{"id":50156,"date":"2025-03-02T23:28:18","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T05:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=50156"},"modified":"2025-03-02T23:28:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T05:28:18","slug":"christopher-bell-goes-back-to-back-with-victory-at-circuit-of-the-americas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/02\/christopher-bell-goes-back-to-back-with-victory-at-circuit-of-the-americas\/","title":{"rendered":"Christopher Bell goes back-to-back with victory at Circuit of the Americas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

AUSTIN, Texas – For the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, Christopher Bell has won back-to-back races, claiming victory in Sunday\u2019s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA). After securing a win at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Feb. 23, Bell had COTA circled as another opportunity to visit Victory Lane\u2014and he delivered in spectacular fashion.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

Bell, driving the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, wrestled the lead from Kyle Busch with six laps to go and held off a hard-charging William Byron to cross the finish line 0.433 seconds ahead. The victory marks Bell\u2019s first win at the 2.4-mile, 17-turn Texas road course and the 11th Cup Series win of his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pride myself on racing respectful, and I feel like my image around the garage is respected in that aspect,\u201d Bell said post-race. \u201cWilliam repaid that today. He ran extremely hard, but fair and clean. We saw a heck of a race out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

Byron, the defending race winner, finished second for the second time in three races this season. Pole winner Tyler Reddick secured third, while Chase Elliott overcame a first-lap spin and a broken toe link to finish fourth. Busch, who led a race-high 42 laps, faded to fifth on the final lap after contact with Bell drained the strength from his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.<\/p>\n

Having pitted two laps earlier than Bell during the final green-flag cycle, Busch had built a commanding lead, holding a 2.6-second gap over Byron and a four-second advantage over Bell on Lap 78. However, an ill-timed caution caused by Denny Hamlin\u2019s spin into Austin Dillon\u2019s Chevrolet eliminated that lead.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

Busch maintained control on the restart on Lap 83, but Bell had fresher tires and, ultimately, the superior car. With a run off Turn 20 on Lap 90, Bell took the lead just before the start\/finish line. Byron followed into second at the top of Turn 1 on Lap 91, with Reddick slotting into third soon after.<\/p>\n

Busch lamented both the late caution and the toll of worn tires. \u201cI did everything I could to screw up so that Bell could dump me,\u201d Busch said. \u201cThe tires were gone. There was nothing I could do to hang on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

For Bell, the win was both validation and redemption. Last year, despite having a fast car, multiple wins slipped away. Now, he has captured two victories in three races, making him the first driver to accomplish that feat since Kevin Harvick in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really have a message to send to my competitors, but it\u2019s nice to capitalize on race wins,\u201d Bell said. \u201cLast year, there were so many race wins that got away whenever I had the fastest car. The last two weeks, I kind of won without the fastest car, so it\u2019s really nice to get those back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

The race featured a record-breaking 20 lead changes, a testament to the competition on display. Beyond the top five, Shane van Gisbergen, Chris Buescher, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman, and Todd Gilliland rounded out the top ten.<\/p>\n

Elliott, who fell to the back of the pack after being spun by Ross Chastain on Lap 1, managed to claw his way back into contention thanks to strategic calls from crew chief Alan Gustafson. Fresh tires on the final caution helped him rally to fourth.<\/p>\n

One of the more dramatic moments of the race occurred on Lap 50, when 18-year-old Connor Zilisch\u2019s Cup debut came to a violent end. His Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Su\u00e1rez lost control in Turn 19, spinning into Zilisch\u2019s path and sending him crashing into the SAFER barrier. The incident ended Zilisch\u2019s promising run, which had seen him recover from a Lap 1 incident to battle back into the top 15 before the wreck.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo by Michael C. Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

The Next Gen car\u2019s parity has made consecutive victories rare in recent seasons, with Bell becoming the first driver to go back-to-back in more than a year. When asked about this trend, Bell pointed to the evolving NASCAR schedule and increased competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the superspeedway stuff and the Next Gen car really leveling the playing field, there\u2019s a lot of competitive cars now,\u201d Bell explained. \u201cBack in the day, there was the \u2018Big Three\u2019\u2014Kyle, Martin [Truex Jr.], and Harvick. Now, winning has certainly become harder. More guys are capable of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell\u2019s confidence is soaring as the series heads to Phoenix and Las Vegas\u2014two tracks where Joe Gibbs Racing has historically performed well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to be sitting here with more importantly than two wins, ten playoff bonus points,\u201d Bell said. \u201cWe\u2019re in a pretty good spot right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Bell hitting his stride early in the season, his competitors now have to contend with a driver whose confidence and execution are peaking. If Bell\u2019s recent performance is any indication, the No. 20 team is only getting started.<\/p>\n

Interviews:<\/h3>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series Race Winning Crew Chief, Adam Stevens; and Owner, Joe Gibbs (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) –<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/StevensandGibbs.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series Race \u2013 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix<\/strong><\/p>\n

Circuit of The Americas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Austin, Texas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday, March 2, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

                  1. (19)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 95.<\/p>\n

                  2. (15)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 95.<\/p>\n

                  3. (1)  Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 95.<\/p>\n

                  4. (3)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 95.<\/p>\n

                  5. (8)  Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 95.<\/p>\n

                  6. (6)  Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 95.<\/p>\n

                  7. (24)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 95.<\/p>\n

                  8. (17)  Noah Gragson, Ford, 95.<\/p>\n

                  9. (21)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 95.<\/p>\n

                  10. (10)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 95.<\/p>\n

                  11. (16)  Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 95.<\/p>\n

                  12. (9)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 95.<\/p>\n

                  13. (4)  Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 95.<\/p>\n

                  14. (18)  Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 95.<\/p>\n

                  15. (26)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 95.<\/p>\n

                  16. (29)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 95.<\/p>\n

                  17. (31)  Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 95.<\/p>\n

                  18. (22)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 95.<\/p>\n

                  19. (25)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 95.<\/p>\n

                  20. (2)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 95.<\/p>\n

                  21. (11)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 95.<\/p>\n

                  22. (33)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 95.<\/p>\n

                  23. (30)  Cole Custer, Ford, 95.<\/p>\n

                  24. (23)  Joey Logano, Ford, 95.<\/p>\n

                  25. (36)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 95.<\/p>\n

                  26. (35)  Josh Berry, Ford, 95.<\/p>\n

                  27. (32)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 95.<\/p>\n

                  28. (34)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 95.<\/p>\n

                  29. (20)  Zane Smith, Ford, 95.<\/p>\n

                  30. (12)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 95.<\/p>\n

                  31. (37)  Cody Ware, Ford, 95.<\/p>\n

                  32. (7)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 95.<\/span><\/p>\n

                  33. (28)  Ryan Preece, Ford, 95.<\/span><\/p>\n

                  34. (13)  Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 95.<\/span><\/p>\n

                  35. (27)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 80.<\/span><\/p>\n

                  36. (5)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, Accident, 50.<\/span><\/p>\n

                  37. (14)  Connor Zilisch(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 49.<\/span><\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  73.025 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 7 Mins, 20 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.433 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  4 for 15 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  20 among 9 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   T. Reddick 1-8;S. Van Gisbergen # 9-17;T. Reddick 18;B. Wallace 19-22;S. Van Gisbergen # 23-24;K. Busch 25;S. Van Gisbergen # 26;K. Busch 27-34;S. Van Gisbergen # 35-42;A. Allmendinger 43;R. Preece 44-46;M. McDowell 47-49;K. Busch 50-53;A. Allmendinger 54;K. Busch 55-68;C. Bell 69-70;S. Van Gisbergen # 71-73;K. Busch 74-81;W. Byron 82;K. Busch 83-89;C. Bell 90-95.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Busch 6 times for 42 laps; Shane Van Gisbergen # 5 times for 23 laps; Tyler Reddick 2 times for 9 laps; Christopher Bell 2 times for 8 laps; Bubba Wallace 1 time for 4 laps; Ryan Preece 1 time for 3 laps; Michael McDowell 1 time for 3 laps; AJ Allmendinger 2 times for 2 laps; William Byron 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 23,22,88,8,9,45,5,99,24,16<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 60,12,71,8,88,16,24,23,20,99<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  AUSTIN, Texas – For the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, Christopher Bell has won back-to-back races, claiming victory in Sunday\u2019s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA). After securing a win at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Feb. 23, Bell had COTA circled as another opportunity to visit Victory […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50109,"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":[451,39,16],"class_list":["post-50156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-christopher-bell","tag-circuit-of-the-americas","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AM1I9523a-scaled.jpg?fit=1707%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-d2Y","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50156","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=50156"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50165,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50156\/revisions\/50165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}