Bell shatters drought with Chase-opening Cup win at Darlington

Christopher Bell snapped a 33-race winless streak, claiming his first victory of the year in Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500, coming after a record-breaking mark of seven runner-up efforts on the season. And the timing of his trophy hoist could not have been better for the perpetual championship contender.

Bell’s 1.038s win in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota over JGR teammate Ty Gibbs at the historic – and historically tough – 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase opener was a strong statement for Bell’s championship run.

The victory vaults him from sixth place to second place in the championship standings, now only 12 points behind another JGR teammate, the regular season champion Denny Hamlin with nine races left to decide who hoists the big trophy.

“It’s been too long, oh my gosh man,’’ said a grinning Bell, who took the checkered flag and proudly bowed to the packed and rowdy Darlington grandstands in honor of his former teammate, the late Kyle Busch.

“I’m just so, so, so proud of all these guys, all these guys they deserve it more than anyone,’’ he said of his team. “This has been a long time coming. And Darlington has been one I’ve always wanted to win since I got into the sport. It’s the ultimate driver’s track.’’

Not only did Bell end that winless streak, but the showing was a big boost to his spirit considering this season he’s had to overcome a broken wrist suffered in June during a crash at Michigan. Bell raced as the injury was healing this summer and now that perseverance and unwavering belief in himself and team has put himself in position to vie for the 2026 championship.

Sunday’s win in one of the premier events on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule was not only particularly rewarding in the moment, but a huge motivation going forward. And Bell’s victory marks the first time since 2019 that the JGR operation has scored wins by all four of its drivers.

“We can win any week, it just hadn’t happened yet,’’ Bell said. “When I was sitting in the infield care center at Michigan, I thought my season would be over. But we’re still in it, baby. We’re still in it."

The 31-year old Oklahoman led 46 laps on the night, but ultimately took the lead for good getting around reigning series champion Kyle Larson with 12 laps remaining in the 367-lap race. Larson led a race best 99 laps, but was among four cars that did not pit for fresh tires following an eight-minute red flag stoppage period for rain with 24 laps remaining.

Bell restarted fifth – his crew getting him out first among those that did take fresh tires on the pit sequence - and he wasted no time moving forward. He was on Larson’s bumper two laps after that green flag restart and made the winning move low on Larson with 12 laps to go – in the closing laps holding off four other championship-eligible drivers including Gibbs, polesitter 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Larson who managed a top-five showing despite being at a tire deficit.

Larson, who is riding a 56-race winless streak now, said after the race that he absolutely did not doubt the call to stay on track during that final caution instead of taking fresh tires.

“No, I don’t,’’ Larson said of second-guessing his team’s strategy. “[If we did] we were going to restart behind the 20 [Bell] and the 19 [sixth-place finisher, JGR’s Chase Briscoe]. I was actually surprised they pitted in front of me and didn’t stay out with me. There were so many cars on the lead lap, I thought there might be two to four more [cars] that would stay out and that could help me at least get some laps to manage my tires.

“But Bell got to second [place] so fast, I was just straight into playing defense and not able to run the lines I wanted to take care of my tires. Either way, it was going to be hard to hold him off and I ended up holding him off longer than I thought.

“Really happy with the day. Much better than we’ve been in Darlington last couple times.’’

Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry was the only non-Chase driver among the top-10 finishers, his seventh place effort marking his sixth consecutive top-10 finish – the longest such streak for a Wood Brothers driver since NASCAR Hall of Famer, the late David Pearson in 1977. 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, Team Penske’s Joey Logano were eighth and ninth.

Last week’s Daytona regular season finale winner, Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Ryan Preece rallied to a 10th place finish even after a slow pit sequence during the Stage 1 pit break that necessitated an extra pit stop and dropped to 28th in the running order then went a lap him down under the second green flag cycle in Stage 2 and got the lap back as the beneficiary at the Stage 2 break.

The regular season champion and a five-time Darlington winner, Denny Hamlin finished 18th which was actually a huge rebound after a series of bad luck events mid-race hijacked the title favorite’s trophy chances.

First, he and teammate Bell had slow pit stops during the Stage 2 caution period. And a lap after the restart for the stage break, while running 16th, Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota and Michael McDowell’s No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet made contact. Hamlin’s car went into the wall and after multiple pit stops to access the damage, he returned on track and went a lap down with 100 laps remaining.

Timely strategy calls and subsequent caution periods helped him get back on the lead lap – important in salvaging that top-20 position that keeps him atop the standings.

“Certainly not the finish we were hoping for, good first couple of stages, just got where our car was best right before the wreck in Stage 3,’’ Hamlin said. “Certainly big gains all day and was really good in the long run and got it good by the time that last stage came but never got to see it through.

“It’s the pressure of the sport. Can’t have big mistakes. We just had a tough pit stop there and once we got back there you’re with guys that are a little more aggressive and don’t really care about the points or anything like that so you sometimes don’t get a break and that’s the way it goes.

“We’re still leading [the points], so just gotta go to the next race rack and execute a high level and do our best to execute a much better day next week than what we did this week.’’

Other Chase-eligible drivers included Carson Hocevar, who finished 11th, Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott, who finished 13th and 14th. Chris Buescher and Daniel Suarez were 20th and 21st. Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron was 37th among the 38-car field, his No. 24 Chevrolet suffering an engine problem only 48 laps shy of the checkered flag.

Beyond Hamlin and Bell in the championship standings, Blaney is third now, 16 points off Hamlin. Reddick, who claimed the Stage 1 win, is 24 points back and Briscoe is 37 off his teammate’s pace.

Round 2 of the 10-race Chase, the Enjoy Illinois 300 is Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway. (3pm ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hamlin is the defending race winner.

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