HAMPTON, Ga. — Christopher Bell celebrated a slump-busting win for himself and Joe Gibbs Racing after a dramatic comeback at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Bell, in the No. 19 Toyota, edged Carson Hocevar and Kyle Larson in overtime Sunday in another close finish for a NASCAR Cup Series race at the high-banked, 1.54-mile oval.
Bell led only the final lap and had a slight edge on the outside when the caution light came on in overtime after Josh Berry crashed in his Wood Brother Racing Ford.
“That last lap of the race,” Bell said, “we were at our best.”
It was the first Cup Series victory for JGR’s four-car stable since Bell’s win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 23, 2024. It was a painfully long drought for an organization owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs and one with five Cup Series championships.
“I am glad that we don’t have to hear about that,” Bell said. “‘Joe Gibbs Racing hasn’t won since June.’ That’s all I’ve heard. So I’m very happy to end that narrative.”
The 30-year-old Oklahoma native now has 10 career victories on NASCAR’s top circuit, but he acknowledged Atlanta wasn’t the spot his team had circled to end the drought.
Bell’s strength in his career has not been superspeedway-style racing — despite being a mile shorter, Atlanta races more like Daytona International Speedway or Talladega Superspeedway than tracks of similar size to its own — but he pulled off the comeback after qualifying only 32nd and struggling most of the day to look like a serious contender.
Even Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, wasn’t expecting the late comeback.
“I think I fell off the edge of my seat a couple of times, especially there what was it, maybe 10, 15 (laps) to go when we were up in the top three or four and then fell back outside the top 10,” Stevens said. “I thought we were toast. But Bell just kept his head down and really dug deep all day.”
Austin Cindric led in his Team Penske Ford before he and Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron, who was coming off his second straight Daytona 500 victory a week earlier in the season opener, wrecked with three laps remaining, setting up the overtime. Cindric had started second, on the front row alongside teammate Ryan Blaney.
Hocevar, in his second full-time Cup Series season for Spire Motorsports, faced criticism from Blaney and other drivers after the race for his aggressive style on the track.
“Yeah, I mean, there’s some stuff I’ve got to learn and clean up a little bit, but I feel like we put ourselves in the perfect opportunity to try and win a race,” the 22-year-old Hocevar said after falling short in a bid for his first victory. “I’ve never had that opportunity really before, especially on a superspeedway.”
Hocevar got his first runner-up showing and just his second top-five finish. He was third last September at Watkins Glen International.
AP photo by Mike Stewart / Christopher Bell, left, drives the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota to an overtime victory in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Carson Hocevar (77) was second and Kyle Larson (5) wound up third in a close finish.Larson, a fellow Chevrolet driver, was third for Hendrick. He had failed to finish the past four Atlanta races and five of the past six there, and he was involved in crashes during all six races.
Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates were in the spotlight in NASCAR’s first two notable events of 2025. Chase Elliott won the preseason Clash exhibition on Feb. 2 before Byron avoided late wrecks to win the Daytona 500.
Larson’s string of bad luck ended Sunday after he qualified only 17th. Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion, surged late the win the second stage.
“Came up a little bit short, but proud of the effort today by everybody on our HendrickCars.com Chevy,” Larson said. “Yeah, finally finished at Atlanta and finally got to run up front.”
Blaney’s fourth-place finish after his late one-car spin led to a caution was the best for a Ford driver — after the top five and nine of the top 10 in the starting lineup were Fords — with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fifth in a Hyak Motorsports Chevy and Denny Hamlin sixth in a JGR Toyota.
Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch finished seventh, ending his hopes of snapping a winless streak on the Cup Series. Busch won the third-tier Truck Series race Saturday on the same track but is still looking for his first win on the top circuit since 2023 after having his NASCAR-record 19-year streak with at least one win end last year.
Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace and John Hunter Nemechek completed the top 10.
Elliott was in the top 10 when he hit the wall late in the second stage and then hit Brad Keselowski’s RFK Racing Ford, ending the latter’s race. Elliott finished 18th and Keselowski was last in the 39-car field.
Daniel Suarez, who edged Blaney and Busch in a thrilling three-wide finish at Atlanta in February 2024, saw his hopes for a repeat win end when he was involved in a seven-car crash early in the third stage. Cole Custer, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Cody Ware and JJ Yaley also were involved.
Before the race, 23XI Racing announced a multiyear deal with Corey Heim as a development driver. Heim will drive a limited number of Cup Series races in the No. 67 Toyota and also will compete in races on the second-tier Xfinity Series, including next weekend on the road course at the Circuit of the Americas. His first Cup Series race on the new deal will be at Kansas Speedway on May 11.
Heim made three Cup Series starts for 23XI last year and has a Truck Series win at Daytona this year. He finished 23rd in Saturday’s Truck Series race.