DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Give him a good ride, and NASCAR driver Christopher Bell can win.
But in his second race with a new team? That seemed unlikely.
Bell defied the odds Sunday as he earned his first NASCAR Cup Series victory – in just his second race since Joe Gibbs Racing pulled him back into its inner circle – to close out an unpredictable week at Daytona International Speedway.
Michael McDowell was the surprise winner in the season-opening Daytona 500, with his first Cup Series victory coming in his 358th start, and then Bell earned an earlier than expected first trip to victory lane by chasing down Team Penske’s Joey Logano on the road course at Daytona. It’s just the third time in Cup Series history the first two races of the season were won by first-time winners, with the first two years of NASCAR (1949-50) the other times it happened.
More important: Bell and McDowell have snagged coveted berths in the 16-driver playoff field, a troubling trend for mid-pack teams that need all 26 regular-season races to point their way into the championship picture. Race winners earn automatic berths, with the remaining spots decided by the points standings.