Bell Clinches Playoff Berth with Loudon Win
For the 29th year, NASCAR returned to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Ambetter 301. While the event was not the most exciting race of the season, it produced a surprise winner that shook up the playoff standings with just six regular-season races remaining.
LAP 1: Martin Truex Jr won the pole position in qualifying and led the field to the green flag. Truex instantly began setting a dominant pace and pulling away from the field.
CAUTION – LAP 4: The first caution came out early when the #42 of Ty Dillon got loose on the bottom of the track and overcorrected to the right. Dillon shot across the race track and collected the #48 of Alex Bowman, the #77 of Josh Bilicki, and the #78 of BJ McLeod. All drivers were out of the race due to damage.
STAGE 1 END – LAP 70: Following a relatively uneventful first stage, Martin Truex Jr picked up his 6th stage victory this season and claimed the playoff point. Behind him – Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and Kevin Harvick finished respectively in the Top 5.
CAUTION – LAP 77: The #18 of Kyle Busch spun from the 18th position due to a loose-handling race car. Busch did not sustain any damage and was able to continue racing.
CAUTION – LAP 88: The #7 of Corey Lajoie got loose in Turn 2, causing Lajoie to overcorrect and sweep right across the track, collecting the #21 of Harrison Burton and the #34 of Michael McDowell. Lajoie was out of the race following the incident, while the others continued racing with damage.
CAUTION – LAP 145: Ryan Blaney in the #12 got into the wall in Turn 4, bringing out another caution.
CAUTION – LAP 151: The #14 of Chase Briscoe brought out the sixth caution of the race when he spun by himself in Turn 4.
CAUTION – LAP 162: While racing in the 13th position, after recovering from his earlier spin, the #18 of Kyle Busch spun again on the frontstretch, obviously still struggling with the handling of his race car. During the caution break, Austin Dillon and Brad Keselowski tangled on the backstretch due to a misunderstanding. Dillon thought he was hit by Keselowski and chose to retaliate by door-slamming the #6. Keselowski then pushed Dillon into the grass, and the two bumped and banged before separating.
STAGE 2 END – LAP 185: Martin Truex continued to dominate throughout the entire second segment leading to his 2nd stage win of the day. Behind him – Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, and Kyle Larson finished in the Top 5 respectively and collected points. Truex remained in the lead to start the final stage.
CAUTION – LAP 205: The #38 of Todd Gilliland spun by himself in Turn 4, bringing out the caution. While pitting under yellow, Truex’s #19 team opted to take only two right-side tires to save time during their stop. Unfortunately, the two-tire strategy severely impacted his car’s performance and caused him to lose the lead to Chase Elliott.
LAP 259: After a slight bobble from Elliott in Turn 1, the #20 of Christopher Bell was able to make the pass on the inside line to take the lead away. After that, Elliott’s #9 Chevrolet began to fade as the tires wore, allowing Bell to set sail with the top spot.
CHECKERED FLAG – LAP 301: Christopher Bell crossed the line 5.7-seconds ahead of Elliott to earn his second career victory in the Cup Series. With the win, he clinched a spot in the playoffs, leaving only two positions open with six races remaining in the regular season.
RESULTS:
- Christopher Bell
- Chase Elliott
- Bubba Wallace
- Martin Truex Jr
- Kevin Harvick
- Denny Hamlin
- Brad Keselowski
- Ross Chastain
- Daniel Suarez
- Kurt Busch
- William Byron
- Kyle Busch
- Austin Cindric
- Kyle Larson
- Chase Briscoe
- AJ Allmendinger
- Chris Buescher
- Tyan Blaney
- Erik Jones
- Justin Haley
- Tyler Reddick
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr
- Austin Dillon
- Joey Logano
- Todd Gilliland
- Harrison Burton
- Cole Custer
- Michael McDowell
- JJ Yeley
- Cody Ware
- Aric Almirola
- Corey Lajoie
- Ty Dillon
- Josh Bilicki
- Alex Bowman
- BJ McLeod
