When the #20 Toyota Supra rolled out onto the 1.36-mile=long ‘The Lady in Black’ this Saturday, every driver on the Xfinity Series field heard their hearts break. Christopher Bell ended the field’s dreams of conquering the famed track and took that honor for himself. What transpired at the end of the 150-lap thriller was as per the script.
Advertisement
Bell expertly survived an overtime restart and held out to secure what was his 19th victory in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing.
He is now the second most successful driver for the outfit in the junior nationwide series, only lagging behind veteran and former JGR driver Kyle Busch. Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano sit a step below Bell with 18 wins each. Coach Gibbs’ grandson, Ty who drives the #54 Cup entry is another notch down with 12 wins to his name.
Christopher Bell has won his 19th NASCAR Xfinity Series race for Joe Gibbs Racing, he is now their 2nd winningest NASCAR Xfinity Series driver EVER
Kyle Busch – 90 wins
Christopher Bell – 19
Denny Hamlin – 18
Joey Logano – 18
Ty Gibbs – 12 pic.twitter.com/wmtJELCYqj— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) August 31, 2024
The race was a tough battle between Bell, Cole Custer, and Sheldon Creed. The Cup Series regular started from pole position and led 108 laps throughout the day. Contact between him and Custer on the backstretch during the dying moments of the race heightened the noise of gasps across the stands but both drivers managed to steer their cars right and keep their positions.
Creed suffered the most having been in position to win before the overtime came along. Bell expressed his regret for the same in his post-race interviews and gave his teammate a pat on the shoulder. Impressively, the win was his second of the season in as many starts. He won at New Hampshire back in June. His attention now shifts back to the crown jewel Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday.
Bell’s appreciation for his JGR teammate
Defeating the defending Xfinity Series champion is no mean feat. However, Bell could not be fully happy despite getting the better of Custer. The disappointment that his teammate Creed faced was the reason. He said, “I feel terrible for Sheldon, to essentially win the race on the long run there and then lose it on pit road. It’s a big bummer.”
“It seemed like our car was really good on short runs. Obviously, the 18, Sheldon, was really good on the long runs. Unfortunately for him, the race played out differently, and fortunately for us, we got another shot at it.” Creed is now fifth on the points table with only a mere number of races left in the regular season. Justin Allgaier leads the field with Custer on his heels.
Creed will be leaving Joe Gibbs Racing to drive for the Haas Factory Team in 2025. On the brighter side, he did collect his first stage win of the season during Stage 2 of the event. Bell had won Stage 1. The Xfinity Series will return to racing next Saturday in Atlanta.
