The long laps around Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt layout ended well for Christopher Bell Sunday night.
Bell pulled away from fellow Toyota driver Tyler Reddick in an eight-lap shootout and won under caution, claiming the Food City Dirt Race in Bristol, Tenn.
In his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry, the 28-year-old Bell notched his first victory of 2023 and fifth in 116 starts.
After the race’s 13th caution for Kyle Busch’s spin, Bell rocketed away on the restart and created some separation as Ryan Blaney’s Ford spun right behind him.
A three-time Chili Bowl National Champion on dirt, Bell came to the checkers under caution as the seventh different driver to win this season.
“Man, I tell you, those were some of the longest laps in my entire life,” said Bell, who gave JGR its first win of 2023 by winning at the .533-mile track. “… I just can’t get over how long those laps feel. It’s a 20-second lap, and you’re moving the wheel 18 times a corner. It feels like it takes a long time to get around here.”
In earning a victory for the first time since last Oct. 30 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Bell led a race-high 100 laps.
Following Reddick were Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Briscoe.
“It was intense,” said Reddick after posting his fourth top-five finish. “Towards the end there, I definitely feel like I had a little bit more and was at the edge but wasn’t quite there in the last couple of laps.”
After leading the opening 76 laps and winning Stage 1, polesitter Kyle Larson was involved in two late wrecks and finished 35th in the 37-car field.
The second incident was with Ryan Preece — one that forced Larson’s No. 5 Chevy into the wall and ended his night.
“I’m guessing he was just paying me back for whatever I did earlier and ran me straight into the fence,” Larson said.
In the Cup Series’ eighth race of 2023 and second of three straight on a short track, Larson — last Sunday’s winner at Richmond — started from the pole for the 250-lap event in NASCAR’s lone race on dirt.
Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet paced the field throughout Stage 1 before Denny Hamlin and Josh Berry spun off Turn 4, bringing out the fourth caution period.
Like he did during the entire 75-lap Stage 1, the 2021 Cup champion led the lap and took the checkers ahead of Dillon and Busch for his second stage win.
After assuming the lead as one of four drivers who stayed out during at the end of Stage 1, Reddick’s No. 45 topped the field over Dillon during the second stage to earn the bonus points.
–Field Level Media
