Homestead Miami Speedway

In one of the most thrilling NASCAR Cup Series Playoff races of the season, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell rallied from a frustrating race start to lead the final 16 laps of Sunday’s 4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to earn a second straight appearance into the Championship 4.

Bell, who only made his first appearance inside the top five on track with less than 50 laps remaining, got around a pair of the day’s front runners in the final laps to blaze to the lead in the No. 20 JGR Toyota and claim that automatic championship admission ticket. It’s the 28-year-old Oklahoma native’s second win of the season – sixth of his career – and the first of the season’s eight Playoff races to date.

Last year Bell famously pulled off a “walk off” victory in the regular season finale at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway to claim his first NASCAR Cup Series championship bid, ultimately finishing third in the title run. His win Sunday had that same “rally” feel and he now joins last week’s winner, Kyle Larson as the only two Playoff drivers set for the title run with one race remaining to decide the other two.

Bell led fellow Playoff driver, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney to the Homestead checkered flag by a 1.651-seconds – just ahead of Playoff drivers, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger rounded out the top five.

“I’ve got the best team behind me, honestly I don’t know [how we did it], that race was a whirlwind,’’ Bell said. “I was about ready to throw the towel in during that second stage, I got really frustrated. But [crew chief] Adam Stevens kept after it and gave me what I needed. Whenever we got some clean air this thing was really good.

“I cannot say how proud I am to be here with our partners, driving these Toyota Camrys. Thank you to everyone who supported me. This is better than a dream come true.’’

Although disappointed to not secure the win after leading 53 laps, Blaney said, “We were trying, we just needed laps.

“The long run car was really good. I just couldn’t fire off for 10 laps or so. I think the track cooling off [during the red flag] helped those guys. I think we were better in the hotter, sliker conditions when “fire off” speed didn’t matter as much and it fell off quicker. That played into our benefit.

“We ran out of laps a little bit,’’ he added. “I am proud of the effort. It was a really good day, we just got beat a little bit there at the end.’’

It was certainly the cap to a thrilling final 40 laps of competition to cap off the sunny South Florida afternoon.

In a matter of five minutes during those closing laps, Bell took the race lead and two of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates also in the Playoffs – Denny Hamlin and regular season champion Martin Truex Jr. – fell out the race with major problems. Hamlin’s No. 11 JGR Toyota slammed into the Turn 1 wall. And as the field slowed for that caution period, Truex turned down pit road and told the team his car “might be blowing up.’’

As Hamlin sat on pit wall, disappointed and speaking with his crew, Truex turned the engine off and the crew pushed his No. 19 JGR Toyota it into the garage. Both Playoff drivers were done for the day and dropping below the crucial top-four threshold that will advance to the Nov. 5 Championship 4 race in Phoenix. Truex was scored 29th and Hamlin, 30th.

All of it making for an even more intense race at the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway next week that will formally set the four-driver NASCAR Cup Series championship field.

“We tried and it just didn’t work out,’’ an obviously disappointed Hamlin said.

“It shows you how hard our sport is, that’s two cars and we had been up front,’’ JGR team owner Joe Gibbs said. “It also shows you in sports – particularly in ours with that 20-car (Bell) – it shows never to stop fighting.’’

With only that Martinsville race remaining, Byron now sits 30 points ahead of the championship cut-off line with Blaney in fourth place – 10 points up on Reddick. Bell’s JGR teammates Truex and Hamlin are now both 17 points below the Cut-off line.

Among the eight Playoff drivers, Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Chris Buescher – a three-race winner this season – struggled the most, going two laps down midway through the second stage and never cracking the top 20. He’s now in eighth place, 43 points back with a 21st place finish Sunday and will need to win the Martinsville race to advance to his first Championship 4.

One of the more unusual incidents of the entire season – let alone the Playoffs – happened during a green flag pit stop and involved Blaney and Larson – who were running first and second at the time with 53 laps remaining.

As their two cars approached pit road, Blaney slowed significantly, and Larson was still going faster directly behind him. While trying to avoid ramming into the back of Blaney’s Ford, Larson turned his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy to the right and went full-on into the sand-filled protective barriers at pit entrance causing them to explode with sand.

It caused enough damage on Larson’s car that he had to take it into the garage and the team retired it. Blaney was able to finish his pit stop and make his way back on track. He reassumed the lead when the rest of the cars pit following a nearly 13-minute red flag period.

“I need to look at data,’’ said an apologetic Larson, who finished 34th despite leading a race best 96 of the 267 laps. “I knew where the yellow line was but on the replay it looked like I missed it by a lot. So I need to look at data. I knew where the yellow line was and I was under control getting there and then he just slowed down, I locked the brakes, clipped him and hit the barrels.

“I’m upset with myself more than anything. Whether he got to pit road speed sooner than the yellow line or not, I could have just done a little better job.

“I hope they’re able to recover and he can get a good finish or the win and get the finish he (Blaney) deserves. Just a bummer. I thought we had a great car today and just made a mistake.’’

23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, Joe Gibbs Racing’s rookie Ty Gibbs, Team Penske’s Joey Logano, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10.

The NASCAR Cup Series moves to the famed Martinsville (Va.) Speedway half-miler for next Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) to close out this round of competition and formalize the Championship 4 competitors for the Nov. 5 Phoenix season finale. Bell won last year’s Martinsville Playoff race. Larson won the Spring race this year.

Kyle Larson has led a lot of laps and come awfully close to hoisting a trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On Sunday he finally did both, winning the Dixie Vodka 400 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race in dominant form.

Larson swept both Stage wins and led 199 of the race's 267 laps in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pull away to a 1.261-second victory over Florida native Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevy.

Kaulig Racing's A.J. Allmendinger was third with Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon and Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing's Brad Keselowski rounding out the top five. It is the 2012 series champion Keselowski's first Top-five finish since becoming co-owner of the organization this season.

The win was 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson's third of the year and 19th of his career - but the first at the 1.5-mile Homestead oval after a pair of previous near-misses. He led a race best 132 laps in 2016, but finished runner-up. He led 145 laps in 2017 and finished third.

"No matter what team I've been with, things haven't worked out on my end to get a win, so glad to get one today," Larson said.

"Definitely the best run we've had all year long," he added. "We've been capable of it I feel like many weekends, we just hadn't quite put it all together. [Crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] gave a great speech this morning and got us all ready to go and focused.

"Amazing race car," he noted with a smile.

The 30-year-old Californian was eliminated from the Playoffs in the last round, so Chastain was the top-finishing championship contender with only one race - next week at Martinsville, Va. - to set the four driver Championship field for the Nov. 6 season finale at Phoenix.

Only two Playoff drivers finished in the Top-10 Sunday at Homestead: Chastain and Denny Hamlin, who was seventh in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Playoff drivers Christopher Bell (finished 11th), Sunday's polesitter William Byron (12th), Chase Elliott (14th), Ryan Blaney (17th) and Joey Logano (18th) were still running on the lead lap at the checkered flag. The eighth Playoff-eligible driver, Chase Briscoe, finished last (36th) after making contact with the wall on lap 160.

Hamlin (four laps), Bell (four laps) and Byron (33 laps) all spent time leading the field before various setbacks.

Team Penske's Logano is the only Playoff driver who has already earned his position in the Championship race thanks to a victory at Las Vegas a week ago. Chastain, Elliott and Byron now complete the Top-four driver ranking.

Hamlin sits in fifth place, five points below Byron. Blaney is 18 points below the cutline, Bell, 33 back and Briscoe now essentially in a must-win situation, trailing by 44 points.

With his victory, Larson's No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet is eligible for the owner's title.

While Larson dominated the laps-led category and even paced the field by more than 9-seconds at one point late in the race, he had to earn this trophy after a late-race caution flag.

Martin Truex Jr. had taken the lead after a caution period with 46 laps remaining and pulled away to a nearly 2-second lead when the final yellow flag flew again with 23 laps remaining.

As the field pitted, Larson's Chevy was right behind Truex's Toyota and it appeared Truex was going to miss his pit box when Larson's car bumped Truex's car from behind. The contact spun Truex, whose team was still able to service the car, but he fell outside the Top-10 initially before racing back up to a sixth-place finish.

"I was just going behind him and he had a hard left and was hard on the brakes at the same time and I got into the back of him, ‘' Larson explained of the incident. "My team said he was late getting into his stall. I don't know. If it was my fault I'm sorry, but I don't think it was. It's hard to see on this pit road. .. hate that happened. He was definitely the one I was going to have to beat.”

Truex, who is still racing for his first victory of 2022, was obviously disappointed in the outcome, but could only shake his head at the circumstances.

"It's really hard to see through these windshields with the sun like that and all the stuff covering it," Truex said. "I did see my box late for sure, so I slowed down before I turned out of the way of the 5 (Larson) there.

"Partly on me, I didn't expect to get turned around and glad nobody got hurt there. Overall, just tough, just disappointing to have a good day going like that and have a shot at winning and couldn't close the deal. I hate it for my team.

"It's been one of those years.”

The final race to set the Championship 4 is next Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, the Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman is the defending race winner, but won't be competing while recovering from concussion-like symptoms. His teammate Byron won at Martinsville earlier this season.

In a No. 24 Chevrolet that steadily improved its performance as the sun went down, William Byron streaked to a decisive victory in Sunday's Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

With Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. battling for second place behind him, Byron cruised to a 2.777-second victory over Reddick, who charged through the field late in the final 60-lap green-flag run to the finish.

Truex ran third, with Larson coming home fourth. The victory was Byron's first of the season, first at Homestead and the second of his career. The win was the 264th in the NASCAR Cup Series for Hendrick Motorsports, leaving the organization four victories behind Petty Enterprises for most all-time.

"It was just a really smooth day," said Byron, who won Stage 2 after finishing fourth in the opening 80-lap stage. "We worked hard in the winter on this track. I can't believe it."

Though Reddick made his charge by running inches from the outside wall, Byron preferred to maintain a respectful distance from the fence whenever possible.

"You had to go to the wall at certain times," said Byron, who led 102 laps, a career-best for a single race. "(Turns) 3 and 4, it was really fast up there. I definitely didn't do it as good as the Xfinity cars do it, but I used it when I had to. This car was just awesome. It was really a lot of hard work. I think we went to the sim (simulator) four or five times this offseason, and it pays off, man. It's awesome."

Byron delivered the first Cup victory to crew chief Rudy Fugle, with whom he teamed to great success in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In fact, the last time Byron and Fugle worked together, they won the 2016 season finale at Homestead.

Reddick didn't score a point in either of the first two stages, but his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was lightning fast at the end of the race. When Reddick moved into fourth place past Kevin Harvick on Lap 254 of 267, he was nine seconds behind Byron. By the end of the race, despite having to clear both Truex and Larson for second, he had trimmed more than six seconds off Byron's lead.

"Once I really saw how fast we were in clean air, when I saw how fast we were catching everybody, it's beyond frustrating," said Reddick, who matched his career-best finish. "Three different decisions on restarts would have put me miles ahead, and I would have been within reach.

"Second's great, but I saw how much faster I was than those guys at the end, so naturally, it's frustrating."

Chris Buescher was dominant early, leading a career-high 57 laps in a single race and picking up the second stage win of his career in the opening segment. But as the sunlight faded, so did Buescher's No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. He finished 19th.

Truex thought his car capable of maintaining Byron's pace in the final run and was disappointed when it didn't.

"On that last run, for whatever reason, I was just babying it," Truex said. "The 24 (Byron) got the lead from me on that (last) restart (on Lap 208), and then the 5 (Larson) got by us, and I'm just biding my time waiting for them to start coming back to me, and they just never did.

"They obviously were really fast at the end, and we weren't quite as good that last run. These things are so hard to win. These cars are so touchy and just needed one more adjustment to have a chance."

Harvick came home fifth, followed by Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell, as both drivers have scored top-10 finishes in each of the first three races of the season. Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch completed the top 10. Denny Hamlin ran 11th, failing to keep his top-10 streak alive because of a late-race pit road speeding penalty.

Hamlin nevertheless retained the series lead by 20 points over Harvick.