Blaney and Bell fall apart in closing laps at WWT Raceway
MADISON, Illinois — Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell separated themselves as the clear favorites for the win with 19 laps to go Sunday at World Wide Technology (WWT) Raceway Gateway.
When the checkered flag fell, neither driver went to victory lane. The best either of them could do was seventh.
Bell led a race-high five times for 80 of 240 laps. With Blaney looking on in third, Bell took the lead for the first time on lap 41 and won stage one on lap 45.
Strategies shuffled Bell and Blaney back to ninth and 13th on lap 55. When pit stops began on lap 90, Blaney could only get up to ninth while Bell had been leading for 20 laps. Bell held on to it before pitting again on lap 95.
When Bell pitted, Blaney stayed out with his other Team Penske teammates. Their strategy, if enacted right, would mean just one more pit stop for the rest of the race.
And a caution could help.
On lap 113, Josh Berry smacked the outside wall in turn three and brought out that caution. While Bell cycled to the lead and as Blaney was in third when stage two ended on lap 140, Bell pitted and Blaney rose to second behind teammate Austin Cindric when stage three started on lap 149.
Passing was tough Sunday so Blaney couldn’t do much with Cindric. Blaney’s crew came in clutch as they reeled off a quick stop and passed Cindric.
On the track, Bell stayed out to lead 16 laps. When he came back out on track on lap 194, he was around 6 seconds behind Blaney but was running 0.6 seconds faster than him.
“You’re right on pace, you’ll get to him with 15 laps to go,” the team told Bell.
As Bell and Blaney moved closer to the lead, Bell moved closer to Blaney, ultimately getting to him right as Kyle Larson winded down his time up front with 25 laps to go.
Bell tried everything he could to pass Blaney. Blaney ran the outside lane and used the momentum to hang on to the lead, save for lap 221 when Bell had enough momentum to steal it.
Lap cars appeared to be the deciding factor in the race but there was more to it.
Blaney and Bell caught a lap car in turn three with 18 laps to go. Blaney used it as the perfect pick to slow Bell down — but Bell slowed way down.
“I’m blowing up, I’m blowing up,” Bell told his team.
Bell fell off the pace while Blaney appeared destined for victory lane.
In turn three, coming to get the white flag, Blaney caught another lap car. This time, it appeared Blaney was the one having issues as he slowed while Cindric rallied to his inside.
Until Blaney, too, slowed way down. He was out of gas.
While Austin Cindric went to victory lane for the first time since the 2022 Daytona 500, 86 races before Sunday, Blaney ended up 24th. Stunned, as the team pitted with 64 laps to go — well within the fuel window.
“I never thought in my mind we were short. It’s one of those things,” Blaney said. “I don’t know what I’ve got to do to get some luck on our side. I’ve wrecked the last two points races and thought we had a great shot to win today and I ended up bad. So I appreciate the effort. We just have to keep sticking with it.”
Bell fared better. He finished seventh.
“I have no idea what happened with our DEWALT Camry – some sort of motor issue, and I’m surprised that it made it to the end. Glad we were able to salvage something out of it – but you don’t get race cars like that very often – whenever you do, you need to take advantage of them, so that is disappointing,” Bell said.
A top-10 finish on a disappointing day. Thanks in part to push from teammate Martin Truex Jr. on the long straightaways.
“He probably saved us a top-10 today. Martin (Truex) is a stand-up guy,” Bell said.
Bell is already locked into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Blaney isn’t.
Blaney sits 12th in the championship points, +47 points to the playoff cutline. Had he won, he would’ve locked himself into the playoffs. Even a second-place finish would’ve put Blaney 10th in points, +69 to the cutline.
Meanwhile, Bell sits eighth in the points.
MORE:
Categories
Discover more from The Racing Experts
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com