On Sunday night Christopher Bell wins a rain-shortened NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
CONCORD, N.C. – A lightning delay that turned into a heavy rainstorm made a winner of Christopher Bell in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Christopher Bell Wins a Rain-Shortened NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte
NASCAR had to call the race for rain after 249 of 400 laps were complete, but Bell’s victory was deserving.
The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota started third, led a race-high 90 laps, and won the second stage of the 14th NASCAR Cup Series race this season.
The decisive juncture in the Memorial Day weekend race came when Bell held off Darlington winner Brad Keselowski during a ten-lap run after a caution for Corey Lajoie’s spin in the second turn on lap 229.
On the ensuing lap 236 restart, Bell and Keselowski lined up side-by-side at the front of the field. Bell pulled out to a lead of roughly six car lengths before NASCAR called the seventh caution for lightning in the area.
After the lightning came heavy rain, and though NASCAR attempted to dry the track when the rain subsided, heavy humidity thwarted timely efforts.r
As a result, Bell collected his second victory of the season, his first on the 1.5-mile Charlotte Oval, and the eighth of his career.
The victory was a welcome momentum shift for Bell, who had finished outside the top ten in five of his previous six races.
“Man, it feels so good—to win or lose—just to have a great race to go off of,” Bell said. “A race where we led laps. We were able to pass cars. We lost the lead at times and were able to drive back to the lead.
“We had great pit stops. It was a team effort, and it was amazing to have a good race. Hopefully, this is something we can build on and get back to being more consistent.”
Brad Keselowski Continues His Consistent Season at Charlotte
Keselowski, posting his third runner-up finish of the season, was sure his car was the fastest.
“We just didn’t have time for it to play out,” said the driver of the No. 2 Roush Fenway Keselowski Ford, who pressured Bell throughout the final ten-lap run before weather intervened.
The Coca-Cola 600 Results
Stage 1 winner William Byron ran third behind Bell and Keselowski, with Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
Pole winner Ty Gibbs finished sixth after leading 74 laps, including the first 42 of the race. Chase Elliott finished seventh, followed by Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, and Josh Berry.
Kyle Larson Misses His Chance to Race – Ryan Blaney Ends Day Early
After finishing 18th in his Indianapolis 500 debut, Kyle Larson arrived at Charlotte Motor Speedway just before weather forced the stoppage. Larson had plans to take over his No. 5 Chevrolet from Justin Allgaier, who started the race at Charlotte because of the Indy 500 rain delay.
Allgaier was running 13th when the race stopped because of rain. Consequently, the chance for Larson to drive the car never happened.
Defending race winner and reigning series champion Ryan Blaney slammed the outside wall in the second stage. The incident made Blaney exit the event after 143 laps.
“We’ll have to look if I hit something or… I don’t know,” Blaney said. “I just went into (turn) three getting up to speed and blew a tire and hit the fence. It’s an unfortunate end to our night. That sucks.
“We’re not even halfway and just wanting to work on your stuff all night. I thought we were getting it a little better here and there, but won’t get a shot.”
The NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings
Next Up
The NASCAR Cup Series will race the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday, June 2nd at 3:30 pm ET. Coverage is available on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The defending race winner is Kyle Busch.