In a painstaking season filled with disappointing runner-up finishes, seven to be exact, Christopher Bell finally came out on the winning side of a late-race battle in Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
With a gutsy pass on Kyle Larson, who was on older tires, with 12 laps remaining, Bell took control of the crown jewel event, and he never let go down the stretch. As Larson gave way to Ty Gibbs, who moved into the second position in the waning laps of the race, Bell held steady and took his much-anticipated first win of the season by a margin of 1.038 seconds.
“It’s been too damn long,” Bell exclaimed in his victory interview on USA Network.
He was right. It had been 34 races since Bell’s most recent NASCAR Cup Series win, which came in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway last September. He was due, and on Sunday night at Darlington Raceway, he pulled through for another crown jewel win.
Bell can now add a Southern 500 trophy to the mantle next to his Coca-Cola 600 trophy from 2024.
For Bell, who now has 14 career victories in 243 NASCAR Cup Series starts, Sunday night’s win was a special one. He was most happy for his No. 20 team, who have kept their heads down and worked all season long, even when it looked like a win would never come. And he’s proud to finally mark off winning at Darlington, a place he holds in high regard.
“I’m just so, so proud of all of these guys on this No. 20 car. All the mechanics, all the pit crew members, they deserve it more than anyone,” Bell explained. “And oh my gosh, man. This has been a long time coming. Darlington has been one that I’ve always wanted to win since I got into the sport. This is the ultimate driver’s track. You fans, you guys are the best. That’s why we’re here.”
By winning Sunday night’s race, Bell was able to climb four spots in the Chase Grid, and he now ranks second in the standings. Bell trails Denny Hamlin by just 12 markers heading into the second race of the Chase at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Considering Bell suffered a broken wrist in a savage crash at Michigan in June, the fact that he’s winning races and very much in the thick of a championship battle is nothing short of remarkable.
“Yes, whenever I was sitting in the infield car center at Michigan, I thought my season was over,” Bell admitted. “I thought I was going to be out a couple of weeks, didn’t think I was going to be in the Chase. We’re still in it, baby! Woo!”
Gibbs, who has already picked up his first two career wins this season, came up just shy of adding a third, but it was another solid day for the driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, who added a runner-up finish at Darlington to his resume.
Tyler Reddick, who started from the pole, came home with a third-place finish on a night where he took the Stage 1 win.
Ryan Blaney worked his way from deep in the field to finish fourth, driving the No. 12 Team Penske Ford, while Kyle Larson, who held the lead late in the event, faded to a fifth-place finish on older tires. Still, it was a great start to the Chase for the Hendrick Motorsports driver.
Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, and Ryan Preece rounded out the top-10 finishers in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington.
Here is the updated Chase Grid following Darlington, the opening race of the 10-race Chase:
1. Denny Hamlin, 2,135 points
2. Christopher Bell, -12 points
3. Ryan Blaney, -16
4. Tyler Reddick, -24
5. Chase Briscoe, -37
6. Ty Gibbs, -39
7. Kyle Larson, -49
8. Chase Elliott, -72
9. Joey Logano, -72
10. Bubba Wallace, -81
11. Chris Buescher, -88
12. Carson Hocevar, -89
13. Daniel Suarez, -94
14. Austin Cindric, -102
15. Ryan Preece, -104
16. William Byron, -114
Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series is the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday, September 13. That race will be televised on USA Network and coverage will kick off at 3 PM ET. The Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast of the second race of the Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
