<\/p>\n
Christopher Bell celebrates winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in Bristol, Tenn. Associated Press<\/p>\n
BRISTOL, Tenn. \u2014 Joe Gibbs Racing completed a clean sweep of the first round in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as Christopher Bell charged to a victory Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n
Bell went from fourth to first on the final restart and led the last four laps at the 0.533-mile oval, ending a 24-race winless streak with his fourth victory of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t pretty there at the end, but we got her done,\u201d said Bell, who led only 12 laps in his 13th career victory. \u201cWe just know that any given week, it could be us, and it hasn\u2019t been for a long time. But Bristol, baby, tonight it\u2019s us.\u201d<\/p>\n
He joined JGR teammates Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe as playoff winners<\/a> with the first round concluding at Bristol<\/a>. Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Shane van Gisbergen and Josh Berry were eliminated from the 10-race championship run.<\/p>\n \u201cJust so excited about the start to the playoffs,\u201d team owner Joe Gibbs said.<\/p>\n Bell finished 0.343 seconds ahead of Brad Keselowski, who was trying to end a 51-race winless streak.<\/p>\n \u201cJust the story of our season,\u201d Keselowski said. \u201cJust a 50-50 shot on the restart, and I got the lane that couldn\u2019t launch. Just frustrating. We had a great car, great strategy and on the last restart, we just rolled the dice and didn\u2019t get anything good.\u201d<\/p>\n Zane Smith finished third, followed by Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano.<\/p>\n There were a season-high 14 caution flags for 137 laps as drivers and teams struggled to get a handle on a new right-side tire with excessive wear that required more pit stops.<\/p>\n The playoff drama spiked with 40 laps remaining when a fire erupted under Austin Cindric\u2019s No. 2 Ford. His team was able to extinguish the flames, but Cindric lost several laps in the pits and re-emerged outside the top 30.<\/p>\n His 30th-place finish still was good enough for the 12th and final transfer spot into the second round.<\/p>\n \u201cMoving on,\u201d Cindric said after finishing 30th. \u201cI believe in this team. I believe in myself. I have not been driving as well as I am now in the Cup Series.\u201d<\/p>\n Bowman ran as high as second after rebounding from a spin on the 100th lap. He would have bumped Cindric with a victory but finished eighth and came up 10 points short of advancing.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think you can really point at something that cost us,\u201d said Bowman, who benefited from a pit crew overhaul after suffering through some disastrous stops in the past two races. \u201cOur back was against the wall coming in here. We knew it was going to be a tough thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Seeking his first Cup victory, Ty Gibbs led a race-high 201 of 500 laps but bungled while trying to reach the pits for his final green-flag stop, losing major time in his No. 54 Toyota.<\/p>\n First out<\/p>\n With smoke billowing from the cockpit and flames shooting out from his right-front tire, Berry made an eye-catching exit as the first driver eliminated. The Wood Brothers Racing driver qualified 10th<\/a> and ran as high as third before a fire erupted on his No. 21 Ford.<\/p>\n \u201cMan, just so disappointing,\u201d Berry said. \u201cThat was going to be a lot of fun. We were moving forward. It\u2019s been a tough couple of weeks, but it hasn\u2019t been because of performance. We executed well and ran well, just haven\u2019t had the finishes.\u201d<\/p>\n