Christopher Bell took home the win in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400. He led only one lap, and it was the lap that mattered.
The driver of the No. 20 Dewalt Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing capitalized in overtime after a battle to the checkered flag with Carson Hocevar and Kyle Larson.
“Last thing I wanted to do was go out there and let that noise get to me and feel like I can win the race and lose,” Bell said.
Throughout the race, the first place spot was constantly changing, but it was mainly a battle between Penske-powered Fords. Numerous wrecks caused competition to either be down significantly or out completely, with late-race cautions leading to thrilling restarts.
Both Hocever, in the No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet, and Larson, driving in No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, fought for that number one spot, but came up short, coming in second and third, respectively. Pole winner Ryan Blaney, driving the No. 12 BodyArmor Zero Sugar Ford, came in 4th after losing control and spinning out on lap 238. Rounding out the top 5 was Ricky Stenhouse Jr. driving the No. 47 Martin’s Famous Potato Rolls Chevrolet.
“It’s so much more strategic in the driver’s seat to get to the front and it’s just intense,” Larson said. “The laps are going faster, it’s a smaller track, so yeah, it’s fun.”
This is Bell’s 10th cup series win and first at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race also produced a track record with 50 lead changes.
“It’s different from Daytona and Talladega,” Bell said. “I think it has something to do with the way the lane opens. You always have somewhere to go.”
Stage 1 began with Austin Cindric taking an early lead and holding it for much of the segment. This was until the last half of the stage where Josh Berry took the lead. From there, they kept battling for that top spot with another racer, Todd Gilliand, taking the lead a few times throughout leading to 6 lead changes in this stage.
When Stage 2 began, Joey Logano took the lead after a quick pit stop and began a battle with Gilliand behind him. In this stage, there were numerous wrecks that took out competitors, most notably Ty Dillion who ended up several laps behind everyone else. As the stage came to a close, Larson snatched the lead, putting Logano behind him and Bubba Wallace in 3rd.
Stage 3 began with a shuffle on pit road. Every frontrunner was playing from behind as several drivers took advantage of a late Stage 2 caution and pitted early. Ross Chastain led the pack for several laps, with Berry on his tail. Several drivers lost their chance at victory at this stage, as wrecks plagued the waning laps of the race.
Last year’s race winner, Daniel Suarez, got hit and led to a pile up that took out 8 other cars. Cindric also lost control shortly after taking first, leading to the race going into overtime.
The last five laps were tense as Berry took the lead quickly, only to end up in a wreck with one lap left. With that, Bell took the lead and won the race.
“That seemed like a crazier race. It seemed hard for people to control it,” Blaney said. “Especially at the end of the race, on the last run, it seemed really hard for the leader to control or even the top two guys [to control].”
Blaney leaves Atlanta Motor Speedway with the points lead. William Byron, last week’s Daytona 500 winner, is 12 points behind Blaney.
The Cup Series continues next Sunday in Texas for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at 4:30 p.m. ET on Fox.