Ryan Blaney Wins NASCAR Martinsville Playoffs Race As Christopher Bell’s Last-Lap ‘Hail Bell-On’ Move Gets Denied
Ryan Blaney got the win he needed to make the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 with his second victory in a row at the Martinsville playoffs race, which will be mostly remembered for the controversy unfolding behind him as he took the checkered flag.
Blaney entered the final Round of 8 race 38 points below the cut-line and in a near-must-win situation after coming up one position short at Homestead-Miami last week.
The defending Cup Series Champion drove a masterful third stage to win a late race battle against Chase Elliott, who also needed a win to advance, as the two were on a tire strategy that had them on fresh rubber and out in front of Kyle Larson in third on older tires.
Larson’s result left him sixth in the standings and out of the Championship 4, but the race ended with a question mark over who would take the fourth spot in the final.
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William Byron found himself needing to hold on to a sixth place position in the closing laps as Christopher Bell was one point behind him in the standings, but running back in 19th after a rough day. Bell held the tiebreaker and just needed to finish even with Byron on points to advance.
But just as Byron was slowing on old tires and came under pressure from Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain, his two fellow Chevrolet drivers took up position behind him and blocked Brad Keselowski’s RFK Racing Ford from making a pass.
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Meanwhile, Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was one position behind the 23XI Racing Toyota of Bubba Wallace, who slid up the track and slowed on the last lap allowing Bell to get by coming out of Turn 3. Wallace said after the race that he had a mechanical issue.
Bell was coming too hard and hit the wall and then stayed up against it as he got on the gas. The move was reminiscent of Ross Chastain’s “Hail Melon” wall ride that got him past Denny Hamlin and into the final in 2022. NASCAR changed its rules to explicitly prohibit such a move after allowing Chastain’s to stand.
Bell’s move was far less egregious than Chastain’s, however, and he and Byron had to wait several excruciating minutes as race control reviewed the situation.
The decision that came down was that Bell had indeed committed a safety violation under the rule and he was relegated to a 22nd place finish, which put Byron four points clear of the cut-line.
“I understand that the rule was made to prevent people from riding the wall, but my move was completely different than what Ross’ was,” Bell said. “I got loose getting into the corner and slid right into the fence.”
The satirical Nascarcasm X account proclaimed the move the “Hail Bell-On,” but changed it to “Fail Melon” after the decision.
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Bell’s team owner Joe Gibbs told reporters that he wanted to file a protest, but was told that safety violations could not be challenged.
Bell was gracious in defeat and walked over to Byron to wish him good luck at Phoenix, where he will be racing against Blaney, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
The NASCAR Championship race is scheduled for Sunday, Nov 10th at 3 p.m. ET following the Xfinity Series championship at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday and the Truck Series Championship at 8 p.m. on Friday.
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