Christopher Bell Wins Rain-Delayed USA Today 301

For most of the USA Today 301, Bell was a top 15 and top 10 competitor, battling hard against his teammate, Martin Truex Jr. That is until Mother Nature rolled into New Hampshire with threats of lightning and rain. The No. 20 team opted to pit for two fresh Goodyear tires, while other teams stayed out on old tires, losing Bell’s clean air to Tyler Reddick.

The clean air remained king, and Reddick was able to run the middle and top lines effectively, keeping Blaney and 23XI Racing co-owner Hamlin behind his SiriusXM Toyota.

Under a red flag, it looked as if Reddick would walk away with the win. However, the race wasn’t over.

The red flag would fly shortly after 4:30 p.m. E.T. and last roughly two hours. It was the belief by most, if not all, that the race would be called, crowning Reddick the winner. However, after two hours, NASCAR was successful in drying enough of the wet surface to allow the drivers to return to their cars, now sporting Goodyear’s wet weather tires instead of slicks. Bell flew through the field to the lead, where he ran essentially uncontested.

Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher rounded out the top five, while Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., John Hunter Nemechek, Truex and Ross Chastain completed the top 10.

The race weekend in Loudon began with worries of rain and severe weather, allowing confusion to take hold of strategy before the race ever started. However, this was for the benefit of any race fans tuning into the 301-lap event. Seemingly from the drop of the green flag, the drivers of the NASCAR Cup Series battled door-to-door, three- and four-wide, in both the corners and straights as if the rain was already approaching. This intense racing allowed for multiple comers and goers.

In stage one, Bell ran down Chase Elliott, who held up to a four-second lead at one point, to muscle past the No. 9 and into the lead for the stage win over Joey Logano.