Breaking down Bristol Dirt: Christopher Bell wins while others spin. Who else stood out?
Christopher Bell has finished the job.
Bell sailed to a win under caution after Ross Chastain spun out on the groove on the front stretch — the dirt-racer-by-trade holding off Tyler Reddick at the end at Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt track on Sunday.
Bell snagged the lead from Chase Briscoe on Lap 207 and held off multiple challenges to the lead thereafter. While running with clean air at the front, Bell clung to the outside line, nearly rubbing up against the fence, searching for grip in the wet dirt.
And that worked.
He led a field-best 100 laps to earn his first victory of 2023.
“That was a lot of fun,” Bell told the television broadcast crew after the race.
Reddick finished second, Briscoe third.
Sunday saw a bunch of the best natural dirt racers finish well. The Top 5 — Bell, Reddick, Briscoe, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — are all accomplished drivers on the surface.
These drivers pointed to this fact to proudly declare that this racetrack was in optimal condition — and thus produced a great race.
“I thought tonight was a great night for NASCAR, and a great night for dirt racing,” Briscoe told reporters on pit road. “I felt like it was finally the first time we’ve had as close as it’s gonna get to what dirt racing is. ... I just thought it was, from my vantage point, a great race. I thought that’s why you saw the dirt guys kinda shine tonight because it was finally a real, dirt-track style race.”
Earlier this week, Briscoe was empathetic to drivers throughout the garage who preferred if Bristol stayed concrete and didn’t transform into a dirt track in the spring. But he also believed that there should be a dirt race on the Cup Series schedule.
Sunday only cemented that belief.
“I would love to see this race on a non-Easter weekend just to kind of see the turnout,” Briscoe said. “I feel like we don’t get a true read on what the fan base thinks about it. But yeah, we have to have a dirt race. I think at least one.
“Now, if it’s here or not, that doesn’t really make a difference to me. But I do think after tonight — even last year but especially after tonight — I think it’s shown that it can put on really good racing.”
Austin Dillon agreed with the sentiment that the track let the best dirt racers shine.
“Dirt late models is what I grew up racing around this area, around the Southeast,” Dillon said on pit road. “Running super late models just like Tyler. So me and him raced on the same tracks, and we both showed up at the front tonight. So it was good to be a part of everything today.”
Sunday’s race saw 14 cautions for 73 laps. Many of those cautions were spawned by single-car spins on the slick dirt — and some spins weren’t even acknowledged with a caution.
It was a race, through and through, that favored drivers with dirt experience.
“The track was most definitely a very tough surface to get ahold of, and it should’ve rewarded guys who kind of knew what to expect and how to get the car around the racetrack, which I think it did,” Bell told reporters in the media center after the win. “So it was a tricky surface. It was very tough to produce lap time. And I think that’s what made it fun, too.”
Bell took a Polish victory lap around the racetrack after notching the win. On his way to Victory Lane, Reddick — who was one wreck-free lap away from winning this same race a year ago — walked up to him and shared a smile and a few words.
“I told him that I had a lot of fun battling with him,” Reddick said with a smile. “Wish we would’ve had that extra half-lap, but me and him both really didn’t know how it was going to end. But yeah, dirt guys love running the cushion. I’m one of those guys. He’s one of those guys. There are a number of us. I definitely had a lot of fun.”
Here’s what else you need to know.
Other notable performances at Bristol
▪ Joey Logano: The driver of the No. 22 Cup car came into Sunday’s race already victorious having won the Truck race the night before. That good run wasn’t replicated on Sunday. Logano ended his day in the middle of Stage 2 and notched a last-placed finish after hitting everything besides the lottery.
“Someone wrecked in front of me, and I can’t say I really saw it, but they came down the racetrack and hit it with the right-front, and it broke the steering and then I hit the wall really hard after that,” Logano said. “That just kind of killed our car. It’s a bummer.” (Logano added that if any long runs could be put together then the racing would be great: “You can pass and make big moves and do things, but there’s always carnage around you and at some point you get caught up in it.”)
▪ Kyle Busch: The two-time Cup Series champion won this dirt race last year. It turns out he needed to, too — in order to get into the playoffs, yes, but also to break Richard Petty’s record for most consecutive seasons with a Cup win (which occurred at Auto Club Speedway in February). He ran near the front for a bulk of Sunday, but he fell sharply in Stage 3. His day ended with 15 laps to go after he spun and his car suffered a broken suspension. He finished 31st.
▪ Kyle Larson: Larson won Stage 1 after starting on the pole and ran mostly near the front all day. One memorable moment involving the 5 car: On a turn in Stage 2, Larson appeared to get a late jump on a run Ryan Preece had on Larson, and Larson subsequently shoved him into the wall. On the next caution, Preece pulled up right next to Larson and appeared to flip him off. Preece later told his team over the radio: “From now on, game over.”
Larson was in the mix for the win until the beginning of Stage 3, when he spun out on a turn by himself, sending him to the back of the field. That twist effectively ended his chances at a win on Sunday. (A final confrontation with Preece late in Stage 3 broke his suspension and ended his day for good.) He finished 35th.
▪ Michael McDowell: The 34 car spun 360 — not once but twice! — in Stage 2 and maintained going straight. The first spin prompted a caution. The second didn’t. These were the flashiest of the several single-car spins that defined the slippery race at Bristol on Sunday. McDowell finished P11.
This story was originally published April 9, 2023 at 10:07 PM.
