Christopher Bell rallied for an overtime win Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, capturing the Ambetter Health 400 for his 10th career NASCAR Cup Series victory.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had started way back in 32nd place but found himself up front when the race restarted for a green-white-checkered finish. After dueling with Kyle Larson and then Carson Hocevar, who tried to make it three-wide up front, Bell won under caution after a multi-car crash on the final lap.
“That right there is what you dream of,” said Bell after he climbed out of his car on the track and received a kiss from his wife. ‘Throughout the beginning of the day, we were just stuck way in the back. But that last half of the race we were at our best.”
After a review by NASCAR officials, Hocevar finished second, Larson third, pole winner Ryan Blaney fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fifth. Blaney had roared back up to the front after spinning with 27 laps remaining. The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion avoided damage on the spin and remained on the lead lap after taking four fresh tires while most of the rest of the field remained on the track.
The race featured 50 lead changes, but Bell was never a part of that until overtime.
‘This place is just bonkers,’ Bell said. ‘Every time we come here, it gets wilder and wilder, and I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would have won a superspeedway race.”
Sunday marked Hocevar’s best career finish in the NASCAR Cup Series, though the 22-year-old Spire Motorsports driver left some competitors incensed at his aggressive driving.
‘There is some stuff I have to learn and clean up a little bit, but I feel like we put ourselves in the perfect opportunity to win the race,’ Hocevar said. ‘I have never had that opportunity really before, especially on a big superspeedway.’
The race went to overtime after two of the day’s dominant cars crashed while racing in the Top 3.
On lap 258, Austin Cindric got forced into the outside wall by Larson, who was trying to squeeze in front as the two battled for the lead. Cindric bounced off the wall and into Daytona 500 winner William Byron, who was following in third place. Both cars spun down the track and into the inside wall, bringing out a caution and sending the race to overtime.
Cindric had led 47 laps on Sunday, finishing second in Stage 1 and ninth in Stage 2. Byron took third in the opening segment and fourth in Stage 2.
Ambetter Health 400 Top 10 results
Here are the Top 10 finishers from Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta:
(32) Christopher Bell, Toyota
(26) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet
(17) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet
(1) Ryan Blaney, Ford
(34) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet
(3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota
(6) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet
(33) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet
(14) Bubba Wallace, Toyota
(22) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota
Ambetter Health 400 Stage 2 recap
Larson used a late restart to win Stage 2 of the Ambettor Health 400 for his first stage win on a drafting track.
As the drivers took the green flag with three laps remaining, Larson pushed his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman to the lead over reigning series champion Joey Logano, who had dominated most of Stage 2 in his No. 22 Ford. Larson then pulled alongside his teammate with Logano directly behind Bowman. Logano then took them three-wide on the final lap, but Larson got a huge push from Bubba Wallace to cross the finish line first.
After the Fords were clearly the best cars in the first segment, Chevrolet showed its strength in in the closing laps of Stage 2 with Hendrick drivers claiming three of the top-five spots: Larson (first), Byron (fourth) and Bowman (fifth). Wallace outdueled Logano for second in his No. 23 Toyota, while his teammate at 23XI Racing, Tyler Reddick, vaulted up to sixth.
It wasn’t all good news for Hendrick Motorsports in Stage 2, however. The late race restart came about after Georgia native Chase Elliott triggered a multi-car crash that brought out a caution.
With 11 remaining, Elliott got turned into the outside wall after Stenhouse and Chase Briscoe made contact in front of him. Elliott tried to get control of his No. 9 Chevrolet but ended up spinning and hitting Brad Keselowski and Corey LaJoie, who were both forced out of the race.
Ambetter Health 400 Stage 1 recap
Josh Berry, driving the No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing, won the 60-lap opening stage amid a strong showing for Ford drivers and Team Penske, which partners with the Wood Brothers.
Blaney started on the pole, Cindric led multiple laps and Logano raced near the front of the pack for most of the opening segment. Cindric finished second in the stage, Blaney eighth and Logano 10th.
Chevrolet drivers began to make moves by the midway point of Stage 1, including Byron, who finished third after starting 16th, and teammate Chase Elliott, who took fifth in the stage after starting 19th.
Wallace was the top Toyota driver in Stage 1, finishing fourth after starting 14th.
NASCAR penalizes Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing for modified spoiler
NASCAR penalized driver Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing for modifying a spoiler on the No. 19 Toyota at the season-opening Daytona 500 last weekend.
Briscoe, who won the pole for the season-opening race and placed fourth behind winner William Byron, lost 100 driver points and 10 playoff points. Briscoe, in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, fell from 10th to 39th in the driver standings with negative-67 points. JGR was fined $100,000 and docked 100 owner points and 10 playoff points. Crew chief James Small was suspended for four races.
NASCAR said modifications to the spoiler were found during inspection at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C. There was a violation because the spoiler base is a single-source part and cannot be modified.
JGR released a statement indicating it plans to appeal the penalty. Because of the appeal, Small was allowed to crew chief for Briscoe at Atlanta.
‘The issue in question was caused in the assembly process when bolts used to attach the spoiler base to the deck lid caused the pre-drilled holes to wear due to supplied part interferences,’ JGR explained in the statement.