Christopher Bell celebrates in Victory Lane after winning Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR
Christopher Bell got just what he needed on an uncharacteristically hot day at New Hampshire Motor Speedway — a breeze.
That’s an apt description of Bell’s victory in the ROXOR 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday. In winning for the fifth time this season and the second time in as many starts at the Magic Mile, Bell led 186 of 200 laps and crossed the finish line 4.068 seconds ahead of runner-up Cole Custer.
The race followed a familiar pattern. After each restart, Bell would pull away steadily as the drivers behind him contested second, third and fourth place. The only time the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota fell out of the lead was a pit stop on lap 33, when seven other cars stayed on the track.
Bell restarted eighth on lap 38 and drove up to second place before the first stage ended on lap 45. Aside from that, the 24-year-old from Norman, Oklahoma, was in full control. When Stage 2 ended, Bell had an advantage of more than six seconds over eventual third-place finisher Justin Allgaier.
“I just had a really good race car,” said Bell, who has a propensity for understatement. “I’m very thankful to be driving these Supras for Joe Gibbs Racing. All of our partners, man, they just provide really fast race cars, and I’m the lucky guy who gets to drive them.”
Custer’s recent victories on the 1.5-mile speedways at Chicagoland and Kentucky had engendered talk that Custer might be the favorite for the series championship this year. But Bell was reluctant to call his win at New Hampshire a statement victory, no matter how decisive.
“We knew we’d be good here,” said Bell, who earned his 13th win in 59 Xfinity starts. “Whoever the (championship) favorite is will be decided at Homestead.”
Custer’s car was fast enough to win the pole in qualifying but not strong enough to keep up with Bell on restarts.
“I wasn’t driving the car right at the start of the race, so I kind of got behind on adjustments,” said Custer, who lost the lead to Bell on a hotly contested first lap. “I wish we’d had another caution so we could catch up to him.”
Series leader Tyler Reddick ran fourth, followed by Paul Menard and Chase Briscoe. Ryan Truex, Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones and Noah Gragson completed the top 10.
If Bell’s drive to the checkered flag was a breeze, that was hardly the case for his JGR teammate, Harrison Burton, who got the short end of an on-track spat with Menard, the only full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver in the field.
On lap 153, Menard hit Burton’s Toyota in turn 1 and sent it spinning. With his car damaged, Burton finished 29th. After the race, Burton approached Menard to get an explanation.
“He hit me twice, and I hit him once,” Menard said. “He was mad at me for hitting him that one time.”
Burton, however, didn’t think Menard’s retaliation was justified.
“We had a restart there (on lap 148), the first thing he said he was mad about was I hit him on the restart,” said the 18-year-old Burton. “But I was on the apron, and he turned down across my nose. He got mad about that, and then I barely touched his door, and I got out of the gas because I didn’t want to hit him any harder than I did.
“Then I passed him clean, and he wrecked me… He didn’t really seem to care, and that’s fine for him. I’m just going to go out and beat him on the race track. That’s all I can do to show these guys that I’m here to play. I’m not going to get pushed around anymore.”
NASCAR Xfinity Series
New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Loudon, NH
ROXOR 200 – July 20, 2019
1. (2) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 200.
2. (1) Cole Custer, Ford, 200.
3. (8) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.
4. (11) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 200.
5. (4) Paul Menard(i), Ford, 200.
6. (5) Chase Briscoe #, Ford, 200.
7. (9) Ryan Truex, Chevrolet, 200.
8. (15) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200.
9. (6) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 200.
10. (10) Noah Gragson #, Chevrolet, 200.
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12. (3) Austin Cindric, Ford, 200.
13. (13) Justin Haley #, Chevrolet, 200.
14. (12) Kaz Grala, Chevrolet, 200.
15. (14) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200.
16. (21) Brandon Brown #, Chevrolet, 200.
17. (20) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 199.
18. (25) Ray Black II, Chevrolet, 199.
19. (27) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 199.
20. (31) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 198.
21. (36) B.J. McLeod, Chevrolet, 198.
22. (19) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 197.
23. (18) Stephen Leicht, Chevrolet, 197.
24. (30) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 197.
25. (26) Tommy Joe Martins, Toyota, 197.
26. (32) David Starr, Chevrolet, 196.
27. (28) Vinnie Miller, Chevrolet, 195.
28. (37) C.J. McLaughlin(i), Chevrolet, 192.
29. (7) Harrison Burton(i), Toyota, Suspension, 169.
30. (22) Chad Finchum, Toyota, 167.
31. (34) Joey Gase, Toyota, 159.
32. (38) Tyler Matthews, Chevrolet, 154.
33. (29) Shane Lee, Toyota, Engine, 112.
34. (35) Timmy Hill, Toyota, Brakes, 92.
35. (33) Bayley Currey(i), Chevrolet, Vibration, 51.
36. (17) John Hunter Nemechek #, Chevrolet, Accident, 31.
37. (24) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, Carburetor, 22.
38. (23) Carl Long, Toyota, Rear Gear, 16.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 104.365 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 1 Mins, 39 Secs. Margin of Victory: 4.068 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 28 laps.
Lead Changes: 5 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Custer 0;C. Bell 1-33;B. Jones 34-36;R. Sieg 37;B. Jones 38-47;C. Bell 48-200.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Christopher Bell 2 times for 186 laps; Brandon Jones 2 times for 13 laps; Ryan Sieg 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 19,20,2,93,7,8,00,11,12,2,98
Stage #2 Top Ten: 20,7,00,2,12,98,8,22,18,4,1
Top 10 in Points: 1. Tyler Reddick – 812 (3 Wins); 2. Christopher Bell – 756 (5 Wins); 3. Cole Custer – 736 (5 Wins); 4. Justin Allgaier – 666; 5. Austin Cindric – 649; 6. Noah Gragson – 596; 7. Chase Briscoe – 568; 8. Michael Annett – 567 (1 Win); 9. Justin Haley – 555; 10. John Hunter Nemechek – 531.
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