Christopher Bell was runner-up seven times this season, but picked a great race for his first win of the year.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver claimed his first career win at Darlington Raceway with a victory in the Southern 500 to kick off The Chase postseason.
Bell had to run down Kyle Larson after a restart with 24 laps to go after coming in for fresh tires while Larson stayed out for track position.
He made the move for the lead on lap 356 of 367 and was able to hold off his teammate Ty Gibbs, who also got by Larson along with Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney, to win by a second.
“This has been a long time coming,” Bell said after the race. “Darlington has been one that I’ve always wanted to win since I got into the sport. This is the ultimate drivers’ track.”
Bell’s teammate Denny Hamlin didn’t have quite as good of a night. He ran strong early, but had to gut out a broken toe link suffered when contact with Michael McDowell put him into the wall on lap 241.
He managed to drag his Toyota Camry home in 18th to stay at the top of the points standings, while Bell’s win leapfrogged him three spots into second ahead of Blaney, Reddick and Chase Briscoe as the Cup Series heads to World Wide Technologies Raceway for round two of The Chase on Sunday, Sept. 13.
SHELDON CREED WINS O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES CHASE OPENER
Sheldon Creed led the final 49 laps of the Fleetio 200 to win the opening round of the nine-race O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase. It was the second win of both the season and his career. Creed held off fellow Chase racer Corey Day for the win and now sits second in the standings behind Justin Allgaier, who hit the wall with 23 laps left and limped home in 17th.
