It finally happened. A racer with a dirt background won NASCAR’s race on the dirt at Bristol. Christopher Bell drove 100 perfect laps and held off Tyler Reddick for his fifth career win and his first of 2023.
“Man, let me tell you, these are some of the longest laps of my entire life,” Bell said. “This place is so much fun, whether it is dirt or concrete. Whenever the cushion got up there on the top, it was very tough because you couldn’t drive it super hard otherwise you’d get sucked in.”
Bell took the lead after staying out when the leaders pit at the end of Stage 2 on lap 150. From there on older tires, Bell was able to keep the lead, survive 5 more cautions and win under caution after Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez got together on the final lap coming to the checkered flag.
Behind Reddick Austin Dillon who was in the mix all race long was third, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fourth and Chase Briscoe fifth.
“It was a lot of fun honestly,” Reddick said. “Really intense. Yeah, towards the end there definitely feel like I had a little bit more. I thought I had the edge, but I wasn’t quite there in the last couple laps. Definitely found it.”
Polesitter and race favorite Kyle Larson led the first 75 laps and won Stage 1, but found himself behind five drivers led by Reddick, who elected to stay out when the race restarted. Reddick would lead until he won Stage 2. He fell victim to the same strategy as Bell was the leader among nine drivers who took the cue from Stage 1 and stayed out.
“We clearly were not the best car,” Bell said. “But Adam (Stevens, crew chief) kept asking me what I needed and I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know if you’re going to be able to help me enough on a pit stop adjustment to get me where I need to be.’ I just said, let’s stay out and he believed in me and we were able to make it work.”
Trying to fight his way forward, Larson’s crew elected to leave his older tires on and on lap 157 he went for a solo spin. Several laps later while fighting for position with Ryan Preece, Preece sent Larson into the outside wall, apparently in retaliation for an early bump from Larson that sent Preece into the wall.
“Yeah, just the tires seemed to operate better when they were hotter,” Larson said. “Just didn’t get to run very long there at the end.”
Larson was out of the race with a DNF.
Reddick was able to fight his way through the field while cars were spinning but continuing and soon found himself looking for the lead.
The races eighth caution came with just over 12 laps to go when Kyle Busch’s Chevy broke a right front shock; he slowed and tried to get to the pits but spun. NASCAR was forced to display the yellow. That set up an 8 lap shootout that saw Bell hold off Reddick for the win.
Bell in now the winningest driver for Joe Gibbs Racing since 2021.
“I’m so grateful to be here driving this No. 20 for DeWalts, Joe Gibbs Racing,” Bell said. “That was a lot of fun.”
Justin Haley was sixth. Martin Truex Jr. was seventh, with Todd Gilliland, Kevin Harvick and Ty Gibbs rounding out the top 10.
NASCAR heads to another short track, Martinsville Speedway next Sunday. William Byron is the defending winner of last year’s race; Bell won on the series last visit there last fall.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Results Food City Dirt Race
Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt
Bristol, Tennessee
Sunday, April 9, 2023
- (4) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 250.
- (6) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 250.
- (2) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 250.
- (22) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 250.
- (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 250.
- (25) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 250.
- (27) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 250.
- (15) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 250.
- (26) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 250.
- (23) Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 250.
- (13) Michael McDowell, Ford, 250.
- (11) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 250.
- (10) William Byron, Chevrolet, 250.
- (18) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 250.
- (20) Harrison Burton, Ford, 250.
- (29) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 250.
- (33) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 250.
- (28) Chris Buescher, Ford, 250.
- (7) Austin Cindric, Ford, 250.
- (3) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 250.
- (32) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 250.
- (30) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 250.
- (9) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 250.
- (8) Ryan Preece, Ford, 250.
- (34) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 250.
- (37) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 250.
- (31) Josh Berry(i), Chevrolet, 250.
- (16) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 249.
- (17) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 248.
- (35) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 247.
- (19) Aric Almirola, Ford, 240.
- (5) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, Suspension, 236.
- (36) Noah Gragson #, Chevrolet, 205.
- (24) Matt Crafton(i), Ford, Engine, 185.
- (1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 177.
- (21) Jonathan Davenport, Chevrolet, Accident, 176.
- (12) Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 96.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 46.68 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 40 Mins, 40 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds.
Caution Flags: 14 for 71 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Larson 1-75;T. Reddick 76-134;K. Busch 135-140;T. Reddick 141-150;C. Bell 151-250.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Christopher Bell 1 time for 100 laps; Kyle Larson 1 time for 75 laps; Tyler Reddick 2 times for 69 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 6 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 5,3,8,41,12,20,14,45,31,24
Stage #2 Top Ten: 45,3,5,20,8,14,19,12,31,10
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.