Christopher Bell claimed his first victory of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season with a strong run at Phoenix Raceway. The win marks the 29-year-old driver’s seventh at the Cup Series level.
“You don’t get cars like that very often, as you know,” Bell told Regan Smith after the race. “So, uh, just super, super proud. Proud to be in this 20 car.”
Chris Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr., Michael McDowell, Chase Briscoe, and Tyler Reddick were the top-10 finishers from second through 10th, respectively.
Coming into Phoenix, Toyota’s had only led 15 laps at Phoenix Raceway with the NextGen car. With an altered body style and a new short track package, the Toyota’s impressed leading 298 out of 312 laps.
With only one caution for cause following a spin from Derek Kraus, Reddick took stage one away from Gibbs, who led 57 of 60 laps. Kraus’s spin collected Austin Cindric and Austin Dillion, taking Cindric out of the race, and Dillion out of contention.
Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Blaney, McDowell, Briscoe, and Truex rounded out stage one’s top-10 from third through 10th, respectively.
Toyota’s continued to dominate the race with Bell making his way from outside the top-10 to 1st to win stage two over Reddick and Hamlin. Byron, Truex, Blaney, Elliott, Noah Gragson, Keselowski, and Buescher completed the top-10 from fourth through 10th, respectively.
The final stage saw multiple cautions with a single-car spin from Kyle Busch, a bump from John Hunter Nemechek to Joey Logano, and a spin from Hamlin who made slight contact with Reddick after losing grip in turn two.
Logano’s spin off of Nemechek’s bumper collected Kraus, Corey LaJoie, Zane Smith, and Josh Berry, taking Logano, LaJoie, and Kraus out of the race.
Next Sunday (March 17), the NASCAR Cup Series leaves the west for Bristol Motor Speedway and the Food City 500. Coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. E.T. on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM.
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