Christopher Bell’s face was as red as a lobster on Friday after he accidentally let the cat out of the bag on who would be replacing Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Cup Series car, but on Saturday, he was back to hoisting a lobster in victory lane at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Bell took home the win in dramatic fashion in the NASCAR Xfinity Series SciAps 200 as he climbed from third on the final lap and snatched the lead away from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sheldon Creed and Cole Custer. As Bell cleared the two drivers, he drove off into the cloudy New Hampshire evening.
After the race, Bell’s race-winning No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra underwent the rigors of post-race inspection, where the race car was given a passing grade. As a result, NASCAR declared Bell the official winner of the race.
The win marks the 18th victory of Bell’s NASCAR Xfinity Series career, and he remains undefeated at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the series after taking his fourth win at the 1.058-mile speedway in as many starts.
Matt DiBenedetto, the 17th-place finisher in the race, was disqualified due to his No. 38 RSS Racing Ford Mustang having three unsecured lug nuts on the right rear wheel in post-race inspection. The driver of the No. 38 will now be credited with a 38th-place finish.
No other issues were detected in post-race inspection, which means all results and standings following Saturday’s race are now considered official.
Sheldon Creed notched his 10th-career runner-up finish, which ties the most runner-up finishes before a first-career NASCAR Xfinity Series win in series history. Cole Custer came home in third, Justin Allgaier finished fourt and Carson Kvapil was ffith.
Official Race Results
Race Results: NASCAR Xfinity Series SciAps 200 at New Hampshire
Updated Driver Standings
Race Recap
Christopher Bell Stays Undefeated with Xfinity Series Victory at New Hampshire
