BELL ENDS CHEVY DOMINANCE
- burningrubberpodcast
- Mar 12, 2024
- 2 min read
Written By: Lena
Chevrolet’s win streak would come to end, with Christopher Bell’s win at Phoenix Raceway yesterday.
Josh Berry would start the race in the rear after spinning in qualifying. Toyota’s dominance of the weekend began in qualifying on Saturday with Denny Hamlin scoring the pole. Hamlin was joined in the front row by his teammate Ty Gibbs. The caution flag would wave on lap 7 as Derek Kraus spins himself, collecting both Austin Dillon and Austin Cindric in the process ( a bad day to be named Austin). Seven drivers would pit, while the remaining stayed out. The rest of the stage would run caution free, with Tyler Reddick scoring the stage win.
During the pit stops after stage 1, Denny Hamlin gained the lead, while Carson Hocevar would suffer a loose wheel and Kyle Larson faced a left rear issue. The two issues would cause the drivers to pit a second time. Green flag stops would begin on lap 116, with Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and Carson Hocevar leading the rotation. On lap 117, Ty Gibbs would lose several positions due to a 17 second pit stop. On lap 119, Denny Hamlin and Daniel Suarez made contact on pit road. The stage, unlike the first would go caution free. Christopher Bell would win the stage.
During pit stops after stage 2, Bell dropped to 10th due to a right rear issue on pit road. Harrison was caught for speeding, while Hamlin would return to the lead after gaining 2 spots on pit road. Kyle Busch would spin on the backstretch, bring out a caution on lap 197. On the restart, Reddick would take the lead from Hamlin. Ross Chastain made contact with the wall in turn 4 on the restart, though he would keep on going.
Three laps later, the caution flag would wave as John Hunter Nemecheck made contact with Joey Logano, collecting Josh Berry, Corey Lajoie, Derek Kraus and Zane Smith. Ten laps after the previous caution, Denny Hamlin would spin after fighting Reddick for the lead bringing out yet another caution. On pit stops, the top 9 cars would stay out, one of them being Martin Truex Jr. who gains the race lead with the strategy call. After the restart while fighting for 8th, Bubba Wallace and Erik Jones made contact. Christopher Bell who restarted 20th is a man on a mission. Nearly 10 laps after the restart, Bell would reenter the top 10. On lap 271, as Truex pits, Bell would regain the lead.
The remainder of the race would run caution free, with Bell winning his 7th career cup series race.
Comments