Christopher Bell rallied for an time beyond regulation win Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, capturing the Ambetter Well being 400 for his tenth profession NASCAR Cup Sequence victory.
Bell had began manner again in thirty second place however discovered himself up entrance when the race restarted for a green-white-checkered end. After dueling with Kyle Larson after which Carson Hocevar, who tried to make it three-wide up entrance, Bell gained underneath warning after a multi-car crash on the ultimate lap.
“That proper there may be what you dream of,” mentioned Bell after he climbed out of his automobile on the observe and obtained a kiss from his spouse. “I’ll let you know what, love superspeedways. … All through the start of the day, we have been simply caught manner within the again. However that final half of the race we have been at our greatest.”
After a assessment by NASCAR officers, Hocevar completed second, Larson third, pole winner Ryan Blaney fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fifth. Blaney had roared again as much as the entrance after spinning with 27 laps remaining. The 2023 NASCAR Cup Sequence champion prevented harm on the spin and remained on the lead lap after taking 4 recent tires whereas many of the remainder of the sector remained on the observe
Sunday marked Hocevar’s finest profession end within the NASCAR Cup Sequence, although the 22-year-old Spire Motorsports driver left some rivals incensed at his aggressive driving.
“There’s some stuff I’ve to be taught and clear up a bit of bit, however I really feel like we put ourselves within the excellent alternative to win the race,” Hocevar mentioned. “I’ve by no means had that chance actually earlier than, particularly on an enormous superspeedway.”
The race went to time beyond regulation after two of the day’s dominant vehicles crashed whereas racing within the Prime 3.
On lap 258, Austin Cindric acquired pressured into the surface wall by Larson, who was attempting to squeeze in entrance as the 2 battled for the lead. Cindric bounced off the wall and into Daytona 500 winner William Byron, who was following in third place. Each vehicles spun down the observe and into the within wall, bringing out a warning and sending the race to time beyond regulation.
Cindric had led 47 laps on Sunday, ending second in Stage 1 and ninth in Stage 2. Byron took third within the opening section and fourth in Stage 2.
Ambetter Well being 400 Prime 10 outcomes
Listed below are the Prime 10 finishers from Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Sequence 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
SUNDAY’S RACE:
Ambetter Well being 400 Stage 2 recap
Larson used a late restart to win Stage 2 of the Ambettor Well being 400 for his first stage win on a drafting observe.
Because the drivers took the inexperienced flag with three laps remaining, Larson pushed his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman to the lead over reigning sequence champion Joey Logano, who had dominated most of Stage 2 in his No. 22 Ford. Larson then pulled alongside his teammate with Logano instantly behind Bowman. Logano then took them three-wide on the ultimate lap, however Larson acquired an enormous push from Bubba Wallace to cross the end line first.
After the Fords have been clearly one of the best vehicles within the first section, Chevrolet confirmed its energy in within 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, whereas his teammate at 23XI Racing, Tyler Reddick, vaulted as much as sixth.
It wasn’t all excellent news for Hendrick Motorsports in Stage 2, nonetheless. The late race restart took place after Georgia native Chase Elliott triggered a multi-car crash that introduced out a warning.
With 11 remaining, Elliott acquired was the surface wall after Stenhouse and Chase Briscoe made contact in entrance of him. Elliott tried to get management of his No. 9 Chevrolet however ended up spinning and hitting Brad Keselowski and Corey LaJoie, who have been each pressured out of the race.
Ambetter Well being 400 Stage 1 recap
Josh Berry, driving the No. 21 for Wooden Brothers Racing, gained the 60-lap opening stage amid a powerful displaying for Ford drivers and Staff Penske, which companions with the Wooden Brothers.
Blaney began on the pole, Cindric led a number of laps and Logano raced close to the entrance of the pack for many of the opening section. Cindric completed second within the stage, Blaney eighth and Logano tenth.
Chevrolet drivers started to make strikes by the halfway level of Stage 1, together with Byron, who completed third after beginning sixteenth, and teammate Chase Elliott, who took fifth within the stage after beginning nineteenth.
Wallace was the highest Toyota driver in Stage 1, ending fourth after beginning 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 on the season-opening Daytona 500 final weekend.
Briscoe, who gained the pole for the season-opening race and positioned fourth behind winner William Byron, misplaced 100 driver factors and 10 playoff factors. Briscoe, in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, fell from tenth to thirty ninth within the driver standings with negative-67 factors. JGR was fined $100,000 and docked 100 proprietor factors and 10 playoff factors. Crew chief James Small was suspended for 4 races.
NASCAR mentioned modifications to the spoiler have been discovered throughout inspection on the NASCAR Analysis & Growth Middle in Harmony, N.C. There was a violation as a result of the spoiler base is a single-source half and can’t be modified.
JGR launched a press release indicating it plans to attraction the penalty. Due to the attraction, Small was allowed to crew chief for Briscoe at Atlanta.
“The difficulty in query was prompted within the meeting course of when bolts used to connect the spoiler base to the deck lid prompted the pre-drilled holes to put on because of provided half interferences,” JGR defined within the assertion.
Contributing: Discipline Degree Media
