Bell, who could only advance to the Championship 4 with a win Sunday, pit for new tires on the final caution and lined up sixth on the restart with 24 of 500 laps remaining.
He then methodically ran down and passed Chase Briscoe with four laps to go to reclaim the lead and held off Kyle Larson by 0.869 seconds for the win at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
The victory makes Bell one of the four drivers who will compete for the 2022 series title next weekend at Phoenix Raceway – his first such opportunity of his career.
“Mom and dad, we did it – wow!” Bell exclaimed after exiting his No. 20 Toyota. “I can’t believe it, man. To come here in Martinsville, this place has always been so tough on me. Just pre-race looking up, seeing all the fans, this place is packed.
“I don’t even know what to say. Just thank you so much to everyone on this Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 team. They believed in me since day one.
“We went to Xfinity and did pretty well, struggled on the Cup side for the first little bit. They stayed with me. Very appreciative to be here. I don’t even know what to say.”
It was the second time in the playoffs Bell had produced a victory in a must-win situation. Needing a win to advance to the semifinal round, Bell came up with a win at the Charlotte Roval on Oct. 9.
Joining Bell with a chance to win the title at Phoenix are Joey Logano – who was already locked in by virtue of a win at Las Vegas, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain, who used a desperation banzai move riding the Turns 3 and 4 walls wide-open to capture fifth.
Chastain went from 10th to fifth in the final corner and ended up claiming the last Championship 4 position by four points over Denny Hamlin, who finished sixth.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, all the lead-lap cars pit with Hamlin first off pit road. On the restart on Lap 272, Hamlin was followed by Larson, Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Cole Custer.
NASCAR put out a caution on Lap 274 after Chastain washed up in the track and into Brad Keselowski, which sent Keselowski into the Turn 4 wall.
Logano, Keselowski and Chastain all pit under the caution. Logano said there was a small fire under the left-front of his No. 22 Ford.
Hamlin led the way on the restart on Lap 281 and was followed by Elliott, Larson, Custer and Blaney.
Austin Dillon wrecked in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 320 which brought out the fourth caution of the race. It appeared Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet suffered a…
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