{"id":16579,"date":"2018-04-21T00:24:36","date_gmt":"2018-04-21T05:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=16579"},"modified":"2018-04-21T00:24:36","modified_gmt":"2018-04-21T05:24:36","slug":"christopher-bell-holds-off-noah-gragson-for-xfinity-win-at-richmond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/21\/christopher-bell-holds-off-noah-gragson-for-xfinity-win-at-richmond\/","title":{"rendered":"Christopher Bell holds off Noah Gragson for Xfinity win at Richmond"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on April 20, 2018 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Robert Laberge\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

RICHMOND, Va. \u2013 In a long green-flag run fraught with spellbinding tension, Christopher Bell<\/strong> held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Noah Gragson<\/strong> to win Friday night\u2019s ToyotaCare 250<\/strong> at Richmond Raceway<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on April 20, 2018 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Bell spoiled Gragson\u2019s prospects for a victory in his NASCAR Xfinity Series<\/a> debut, passing his teammate for the lead on Lap 172 of 250 and staying in front\u2014if only just barely\u2014the rest of the way.<\/p>\n

Bell crossed the finish line .423 seconds ahead of Gragson, after the driver of the No. 18 Toyota got to the bumper of Bell\u2019s No. 20 in the closing laps.<\/p>\n

Virginia native Elliott Sadler ran third and claimed a $100,000 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus, though he remained winless and frustrated at his home track. It was Sadler\u2019s fourth career win under the Dash 4 Cash program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to work for it,\u201d Bell said of his second career victory, his first of the season and his first at Richmond. \u201cMy teammate was really good. I knew throughout both practices that both of our cars were going to be really strong.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on April 20, 2018 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cJoe Gibbs Racing has been producing really, really fast Camrys for the last couple weeks, and it\u2019s really shown\u2026 All in all, it was enough to stay in front of him at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the final 79-lap run, Gragson fell behind by as much as 1.5 seconds, but when Bell hit traffic, Gragson closed in trimming his deficit to a half-second with 20 laps left. At the 18-to-go mark, Gragson turned up the pressure and closed up to Bell\u2019s rear bumper in the final laps but couldn\u2019t get in position to make a clean winning move.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough,\u201d Gragson said of his first Xfinity start. \u201cI found a little something in the track, a little speed there at the end of the second stage on old tires, and I kept it in my memory banks till the end, and I told my team, \u2018I\u2019ve got something when it\u2019s time to go\u2014just tell me when.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, poses with the winners sticker in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on April 20, 2018 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Robert Laberge\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAnd about 18 to go, I told them, \u2018I can\u2019t wait any longer; I don\u2019t have any more patience.\u2019 And I ran Christopher down about two or three car lengths.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt Tifft ran fourth in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, followed by Austin Cindric with a career-best fifth. Bell, Sadler, Tifft and Cindric earned eligibility for the Dash 4 Cash bonus next Saturday at Talladega.<\/p>\n

Sadler won the second stage, got the bonus and retained the series lead by 29 points over Bell but said he would trade the cash for a win at Richmond.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a real strong run in that second stage,\u201d Sadler said. \u201cI was just a little bit tighter (handling) than I wanted to be at the end of the race. We can\u2019t hang our heads. We won the Dash 4 Cash, and we\u2019re part of the Dash 4 Cash going to Talladega next week, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we always want to win at this race track, and it\u2019s a shame to come up short tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pole winner Cole Custer ran sixth, followed by Ryan Truex, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Reed and Brandon Jones.<\/p>\n

Media Center Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Christopher Bell and crew chief Jason Ratcliff – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/RR_NXS_Bell_Ratcliff_042018.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Elliott Sadler and Noah Gragson<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/RR_NXS_Sadler_Gragson_042018.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – ToyotaCare 250<\/b><\/p>\n

Richmond Raceway<\/b><\/p>\n

Richmond, Virginia<\/b><\/p>\n

Friday, April 20, 2018<\/b><\/p>\n

               1. (2) Christopher Bell #, Toyota, 250.<\/p>\n

              2. (11) Noah Gragson(i), Toyota, 250.<\/p>\n

               3. (8) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               4. (12) Matt Tifft, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               5. (3) Austin Cindric #, Ford, 250.<\/p>\n

               6. (1) Cole Custer, Ford, 250.<\/p>\n

               7. (6) Ryan Truex, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               8. (26) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               9. (13) Ryan Reed, Ford, 250.<\/p>\n

               10. (18) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 250.<\/p>\n

               11. (10) Tyler Reddick #, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               12. (14) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               13. (5) John H. Nemechek, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               14. (7) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

               15. (27) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 249.<\/p>\n

               16. (19) Alex Labbe #, Chevrolet, 249.<\/p>\n

               17. (17) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, 249.<\/p>\n

               18. (16) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 249.<\/p>\n

               19. (21) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 249.<\/p>\n

               20. (9) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 249.<\/p>\n

               21. (24) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 249.<\/p>\n

               22. (23) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 248.<\/p>\n

               23. (30) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 247.<\/p>\n

               24. (35) Tony Mrakovich, Ford, 247.<\/p>\n

               25. (20) Joe Nemechek(i), Chevrolet, 247.<\/p>\n

               26. (15) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 246.<\/p>\n

               27. (28) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 246.<\/p>\n

               28. (34) Spencer Boyd #, Chevrolet, 246.<\/p>\n

               29. (4) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 246.<\/p>\n

               30. (22) Kaz Grala #, Ford, 245.<\/p>\n

               31. (38) Vinnie Miller #, Chevrolet, 244.<\/p>\n

               32. (36) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 244.<\/p>\n

               33. (37) Josh Bilicki #, Toyota, 244.<\/p>\n

               34. (33) Chad Finchum #, Toyota, 238.<\/p>\n

               35. (25) David Starr, Chevrolet, 229.<\/p>\n

               36. (40) Mike Harmon, Dodge, Clutch, 133.<\/p>\n

               37. (29) Stephen Leicht, Toyota, Brakes, 128.<\/p>\n

               38. (39) Timmy Hill, Dodge, Fuel Pump, 107.<\/p>\n

               39. (31) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Brakes, 32.<\/p>\n

               40. (32) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, Electrical, 26.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  93.284 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 00 Mins, 36 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.423 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  5 for 39 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  9 among 6 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   C. Custer 1-43; C. Bell # 44-68; D. Hemric 69-79; J. Nemechek 80-115; C. Bell # 116-131; E. Sadler 132-154; N. Gragson(i) 155; E. Sadler 156-162; N. Gragson(i) 163-171; C. Bell # 172-250.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  C. Bell # 3 times for 120 laps; C. Custer 1 time for 43 laps; J. Nemechek 1 time for 36 laps; E. Sadler 2 times for 30 laps; D. Hemric 1 time for 11 laps; N. Gragson(i) 2 times for 10 laps.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 21,20,00,3,1,2,9,19,42,22<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 1,18,2,20,00,42,19,9,22,11<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. \u2013 In a long green-flag run fraught with spellbinding tension, Christopher Bell held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Noah Gragson to win Friday night\u2019s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway. Bell spoiled Gragson\u2019s prospects for a victory in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut, passing his teammate for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_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}},"categories":[11],"tags":[451,16,181,486],"class_list":["post-16579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-christopher-bell","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-xfinity-series","tag-richmond-raceway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/NXS_RR_Checkeredflag_042018.jpg?fit=4850%2C3233&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-4jp","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16579"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16593,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16579\/revisions\/16593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}