NASCAR
Christopher Bell Takes Second Xfinity Win of 2024 at Darlington
DARLINGTON, S.C. – Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas are far from strangers to success and winning at Darlington Raceway. In Saturday’s Sport Clips 200, it was Christopher Bell who was class of the field in his Toyota Supra, leading 108 of 150 laps. While Bell’s crew celebrates, his teammate Sheldon Creed faces more heartbreak after losing command late.
Bell was best in class from the outset of the Xfinity Darlington dash, taking the Stage 1 win and being second in Stage 2. The only one who had anything to contend against Bell was Sheldon Creed, still gunning for a maiden Xfinity triumph.
Creed stalked Bell down over a long green flag run in Stage 3, taking control with under 10 laps left. AJ Allmendinger slamming the wall however sent this race into overtime, where Creed’s crew faced a speed bump. A slow pit stop saw Bell exit pit road in third, where he ended up finishing behind Bell and Cole Custer.
“I really need to see a replay of [the restart], that was wild,” Bell said. “Darlington’s just such a tough racetrack, and off of [turn] two, whether you’re on the bottom or the top it just flushes you to the wall, and then you kind of wiggle coming down. Once again, I feel terrible for Sheldon [Creed]. To essentially win the race, he passed me on the long run there, and then to lose the lead on pit road is a big bummer. Really really happy to win in the Sport Clips [Supra]. Tyler Allen (crew chief) what can I say man. He’s been killing it this year, and I’m just lucky I get to drive for him.”
Behind the top trio were Chase Elliott in the Hendrick No. 17, and Sammy Smith in the JR Motorsports No. 8. Jesse Love, Shane van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top-10. Hear from a few of these drivers below.
Bell’s win as a Cup Series interloper has no affect on the Xfinity Series Playoff picture. Their regular season continues to wind down, with three races left before their postseason cut. Xfinity cars will be back in action Saturday from Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Focused Health 250 goes green at 3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. RCR cars had the field covered in the spring Atlanta race. Can they remain on top in the Peach State?
Written by Peter Stratta
Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X
Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter/X
Photo Credits to TSJSports
