:01'00.754	0.675	12	11
27	A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing	3	Chevrolet	249	+17.949 3:01'01.204	0.450	13	10
28	S. van Gisbergen Kaulig Racing	16	Chevrolet	249	+18.760 3:01'02.015	0.811	10
29	J. Johnson Legacy Motor Club	84	Toyota	249	+19.861 3:01'03.116	1.101	12	8
30	J. Nemechek Legacy Motor Club	42	Toyota	249	+20.327 3:01'03.582	0.466	11	7
31	R. Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing	47	Chevrolet	249	+21.325 3:01'04.580	0.998	12	6
32	H. Burton Wood Brothers Racing	21	Ford	249	+22.012 3:01'05.267	0.687	13	5
33	Z. Smith Spire Motorsports	71	Chevrolet	249	+22.595 3:01'05.850	0.583	11	4
34	K. Grala Rick Ware Racing	15	Ford	249	+24.192 3:01'07.447	1.597	11	3
35	C. Lajoie Spire Motorsports	7	Chevrolet	249	+26.878 3:01'10.133	2.686	11	2
36	T. Dillon Team AmeriVet	50	Chevrolet	247	+2 Laps 3:01'08.160	2 Laps	13
37	B. McLeod Power Source	66	Ford	241	+8 Laps 3:01'09.191	6 Laps	13
38	N. Gragson Stewart-Haas Racing	10	Ford	170	+79 Laps 1:52'18.585	71 Laps	7	1	Accident
39	R. Blaney Team Penske	12	Ford	143	+106 Laps 1:31'52.146	27 Laps	7	5	Accident
40	J. Yeley NY Racing Team	44	Chevrolet	114	+135 Laps 1:16'53.751	29 Laps	5		Steering
View full results

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