Christopher Bell holds off Denny
Hamlin at Phoenix to win third straight NASCAR Cup Series race
[March 10, 2025]
By JOHN MARSHALL
AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Christopher Bell was just ahead of Joe Gibbs
Racing teammate Denny Hamlin after a late restart, in good position
to win his third straight NASCAR Cup Series race.
Another restart led to some tense moments — enough to make his team
owner feel a bit queasy.
Bell survived a late drag race with Hamlin to become the first
NASCAR Cup Series driver to win three straight races in the NextGen
car, edging his teammate by 0.049 seconds to win the second-closest
race in Phoenix Raceway history on Sunday.
“It worked out about as opposite as I could have drawn it up in my
head,” Bell said. “But the races that are contested like that,
looking back, are the ones that mean the most to you.”
Bell started 11th in the 312-mile race after winning at Atlanta and
Circuit of America the previous two weeks. The JGR driver moved
toward the front early and remained there most of the afternoon,
taking the lead out of the pits on a late caution.
Bell stayed out front on two late restarts, holding off his teammate
by the nose of his car on the final one to become the first driver
to win three straight races since Kyle Larson in 2021. He's the
fourth driver in Cup Series history to win three times in the first
four races — first since Kevin Harvick in 2018.
“We've had four races this year, put ourselves in position in all
four and managed to win three, which is a pretty remarkable batting
average — something that will be hard to maintain, I believe,”
Bell's crew chief Adam Stevens said.
The Phoenix race was the first since Richmond last year to give
teams two sets of option tires. The option red tires have much
better grip, but start to fall off after about 35 laps, creating an
added strategic element.
A handful of racers went to the red tires early — Joey Logano and
Ryan Preece among them — and it paid off with runs to the lead
before falling back.
Bell was among those who had a set of red tires left for the final
stretch and used it to his advantage, pulling away from Hamlin on a
restart with 17 laps left.
Another caution made it closer than Bell and his team would have
liked.
“I was ready to upchuck,” JGR Racing owner Joe Gibbs said.
Hamlin pulled alongside Bell's No. 20 Toyota over the final two laps
after the restart and seemed to be slightly ahead at the white flag.
The teammates bumped a couple times while jockeying for position,
but Bell barely managed to keep ahead of Hamlin, crossing the
checkered flag with a wobble for his 12th career Cup Series win. He
led 105 laps.
“I kind of had position on the 20, but I knew he was going to ship
it in there,” Hamlin said. “We just kind of ran out of race track
there.”
Kyle Larson finished third, Josh Berry fourth and Chris Buescher
rounded out the top five.
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Christopher Bell (20) leaves a trail of smoke as he celebrates his
win of a NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix Raceway, Sunday, March 9,
2025, in Avondale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)
Legge's debut
Katherine Legge became the first woman to race on the Cup Series
since Danica Patrick at the Daytona 500 seven years ago.
Her race didn't get off to a great start. The end wasn't great,
either.
Fighting a tight car, Legge got loose coming out of turn 2 and spun
her No. 78 Chevrolet, forcing her to make a pit stop. She dropped to
the back of the field and had a hard time making up ground before
bumping another car and spinning again on lap 215, taking out Daniel
Suarez with her.
Legge couldn't return and finished 30th.
“We made some changes to the car overnight and they were awful,”
Legge said. “I was just hanging on to it.”
Logano’s mistake
Logano started on the front row in his first race back at Phoenix
Raceway since capturing his third Cup Series at the track last fall.
A mistake on an early restart dropped the Team Penske driver to the
back of the field.
Trying to get a jump on Byron, Logano barely dipped his No. 22 Ford
below the yellow line at the start/finish. NASCAR officials reviewed
the restart and forced him to take a pass through on pit road as the
entire field passed him on the track.
“No way,” Logano said on his radio. “That’s freakin’ ridiculous.”
Logano twice surged to the lead after switching to the red tires,
but started falling back on the primary tires following a restart.
He finished 13th.
Preece's gamble
Preece took an early gamble by going to the red option tires and it
paid off with a run from 33rd to third. The RFK Racing driver
dropped back as the tires wore off, but went red again following a
caution with about 90 laps left and surged into the lead.
Preece went back to the primary tires with 42 laps to go and started
dropping back, finishing 15th.
Up next
The series next heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Bell will
try to become the first Cup Series driver to win four straight races
since Jimmie Johnson in 2007.
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