Bell Rings Up A Victory In Wild Bristol Night Race Tire War

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Out of the chaos of perhaps the craziest Bass Pro Shops Night Race in the history of Bristol Motor Speedway, short-track ace Christopher Bell was the top gladiator left standing.

In a whirlwind 500 laps that featured extreme tire wear from start to finish, akin to the memorable 2024 spring race at The Last Great Colosseum, Bell’s path to victory came down to an extra set of fresh right-side tires that he was able to bolt on during the last of 14 caution periods on the night.

With new rubber for a four-lap dash to glory, Bell lined up third for the final restart, behind a pair of drivers on the front row in Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar who were both seeking their maiden Cup Series victories.

When Smith pushed up into Hocevar on the green flag and opened the bottom lane in turn one, Bell took full advantage, darting through to a lead he wouldn’t relinquish from that point on.

Even when veteran Brad Keselowski – a past Bristol Night Race winner hoping to end a 51-race winless drought at the Cup level – got to second and delivered a hefty shot to the rear bumper of the No. 20 in the final corner, Bell kept his cool and never wavered.

The end result was a narrow, .343-second victory, Bell’s fourth of the season and the 13th of his career at stock car racing’s top level. It was also his first-ever triumph in the fabled Bristol Night Race.

He might have only led 12 laps all night long, but the Norman, Okla., native came away with the rewards that mattered most: a berth in the Round of 12 of the Cup Series playoffs and the traditional gladiator sword awarded to every victor on Bristol’s concrete high banks.

“I’ll tell you what, I was nervous on the two [tires],” admitted Bell after climbing from his Toyota on the frontstretch. “I didn’t know if I wanted to be on the bottom or the top, and when Brad picked the top [lane], it didn’t really give me an option. I had to pick the bottom.

“All night long, old tires just really, really pushed up in the middle of the corners, so I was hoping that those guys on old tires would push up … and they did,” Bell continued. “They did, and I was able to get by underneath them. It wasn’t pretty there at the end, but we got her done.

“This race is so special; everything that Bristol does to make this feel like a big event means a lot, and this is one that’s been really high on my list to win for a long time. I’m stoked we finally got it.”

Bell’s Saturday night score completed a sweep of the opening playoff round for Joe Gibbs Racing, after Chase Briscoe won at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Aug. 31 and Denny Hamlin topped World Wide Technology Raceway on Sept. 7.

Back at Bristol however, Keselowski also had fresh tires for the final sprint, but was momentarily stifled behind Zane Smith when Smith and Hocevar washed up the banking in turn one from the front row.

That single blip allowed Bell to get in front of the RFK Racing co-owner, and Keselowski simply couldn’t get him back after that.

“That’s just the story of our season,” he lamented. “We knew it was a a 50-50 shot on the restart, and I got the lane that couldn’t launch. It’s frustrating. We had a great car, great strategy, and put ourselves in position to … if not win, at least have a really, really solid day.

“The last restart we just rolled the dice and didn’t get anything good.”

Smith hung on for third in his and Front Row Motorsports’ best finish of the season, followed by the Team Penske duo of Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series star Corey Heim had a career Cup Series night in sixth place, with Hocevar, Alex Bowman, Briscoe, and early dominator Ty Gibbs closing the top 10.

Gibbs starred through the first two thirds of the race, leading 186 of the first 276 laps, but faded amid the continuously shifting tire strategies and wasn’t a major factor down the stretch.

In total, he spent a race-high 201 circuits out front, but moved to 114 starts without a Cup Series victory.

Behind the chaotic finish was the fight to advance to the second round of the playoffs, and ultimately the four drivers who started the night below the cut line – Bowman, Austin Dillon, Shane van Gisbergen, and Josh Berry – remained there and were bounced from postseason contention.

Bowman stayed in contention the longest, running among the top five for much of the second half and leading five laps at one point, but lost out strategically when the final caution flag waved on lap 488 after Bubba Wallace slapped the wall in turn four.

He’d been on the freshest tires at that point and was making a charge, but fell short of the victory he and the others eliminated all needed in order to move on.

Berry’s night ended earliest among the four, after a fire in the right-front wheel well of his Ford forced him out of the event on lap 76.

Dillon suffered severe tire cording early and ended up four laps down in 28th at the end, missing the transfer by 14 points. Van Gisbergen spun twice and finished 26th, three laps off the pace and two points behind Dillon in the round-ending tally.

Alongside round-one winners Briscoe, Hamlin, and Bell, the other nine drivers advancing to the Round of 12 on points were Blaney, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, and Austin Cindric.

That dozen drivers will continue vying for the Bill France Cup when round two of the Cup Series playoffs kicks off Sunday, Sept. 21 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Broadcast coverage of the Mobil 1 301 is slated for 2 p.m. ET, live on USA, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

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