Christopher Bell secures Cup three-peat at Phoenix

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Christopher Bell made the right “option” to hold off teammate Denny Hamlin to win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway.

Bell beat Hamlin by 0.049 seconds in a thrilling two-lap battle. Hamlin took the lead from Bell on the restart and nearly cleared him as he took the white flag. Bell side-drafted him back and had enough of an advantage in turn three to where he almost cleared Hamlin for the lead. Hamlin came back, trying to side-draft him again. Entering turn three side-by-side, Bell washed Hamlin up the track but kept it clean, allowing Hamlin to rally around the outside lane and nearly nip him at the finish line.

The finish was the closest at Phoenix Raceway since March 2016 when Kevin Harvick outdueled Carl Edwards by 0.010 seconds.

“I’ll never forget 2021 when Adam Stevens looked at me in his office and said, ‘We can do it. I’ve won three-straight before.’ It took a while to get here but we did it. I’m proud of everyone. Everyone is pulling the rope in the same direction and I knew this could come from this team,” Bell said.

Bell went 19 races without a victory before he won at Atlanta last month. Now, he has won three in a row — a career-high for him.

1. Christopher Bell
   • Led six times for 105 laps
   • Won Stage Two
2. Denny Hamlin
   • Led twice for three laps
3. Kyle Larson
4. Josh Berry
5. Chris Buescher
6. William Byron
   • Led four times for 83 laps
   • Won Stage One
7. Alex Bowman
8. Kyle Busch
9. Zane Smith
10. Chase Elliott

STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 60): Byron, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Preece, Bell, Ryan Blaney, Berry, Carson Hocevar, Hamlin, Elliott, Larson

In stage one, Preece drove from 33rd to third on option tires that had more grip but wore more quickly. In the second stage, several drivers took option tires, including Michael McDowell who blew a tire and crashed on lap 93.

Seven laps later, teammates Justin Haley and Carson Hocevar bowed out of the race in a wreck that soured the high expectations Spire Motorsports had coming into the day.

On the restart, mostly everyone was back on the primary tires, except for Joey Logano who drove to the lead on lap 129 and led 49 laps before the tires wore out enough to bring Bell back into the fold.

STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 185): Bell, Joey Logano, Byron, Blaney, Reddick, Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, Larson, Berry

Suarez placed eighth in the second stage but finished 23rd after crashing with Katherine Legge on lap 216. The wreck took Legge out of the race.

Under caution, Ryan Preece took the option tires. He drove to the lead within 13 laps of the restart and appeared to be in position to win on lap 268 when problems began for Toyota. Bubba Wallace blew a brake rotor and smacked the outside wall in turn one — mirroring what happened to Ty Gibbs in turn three on lap 306.

In between then, pit stops set Preece, Logano, Cindric and Reddick as the only drivers not on option tires. Logano and Cindric’s teammate Ryan Blaney blew an engine on lap 291.

On the subsequent restart four laps later, on lap 295, Hamlin took the lead for a lap, previewing the finish of the race where Bell prevailed for his 12th career win. Bell has sole possession of 63th on the all-time wins list, just behind Ryan Blaney, Dick Rathmann and Tim Richmond who each have 13 wins.