Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona International Speedway on February 21, 2021 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the second consecutive week, Daytona International Speedway crowned a first time NASCAR Cup Series race winner. Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Christopher Bell, earned the honor Sunday on the track’s road course, taking the lead from Joey Logano with two laps to go and pulling away to a comfortable 2.119-second victory over the former series champion.

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona International Speedway on February 21, 2021 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Bell, 26, is the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion and this is his second season at the premier level – his first driving for the championship Gibbs organization. His work Sunday, however, was more reminiscent of a veteran. There were eight caution flags, eight race leaders and a whole lot of action in the waning laps to contend with.

He pulled around Logano in the chicane just yards before the white flag and easily stretched the lead to earn his first career NASCAR Cup Series trophy. Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin finished third, followed by Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski.

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, celebrates in after winning the NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona International Speedway on February 21, 2021 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Kevin Harvick, A.J. Allmendinger, last week’s Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell – also a first-time winner – Ryan Preece and Alex Bowman rounded out the top 10. This is just third season in NASCAR Cup Series history to start the season with two first-time winners; joining 1949 and 1950.

“This is definitely one of the highlights of my life so far,” a smiling Bell said after climbing off the roof of his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, where he flashed the No. 1 sign to the grandstands.

“Just so incredibly thankful to be here with Joe Gibbs Racing and all our partners. This feels like I prepared my whole life for this moment to race in the Cup Series. Last year was a huge learning curve for me and I’m very grateful I got the opportunity to run in Cup and it definitely prepared me to move to Joe Gibbs Racing.”

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, and Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona International Speedway on February 21, 2021 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

Bell’s pass for the win capped an exciting and suspenseful final dozen laps. Defending race winner and reigning series champion Chase Elliott led a race best 45 laps but was caught up in heavy traffic after his final pit stop with 15 laps remaining. He won Stage 1 and was running fifth – rallying back to the front with six laps to go when he spun out in the infield – a victim of a chain reaction collision in the fender-to-fender racing at the time. He ultimately came home 21st – snapping a five-race road racing victory streak.

“Man, we had those late race cautions like that and a mixed bag of who stays and who goes,” said Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, and Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona International Speedway on February 21, 2021 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

“It’s a bit of a gamble either way I felt like. I think [pitting for] tires was the right move. Tires won the race. So it was the right move. You get back in traffic and gets to be so chaotic.

“Who gets through and who doesn’t just kinda determines how it’s going to shake out.”

For much of the 70-lap race Elliott paced the field, making up ground when needed and often putting on a road course tutorial. Hamlin stayed close and kept him honest, ultimately coming home third. Logano ran among the top five for much of the race and took the lead on Lap 63 when other cars pitted for fresh tires.

“He’s the one that got through with tires,” Logano said of Bell. “One more caution lap would have been enough to have a door-to-door finish across the line maybe.

Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 Toyota, leads the field during the NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona International Speedway on February 21, 2021 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

With his maiden win, Bell is now ranked fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. Hamlin, who won Stage 2, leads the championship by 12-points over Logano heading to the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway next Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“I just kept doing what I was doing all day long,” Bell said of the career milestone.

“Whenever we took the green flag, I felt like I was really patient. Kyle (Busch) tried to go three-wide around me at the start. I knew that I was okay. Adam (Stevens, crew chief) kept asking what I needed in the car and I didn’t really need anything. Just took my time to get going, get up to speed and really proud to be here.”

Interviews:

Second-place finisher Joey Logano (No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford), race-winning crew chief Adam Stevens (No. 20 Rheem Toyota), third-place finisher Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota), race-winning car owner Joe Gibbs and driver Christopher Bell (No. 20 Rheem Toyota) 

NASCAR Cup Series Race – O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 At DAYTONA

DAYTONA Road Course

Daytona Beach, Florida

Sunday, February 21, 2021

               1. (12)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 70.

               2. (11)  Joey Logano, Ford, 70.

               3. (4)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 70.

               4. (17)  Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 70.

               5. (15)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 70.

               6. (5)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 70.

               7. (34)  AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 70.

               8. (2)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 70.

               9. (6)  Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 70.

               10. (36)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 70.

               11. (30)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 70.

               12. (19)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 70.

               13. (13)  Cole Custer, Ford, 70.

               14. (37)  Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 70.

               15. (27)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 70.

               16. (35)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 70.

               17. (26)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 70.

               18. (16)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 70.

               19. (38)  Ty Dillon(i), Toyota, 70.

               20. (33)  Ryan Newman, Ford, 70.

               21. (1)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 70.

               22. (31)  Anthony Alfredo #, Ford, 70.

               23. (39)  James Davison, Chevrolet, 70.

               24. (20)  Justin Haley(i), Chevrolet, 70.

               25. (21)  Cody Ware(i), Chevrolet, 70.

               26. (10)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 70.

               27. (25)  Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 70.

               28. (28)  Scott Heckert, Ford, 70.

               29. (40)  Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 70.

               30. (8)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 70.

               31. (7)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 70.

               32. (18)  Chase Briscoe #, Ford, 70.

               33. (22)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 69.

               34. (3)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 69.

               35. (14)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 69.

              36. (23)  Josh Bilicki, Ford, Brakes, 68.

               37. (32)  Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 65.

               38. (24)  Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, Accident, 58.

               39. (9)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 26.

               40. (29)  Quin Houff, Chevrolet, Engine, 3.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  84.452 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 59 Mins, 32 Secs. Margin of Victory:  2.119 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  8 for 12 laps.

Lead Changes:  12 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   C. Elliott 1-12;C. Bell 13;C. Elliott 14-28;*. Allmendinger(i) 29-30;D. Hamlin 31-35;D. Suarez 36-37;K. Busch 38;C. Bell 39-40;C. Elliott 41-57;J. Logano 58-61;K. Busch 62;J. Logano 63-68;C. Bell 69-70.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Chase Elliott 3 times for 44 laps; Joey Logano 2 times for 10 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 5 laps; Christopher Bell 3 times for 5 laps; Kurt Busch 2 times for 2 laps; * AJ Allmendinger(i) 1 time for 2 laps; Daniel Suarez 1 time for 2 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 9,22,11,2,1,5,19,3,4,17

Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,1,22,20,19,9,24,41,16,18