New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Christopher Bell continued his dominance at New Hampshire Motor Speedway claiming a sweep of the NASCAR race weekend, but the Joe Gibbs Racing driver really had to earn that “broom” in Sunday’s weather-challenged USA Today 301.

The 29-year-old Oklahoman beat Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe to the finish line by 1.104-second in overtime in a race that lasted six hours including a two-hour-plus rain delay and ultimately ended with the field on damp surface tires; only the second time in NASCAR history a points-paying race used the newly-developed tires.

Bell’s No. 20 JGR Toyota led a race best 149 of the 305 laps Sunday, a day after he won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the 1.058-mile New England oval. He is now one of four drivers to have three NASCAR Cup Series wins on the season. It was his ninth career series win.

Bell was so excited with the victory he even promised he would “pick that sucker up” referring with a smile to the traditional lobster given to race winners in Victory Lane, something he previously was reticent to do.

“It was literally the tale of two different events,”’ Bell smiled when asked about the race.

“You never know how this thing is going to shake out whenever you change so many things like that and have adverse conditions,” said a beaming Bell, who now has seven wins in 11 national series starts at the New Hampshire track – collecting his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series win on Saturday.

“I personally love adverse conditions because you’re always trying to think outside the box,” he continued. “When we went back out [on wet weather tires after the red flag delay] I was feeling around and it felt like the normal Loudon groove was really really slippery so I tried to just run down or up, but [crew chief] Adam [Lambert] really put the tune on this thing and it was running good.

“This is really cool.”

It was certainly new territory for the series and the sport. In years past, perhaps the race would just have been called with the rain showers came through with enough laps in the book that had already made it a legal points event.

But with the recent development of wet weather tires, NASCAR instead opted to wait out the showers and give the rain tires a try on a damp track. NASCAR officials said they would have absolutely had to just call the race early had it not been for the new tires.

“We’d have been done with 82 laps to go and instead it gave us a chance to go back to green,” NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer told reporters after the race. “Kudos to our drivers, our owners and especially [NASCAR CEO] Jim France for his vision.”

Certainly, those final 86 laps of competition – which included the overtime stretch – with cars on the wet weather tires changed up the competition in multiple ways. Drivers who had been out of the mix previously – like Briscoe and his SHR teammate, third place finisher Josh Berry – worked their way forward quickly and kept Bell honest.

Others, such as Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who had been third when the race was red-flagged struggled a bit more on the wet weather tires. Hamlin finished 24th.

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who was runner-up when the red flag flew, instead finished 25th after a collision with Michael McDowell racing for second place in the closing laps of regulation. McDowell was able to continue and finished 15th.

Briscoe smiled and said, “Two hours ago we couldn’t even run 25th and the rain saved us. Awesome recovery. This is one of my worst race tracks so to run second is kind of surprising, to be honest.

“The rain kind of saved us because if it wasn’t rain, we would have probably run maybe 24th but had a couple good restarts.”

Hendrick Motorsports’ Larson finished fourth followed by Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Chris Buescher – another driver who dramatically moved up in the field following the red flag.

23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who was leading the race when the red flag came out, finished sixth, followed by JGR Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Legacy Motor Club’s John Hunter Nemechek, JGR’s Martin Truex Jr. and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain – notable comebacks for Truex and Chastain who were both involved in earlier caution periods.

The finish for Larson now brings him into a tie with Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott on top of the standings with Hamlin in third place, 40 points back. Elliott, was involved in an accident just before the red flag and finished 18th.

With eight races remaining to set the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field, there was substantial movement in the bottom half of the standings with drivers currently in Playoff position based on points not having scored a win yet.

Team Penske’s Joey Logano, who finished 32nd Sunday, moved into the final Playoff points position and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace dropped out of points eligibility after an accident with 35 laps left in regulation eliminated him from the race. He finished 34th out of the 36 cars and is now 17th in the Playoff standings, one position below the cutoff.

Martin Truex Jr. had led more than 900 laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway without claiming any victory hardware in 29 previous starts at the 1.058-mile oval. However, the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota left absolutely no doubt about securing that career first win in Monday's rain-delayed Crayon 301 at the track, leading a dominating 254 of the 301 laps.

The impressive work was the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion's third victory of the season – and second in a rain-delayed Monday race (also Dover, Del.). He survived three restarts in the final 24 laps and ultimately held off one of the local favorites, Connecticut driver Joey Logano across the finish line by a slight .394-seconds – although for most of the day Truex held the field at bay by more than a second in the first Monday afternoon race in the track's 30-year history with the series.

The 42-year-old New Jersey native clearly had the car to beat – and no one could. His work not only earned the famed live lobster trophy, but also propelled him into the NASCAR Cup Series champion lead by 17 points ahead of Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron.

Asked if there was a track on the schedule where he wanted to win more than New Hampshire, Truex smiled, "I don't think so." His previous best finish was third place – three times. Five times he'd led more than 100 laps, including last year when he led a race high 172 laps, only to finish fourth.

"What we've been able to do here over the years was pretty remarkable and to not win was really getting frustrating," Truex said. "[Crew chief] James [Small] and I have talked about it many times and talked with [teammate] Christopher [Bell] before the race and he said, ‘you've led more laps here than I've even run here in the Cup Series."

"Just really awesome job by everybody. What a race car we had here today. Just proud of the whole team. Pit stops were flawless. The car was unbelievable. We had some challenges throughout the race and the car was a handful at times, but we put our heads down and just kept digging."

Truex led 163 of the opening 185 laps taking both the Stage 1 and Stage 2 wins to triple his total on the season. In the opening stage, NASCAR Cup Series championship leader, and four-race winner Byron was in hot pursuit. Later in the race Truex had to fend off Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and Logano.

"When you're at your home race track, second hurts more than anywhere else," said Penske Racing's Logano. "There's no place I want to win more than here and came up one spot short. That one stings but overall, still have to say it's a good day. Just mad right now."

Hendrick Motorsports' Larson, four-time New Hampshire Motor Speedway race winner, Stewart-Haas Racing driver, soon-to-retire Kevin Harvick was fourth in his final start at the track. Brad Keselowski, owner-driver of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing team, rounded out the Top-5.

"We were fortunate we had fresher tires than most and were able to stay out and get most of that back," Harvick said. "We've just got to be able to do what we need to do when it counts."

23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick finished sixth, followed by Truex's JGR teammate Denny Hamlin. 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace, Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon and SHR driver Chase Briscoe rounded out the Top-10.

Byron, who led nine laps, finished 24^th. 

His Hendrick Motorsports' teammate Chase Elliott, who is still trying to claim a 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff position after missing six races this season, struggled much of the day. Elliott conceded after qualifying that he was not particularly optimistic about his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet this weekend.

Still, he rallied to a 12^th place finish in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and remains ranked 23rd – now only 60 points out of 16^th place in the standings with the Top-16 drivers transfering to the 10-race Championship round that starts in September.

Kyle Busch, who was second in the championship standings entering Sunday's race, had a short day on an overall disappointing visit to New Hampshire. He spun the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in qualifying and had to start at the rear of the field after repairs post-qualifying. Then he made contact with the wall as the field came to the caution flag for Stage 1 on Sunday. 

The RCR team looked at the car on pit road but decided it was too damaged for repair, leaving him last in the 36-car field and dropping him to fifth place in the championship standings, 74 points behind new leader Truex.

"I've been lacking right-rear grip the whole time we've been here," said Busch, a three-time NASCAR Cup Series winner at New Hampshire. "Just couldn't get the right-rear feel in the race track. You're just going along trying to keep it under you as much as you can

"Hate it for our No. 8 team. Our Chevy stuff was a little off this week, at least for us anyway. We'll get back to it at Pocono."

Christopher Bell has quietly established himself as a New England force over the past three years coming up the NASCAR ranks and on Sunday afternoon, he convincingly earned his biggest triumph to date there, a victory in the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter 301 and a ticket to the 2022 Playoffs.

Bell led the last 42 laps of the 301-lapper at the one-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway claiming the trophy – and the traditional lobster hoist in Victory Lane – with a massive 5.767-second victory over last week’s race winner Chase Elliott.

It’s only the second NASCAR Cup Series win for the third-year driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota but oh, so significant as it launches the 27-year old Oklahoman into a guaranteed Playoff contention. The 14th different winner of the season came into the race ranked last among the top-16 drivers that would advance to the Playoffs. Now he has secured his title run.

“Man, that one was much needed right there,” said Bell, who won three consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series races at the track from 2019-2021 and was runner-up in last year’s NASCAR Cup Series race there.

“I tell you what, that was a helluva race from my viewpoint. It was so much fun racing with the 45 (Kurt Busch), the 22 (Joey Logano) and the 9 (Elliott). We were all running different lines. That was a blast. Just so happy to be here at Joe Gibbs Racing and so good to get that 20 car back in victory lane.”

“Winning Cup races is hard,’’ he added with a smile, thanking the crowd. “Just seems like we’ve been close then we had fallen off a little bit last week. I was talking to my best friend and I told him, ‘earlier in the year I felt like we were right on the verge of winning. Then the last couple of weeks I felt like we were pretty far away.

“But here we are today.’’

Elliott, who hasn’t finished worse than second in the last four races (including two victories), said he just didn’t have anything for Bell at the very end.

“I feel like just a poor run of execution on my end in the last run,’’ said Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. “It took me a while to get past Joey (Logano) and the 45 (Busch) and I had to run harder than I wanted to.

“Just make a couple mistakes and couldn’t get much breathing room.”

The string of top-two finishes was of little consolation to the 2020 series champion.

“When you’re in position like we’ve been in, you need to finish it off.’’

Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, turned in a career best day at New Hampshire finishing third – his second top-five of the season but first top-10 since a 10th place at Kansas eight races ago.

“Just proud of the team, proud of myself and proud of everybody at the shop,’’ Wallace said, adding, “It’s been hell for me the last month so good to come out with a top-five.

“This sport humbles you so there’s really no surprises. Have to keep the task at hand and be mindful of your surroundings and do your job.’’

Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. finished fourth followed by Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick.

The pole sitter Truex won both stages – his series-leading sixth and seventh of the year – and led a race best 182 laps; including the first 95 consecutively to start the race.

His No 19 JGR Toyota certainly looked like the car to beat, but a two-tire stop for him – and for Harvick – with about 100 laps to go turned out to unsettle the car and he dropped briefly outside the top-10 before racing back to his fist top-five since a fifth place at Talladega, Ala. in April.

JGR’s Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Trackhouse Racing’s teammates Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez and 23XI Racing’s Kurt Busch rounded out the top-10. Seventh place was Keselowski’s best finish of the season in his first year as co-owner/driver of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Ford.

With Chastain’s 14th top-10 and Ryan Blaney’s 18th place finish, there was significant movement atop the championship standings. Chastain has moved into second place, 67 points behind the leader Elliott. Blaney – who is still looking for his first victory of the season – is now third.

Truex, who is also still racing for a Playoff-securing victory is now in the 16th and final Playoff position – 68 points ahead of Harvick, who has not won in 2022 either.

With a stunning victory in Sunday's Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Aric Almirola sent shock waves through the NASCAR Cup Series' Playoff standings.

With hard-charging Christopher Bell closing behind him, Almirola crossed the finish line at the 1.058-mile track .657 seconds ahead of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to win the third race of his career and give Stewart-Haas Racing its first ostensible Playoff berth of the 2021 campaign.

After battling Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney—who waged their own internecine war shortly after the start of the third stage—Almirola had to hold off Bell to win for the first time this season and for the first time on a track that isn't a superspeedway.

Almirola entered Sunday's event 27th in the Cup standings. Leaving New Hampshire, he's eligible to compete for the series championship, barring the unlikeliest of circumstances.

"This is by far one of my favorite race tracks," an elated Almirola said after taking the checkered flag. "I love coming up to the New England area and racing. I love this race track. I had this race won a couple of years ago, and I gave it away—I lost it. And I am so glad to win a race here with this race team.

"It's so good, man. We've been through so much, and I just stood the test. Everybody has just been working so hard… There've been so many people who have continued to support us through the crappiest year ever. Man, this feels so good for them. My pit crew did a phenomenal job on pit road. There's no doubt we've struggled, but guess what? We're going Playoff racing."

It helped Almirola's cause that NASCAR cut the race eight laps short of the scheduled 301 circuits because of darkness, a move necessitated by a rain delay that commenced after eight laps had been completed and Kyle Busch's polesitting car had been wrecked beyond repair.

Bell thought an extra eight laps might have made the difference.

"I didn't know how many laps they cut it short, but definitely whenever I saw the board and saw that we were eight laps short, it stings, man, because I feel like I probably had a little bit better pace than him, and I was able to get to him," said Bell, who won Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the track.

"I know lapped cars were giving him a bad time, but I was able to get to him, and it was going to be a heck of a race."

Penske teammates Keselowski, Joey Logano and Blaney ran third, fourth and fifth, respectively, with Logano recovering from a two-lap penalty incurred during the rain delay. Nicked for the two circuits when a crewman worked on his car during the red-flag period, Logano used two free passes under caution to his advantage.

Kevin Harvick finished sixth after winning the first stage and leading a race-high 66 laps, the first time since May 9 at Darlington the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford had been at the front of the field.

Ford drivers claimed five of the top six finishing positions, with Bell in a Toyota being the only exception. Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin completed the top 10.

Almirola's victory set up a battle between Richard Childress Racing teammates Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon for the 16th and final Playoff berth. Both were comfortably situated in points before the race, but Almirola's win reduced the number of available spots in the postseason from four to three.

Reddick currently leads Dillon by five points for the last Playoff-eligible position with four regular-season events remaining.

On Lap 6, as rain began falling with sudden intensity, frontrunner Kyle Busch spun into the Turn 1 wall, crushing the rear of his No. 18 Toyota. Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. suffered a similar fate on the wet track, damaging the front end and splitter of his No. 19 Camry.

Hamlin spun behind Busch and Truex, making slight contact with the No. 48 Chevrolet of Bowman, but Hamlin had more time to react after witnessing the ill fortune of his JGR teammates and escaped major damage.

NASCAR officials were surprised at how quickly mist turned to hard rain rendered the track too treacherous to continue the race.

"As (race director) Tim Bermann is about to put out the yellow, we look down and (Busch) is already getting loose," said NASCAR executive director and chief racing development officer Steve O'Donnell.

"I've been here a number of years. That's the first time I've seen that in terms of how quickly it came upon us. Certainly mist, we've raced in mist conditions before. The track got slick, obviously, in a hurry, and it was unfortunate what took place."

The wreck eliminated Busch from the race in 37th (last) place. Truex recovered to finish 12th.

Logano suffered corollary damage when debris from the track stuck in the throttle linkage and prevented the throttle from opening fully. Because a crew member began working on the car before the red flag was lifted, Logano incurred the two-lap penalty.