AVONDALE, Ariz. — Christopher Bell was just ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin after a late restart, in good position for his third straight NASCAR Cup Series win.
Another restart led to some tense moments that were enough to make his car owner feel a bit queasy.
Bell survived a late drag race with Hamlin to become the first Cup Series driver to win three straight races in the NextGen car, which was introduced in 2022, edging his teammate by less than a second (0.049) to win the second-closest race in Phoenix Raceway history Sunday.
“It worked out about as opposite as I could have drawn it up in my head,” Bell said. “But the races that are contested like that, looking back, are the ones that mean the most to you.”
Bell started 11th in the 312-mile race on the one-mile oval after winning at high-banked Atlanta Motor Speedway and the Circuit of the Americas road course the previous two weeks. He moved his JGR Toyota toward the front early and remained there most of the afternoon, taking the lead out of the pits on a late caution.