Cup Series: Bell pulls through amidst Bristol tyre wear chaos

Written by Sean McKean

Credit: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images for NASCAR

In a race marred by attrition via tyre failures, it was Christopher Bell who sailed through for his fourth win of the season. It was his first since Phoenix back in March.

As it unfolded

From his first career Bristol pole, AJ Allmendinger led the way for the playoff finale.

With the emergence of lapped traffic, second-placed Ty Gibbs began hounding Allmendinger for the lead on Lap 21, which eventually turned into a pass on Lap 25 when Allmendinger’s tyres went flat.

By Lap 28, some assorted pit stops began for a few drivers who were too heavy on their tyres, as a race akin to the heavy tyre wear of Spring 2024 started to emerge.

In the midst of this, Ryan Blaney saw his first laps out front on Lap 32. 

The main pit cycle began on Lap 38. Ty Gibbs kept his lead once things cycled through by Lap 60.

The first issue for a playoff driver – yet again – fell unto Josh Berry, who had to pull into the pits with a fire under his car on Lap 75. He retired from the race. This incident brought out the caution.

With only seven cars on the lead lap, only seven pitted. Of this small bunch, Gibbs came out first.

Gibbs led the way on Lap 95 ahead of Zane Smith, but the caution came back out only five laps later for a spin by Alex Bowman.

Gibbs led the field again on Lap 108. 

Having pitted during the Bowman caution, Blaney began quickly running down the leader and eventually took the lead with two to go in the stage. Blaney held this position to the end followed by Gibbs and Zane Smith.

Stage 1 Results:

1. No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske) [Playoffs]

2. No. 54 - Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)

3. No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports) [Playoffs]

4. No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing) [Playoffs]

5. No. 38 - Zane Smith (Front Row Motorsports)

6. No. 17 - Chris Buescher (RFK Racing)

7. No. 16 - AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing)

8. No. 6 - Brad Keselowski (RFK Racing)

9. No. 42 - John Hunter Nemechek (Legacy Motor Club)

10. No. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Hyak Motorsports)

Everyone came down pit road during the break. 

Gibbs restarted with the lead on Lap 138, but Bubba Wallace rocketed along the outside to take the lead. However, Wallace’s lead was short-lived, with Gibbs taking the lead back and Allmendinger moving into second.

The caution came back out on Lap 147. Coming off Turn 4, Riley Herbst tapped Ricky Stenhouse into a spin. This subsequently saw Erik Jones and Michael McDowell go for spins in avoidance. All cars involved suffered no damage.

Gibbs again led on Lap 155. 

Green flag stops began on Lap 185. The top two of Gibbs and Carson Hocevar extended their stints by 25 laps, which resulted in Hocevar keeping a solid lead over a slow-stopping Gibbs. Nonetheless, Gibbs found his way back out front with a handful of laps left in the stage.

However, a caution with 13 laps remaining in the stage was caused by a playoff contender: Shane van Gisbergen. This resulted after Van Gisbergen lost the rear and spun in Turn 3. He drove away undamaged.

Everyone took the chance to pit under this caution barring Ricky Stenhouse.

Stenhouse led the way with only four remaining in the stage, but Gibbs quickly assumed the lead. He held on until the end followed by Blaney and Bowman.

Stage 2 Results:

1. No. 54 - Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)

2. No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske) [Playoffs]

3. No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports) [Playoffs]

4. No. 6 - Brad Keselowski (RFK Racing)

5. No. 77 - Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports)

6. No. 2 - Austin Cindric (Team Penske) [Playoffs]

7. No. 17 - Chris Buescher (RFK Racing)

8. No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing) [Playoffs]

9. No. 38 - Zane Smith (Front Row Motorsports)

10. No. 11 - Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) [Playoffs]

Gibbs led the way once more on Lap 266, but a caution came out shortly thereafter. Shane van Gisbergen went for a spin yet again in Turn 2.

Gibbs controlled the Lap 277 restart, but Chase Briscoe rocketed to his outside within the lap to take the lead.

A spin by Cole Custer on Lap 281 in Turn 3 brought the caution back out.

Gibbs came down pit road along with a few others within the top 20.

Briscoe led the Lap 289 restart, but it was quickly interrupted for a spin from Noah Gragson in the back.  

Briscoe got the jump on Lap 302 to secure the lead. 

Playoff implications struck another on Lap 312, when Chase Elliott received a tap into Turn 3 and hit the wall head-on. He retired from the race.

Most drivers took to the pits under this caution, barring eight drivers.

Bubba Wallace led the field on Lap 330, but only two laps later, Briscoe swung his way by.

Ricky Stenhouse spun around in Turn 3 to bring out the caution yet again on Lap 355. 

The vast majority of drivers came down pit road – including Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman.

Denny Hamlin led the field back to the green flag, but Briscoe, on fresher tyres, shot past his teammate. Kyle Larson, though, suffered a flat right-rear tyre and went for a spin in the pits. The caution came out.

Briscoe led over Zane Smith on Lap 375. 

A crash between AJ Allmendinger and Denny Hamlin in Turn 3 brought out the caution ten laps later.

Briscoe controlled the Lap 398 restart. 

Gibbs rolled by his teammate on Lap 416.  

Chris Buescher began green flag pit stops with 73 laps remaining, having gotten the most mileage out of his tyres. 

On the lead-up to his stop, Ty Gibbs locked up his front tyres and missed the pit lane. This caused his front-right to go flat as well. This effectively curtailed his race.

Once everything cycled through, Brad Keselowski took the lead followed by Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith.

With 36 laps to go, the top four were within a blanket, with Hocevar taking the lead and Bowman moving into second. 

A few leaders were caught out by the tyre wear, as the new top two both came down pit road with 26 laps to go. The plan was to sacrifice the lead for fresh rubber to run down the top five – Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano – to the end.

However, these plans went out the window when, coming out of the pits, Cole Custer merged too early and spun around Bubba Wallace. Luckily, this had no playoff implications for Wallace – as he locked into the next round on points after Stage 1 – but this brought out the caution.

Every lead-lap car came down pit road bar Hocevar and Bowman. 

Hocevar and Smith led the field with four laps remaining. But given that they were on old tyres, they were quickly swallowed up by Christopher Bell. He hung onto that position to take his first win since Phoenix back in March.

Provisional Results:

1. No. 20 - Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing) [Playoffs]

2. No. 6 - Brad Keselowski (RFK Racing)

3. No. 38 - Zane Smith (Front Row Motorsports)

4. No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske) [Playoffs]

5. No. 22 - Joey Logano (Team Penske) [Playoffs]

6. No. 67 - Corey Heim (23XI Racing)

7. No. 77 - Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports)

8. No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports) [Playoffs]

9. No. 19 - Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing) [Playoffs]

10. No. 54 - Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)

11. No. 17 - Chris Buescher (RFK Racing)

12. No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports) [Playoffs]

13. No. 7 - Justin Haley (Spire Motorsports)

14. No. 42 - John Hunter Nemechek (Legacy Motor Club) +1 lap

15. No. 45 - Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing) +1 lap [Playoffs]

16. No. 8 - Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Racing) +1 lap

17. No. 71 - Michael McDowell (Spire Motorsports) +1 lap

18. No. 35 - Riley Herbst (23XI Racing) +1 lap

19. No. 1 - Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing) +1 lap [Playoffs]

20. No. 43 - Erik Jones (Legacy Motor Club) +1 lap

21. No. 60 - Ryan Preece (RFK Racing) +1 lap

22. No. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Hyak Motorsports) +1 lap

23. No. 4 - Noah Gragson (Front Row Motorsports) +2 laps

24. No. 34 - Todd Gilliland (Front Row Motorsports) +2 laps

25. No. 33 - Austin Hill (Richard Childress Racing) +3 laps

26. No. 88 - Shane van Gisbergen (Trackhouse Racing) +3 laps [Playoffs]

27. No. 10 - Ty Dillon (Kaulig Racing) +3 laps

28. No. 3 - Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing) +4 laps [Playoffs]

29. No. 51 - Cody Ware (Rick Ware Racing) +4 laps

30. No. 2 - Austin Cindric (Team Penske) +4 laps [Playoffs]

31. No. 11 - Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) +5 laps [Playoffs]

32. No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports) +5 laps [Playoffs]

33. No. 41 - Cole Custer (Haas Factory Team) +12 laps

34. No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing) [DNF] [Playoffs]

35. No. 66 - Chad Finchum (Garage 66) [DNF]

36. No. 16 - AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing) [DNF]

37. No. 99 - Daniel Suarez (Trackhouse Racing) [DNF]

38. No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports) [DNF] [Playoffs]

39. No. 21 - Josh Berry (Wood Brothers Racing) [DNF] [Playoffs]

With Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Shane van Gisbergen and Josh Berry now eliminated from the playoffs, here is the new playoff picture heading into New Hampshire:

Provisional Playoff Grid:

1. No. 11 - Denny Hamlin: +26

2. No. 5 - Kyle Larson: +24

3. No. 24 - William Byron: +24

4. No. 20 - Christopher Bell: +20

5. No. 12 - Ryan Blaney: +19

6. No. 19 - Chase Briscoe: +10

7. No. 9 - Chase Elliott: +5

8. No. 23 - Bubba Wallace: +5

PLAYOFF CUT-LINE

9. No. 2 - Austin Cindric: -1

10. No. 1 - Ross Chastain: -2

11. No. 22 - Joey Logano: -2

12. No. 45 - Tyler Reddick: -3