Christopher Bell rallied in a chaotic final 60 laps to win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway and advance to the Championship 4 for the second consecutive season.
Bell and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team struggled for much of the race and at one point he was in danger of falling a lap down. However, a string of cautions in the final 60 of 267 laps knocked several playoff contenders out of the race and put Bell back in the hunt for the win. He took the lead for the first time on a restart on Lap 230, lost it and then reclaimed it from William Byron with 15 to go. Bell then held off a late charge from Ryan Blaney and edged him by 1.
red flagged the race for nearly 11 minutes to clear pit road of the debris. Once the race returned to caution, the lead-lap cars pit and Blaney – who completed his stop before the red flag – stayed out and inherited the lead. Hamlin was the first off pit road. The race resumed with 46 laps remaining. A four-car wreck – involving Keselowski, J.J. Yeley, John Hunter Nemechek and Ross Chastain – on the backstretch on the restart placed the race back under caution.