{"id":46932,"date":"2024-06-23T21:59:57","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T02:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=46932"},"modified":"2024-06-23T21:59:57","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T02:59:57","slug":"christopher-bell-sweeps-nascar-weekend-at-new-hampshire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/23\/christopher-bell-sweeps-nascar-weekend-at-new-hampshire\/","title":{"rendered":"Christopher Bell sweeps NASCAR weekend at New Hampshire"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 23, 2024 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Holly Cain<\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

LOUDON, N.H. \u2013 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 \u201cbroom\u201d in Sunday\u2019s weather-challenged USA Today 301.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 23, 2024 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

The 29-year-old Oklahoman beat Stewart-Haas Racing\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Bell\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 23, 2024 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Bell was so excited with the victory he even promised he would \u201cpick that sucker up\u201d referring with a smile to the traditional lobster given to race winners in Victory Lane, something he previously was reticent to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was literally the tale of two different events,”\u2019 Bell smiled when asked about the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou 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 \u2013 collecting his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series win on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Mobil 1 Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series SciAps 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 22, 2024 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI personally love adverse conditions because you\u2019re always trying to think outside the box,” he continued. \u201cWhen 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really cool.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota, and Corey LaJoie, driver of the #7 Schluter Systems Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 23, 2024 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d have been done with 82 laps to go and instead it gave us a chance to go back to green,” NASCAR\u2019s Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer told reporters after the race. \u201cKudos to our drivers, our owners and especially [NASCAR CEO] Jim France for his vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certainly, those final 86 laps of competition \u2013 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 \u2013 like Briscoe and his SHR teammate, third place finisher Josh Berry \u2013 worked their way forward quickly and kept Bell honest.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 23, 2024 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Others, such as Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Denny Hamlin, who had been third when the race was red-flagged struggled a bit more on the wet weather tires. Hamlin finished 24th.<\/p>\n

Team Penske\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Briscoe smiled and said, \u201cTwo hours ago we couldn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 SiriusXM Toyota, Michael McDowell, driver of the #34 Long John Silver’s Ford, and Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 23, 2024 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe rain kind of saved us because if it wasn\u2019t rain, we would have probably run maybe 24th but had a couple good restarts.”<\/p>\n

Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 Larson finished fourth followed by Roush Fenway Keselowski\u2019s Chris Buescher \u2013 another driver who dramatically moved up in the field following the red flag.<\/p>\n

23XI Racing\u2019s Tyler Reddick, who was leading the race when the red flag came out, finished sixth, followed by JGR Daugherty Racing\u2019s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Legacy Motor Club\u2019s John Hunter Nemechek, JGR\u2019s Martin Truex Jr. and Trackhouse Racing\u2019s Ross Chastain \u2013 notable comebacks for Truex and Chastain who were both involved in earlier caution periods.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, poses with the winner sticker on his car in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 23, 2024 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Team Penske\u2019s Joey Logano, who finished 32nd Sunday, moved into the final Playoff points position and 23XI Racing\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action next Sunday in the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Chastain is the defending race winner.<\/p>\n

Interviews:<\/h3>\n

NCS Race Winning Driver Christopher Bell (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) –<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NCS Race Winning Crew Chief Adam Stevens and Winning Car Owner Joe Gibbs –<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/StevensCoachNCSNHMS.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series Race – USA TODAY 301<\/strong><\/p>\n

New Hampshire Motor Speedway<\/strong><\/p>\n

Loudon, New Hampshire<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday, June 23, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

                1. (4)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 305.<\/p>\n

                2. (23)  Chase Briscoe, Ford, 305.<\/p>\n

                3. (10)  Josh Berry #, Ford, 305.<\/p>\n

                4. (19)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 305.<\/p>\n

                5. (15)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 305.<\/p>\n

                6. (12)  Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 305.<\/p>\n

                7. (13)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 305.<\/p>\n

                8. (28)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 305.<\/p>\n

                9. (7)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 305.<\/p>\n

                10. (8)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 305.<\/p>\n

                11. (31)  Ryan Preece, Ford, 305.<\/p>\n

                12. (16)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 305.<\/p>\n

                13. (32)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 305.<\/p>\n

                14. (27)  Harrison Burton, Ford, 305.<\/p>\n

                15. (25)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 305.<\/p>\n

                16. (18)  Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 305.<\/p>\n

                17. (20)  Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 305.<\/p>\n

                18. (1)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 305.<\/p>\n

                19. (29)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 305.<\/p>\n

                20. (36)  Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 305.<\/p>\n

                21. (11)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 305.<\/p>\n

                22. (35)  Kaz Grala #, Ford, 305.<\/p>\n

                23. (26)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 305.<\/p>\n

                24. (14)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 305.<\/p>\n

                25. (2)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 305.<\/p>\n

                26. (3)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 305.<\/p>\n

                27. (21)  Noah Gragson, Ford, 305.<\/p>\n

                28. (9)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 305.<\/p>\n

                29. (24)  Justin Haley, Ford, 305.<\/p>\n

                30. (34)  Zane Smith #, Chevrolet, 304.<\/p>\n

                31. (33)  Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 303.<\/p>\n

                32. (6)  Joey Logano, Ford, 302.<\/p>\n

                33. (22)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 268.<\/p>\n

                34. (17)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, Accident, 265.<\/p>\n

                35. (30)  Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, Accident, 222.<\/p>\n

                36. (5)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Engine, 142.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  84.832 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 48 Mins, 14 Secs. Margin of Victory:  1.104 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  14 for 85 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  6 among 5 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   C. Elliott 1-41;C. Bell 42-125;T. Gilliland 126-144;D. Hamlin 145-187;C. Bell 188;T. Reddick 189-241;C. Bell 242-305.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Christopher Bell 3 times for 149 laps; Tyler Reddick 1 time for 53 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 43 laps; Chase Elliott 1 time for 41 laps; Todd Gilliland 1 time for 19 laps.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 20,22,9,12,4,19,11,1,45,48<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,19,22,20,12,38,5,4,9,1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. \u2013 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 \u201cbroom\u201d in Sunday\u2019s weather-challenged USA Today 301. The 29-year-old Oklahoman beat Stewart-Haas Racing\u2019s Chase Briscoe to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":46937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[451,16,466],"class_list":["post-46932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-christopher-bell","tag-nascar","tag-new-hampshire-motor-speedway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-2158918213-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1757","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-ccY","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46932"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46953,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46932\/revisions\/46953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}