Christopher Bell Declared Winner of Rain-Shortened Coca-Cola 600
A lightning delay followed by heavy rain gave Christopher Bell the win in Sunday’s rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. NASCAR called the race after 249 of 400 laps.
Bell, driving the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, started third, led a race-high 90 laps, and won the second stage. The key moment came when Bell held off Brad Keselowski during a 10-lap run after a caution for Corey LaJoie’s spin on Lap 229. On the Lap 236 restart, Bell and Keselowski lined up side-by-side, with Bell taking the lead before the seventh caution for lightning.
The subsequent heavy rain prevented NASCAR from drying the track in a timely manner, resulting in Bell’s second win of the season and his first on the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval.
Keselowski, who finished second, believed he had the fastest car but didn’t have enough time to challenge Bell. William Byron, who won Stage 1, finished third, followed by Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin.
Pole winner Ty Gibbs finished sixth after leading 74 laps. Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, and Josh Berry rounded out the top 10.
Defending race winner and reigning series champion Ryan Blaney hit the outside wall in the second stage and exited the race after 143 laps.
Kyle Larson, who finished 18th in the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day, arrived at Charlotte just before the race was called. Justin Allgaier started in Larson’s car and was running 13th when the race ended.
