Christopher Bell Brings it Home in Bristol Truck Race

Photo Credit to Chris Graythen/Getty Images

NASCAR

Christopher Bell Takes Second Straight Bristol Win in Topsy Turvy Truck Race

BRISTOL, Tenn. – September’s Bristol Night Race winner found a very familiar victory lane on Friday night. Taking over after a few Truckers tangled late, Christopher Bell was left celebrating in Bristol. This marks Bell’s first Truck win in almost nine years, and the first victory for Halmar Friesen Racing’s No. 62 Toyota. One of a record seven Cup Series regulars moonlighting in the Trucks, Bell showed that experience won out on Bristol’s high banks.

Starting second, Christian Eckes soon found the lead and hardly looked back across both stages. Ben Rhodes opting to stay out on a late caution in Stage 2, however, gave the No. 99 Ford this win.

Rhodes pitting from the lead after Stage 2 handed the lead to Kyle Busch. The Bristol master gambled on a bold fuel strategy but came up short. The Spire No. 7 slowed up too much under yellow, losing several spots.

This gave the top spot to Corey Heim, who only held the lead for a lap before a catastrophic wreck from the lead. Contact from Christian Eckes sent Heim spinning, taking out multiple other innocent bystanders up front.

The leaders make contact! @CoreyHeim_ hits the wall in Turn 1. pic.twitter.com/wwMQ7ExbRW

— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) April 11, 2026

Following a red flag for cleanup, Christopher Bell took command for the first time and drove off from the pack. One more late restart was still not enough to keep Bell at bay. The No. 62 Toyota cruised late while Chandler Smith tried to close in. Bell now has the chance at a rare weekend sweep between Trucks and Cup on Sunday.

“Oh man, that was just so awesome, to be able to win a Truck race,” Bell said. “Man it’s been, what, since 2017, since I’ve won one of these things. Just it’s a lot of fun, racing with this group, this HFR group. I got the unfortunate call last year to, to drive for Stewart, whenever he got hurt. We went out to Watkins Glen, and almost got it. They’ve been working really hard to get to victory lane. Whenever Stewart and Jimmy called me about this opportunity to try and run some races this year, I’m like, ‘heck yeah, let’s do it.’ Just so special, so special for me to be able to race with these guys and, you know, these wins mean a lot to this team and this organization. So can’t say thank you enough to Stewart Friesen and Jimmy over there at HFR. Mr. Larson, thank you for the opportunity. Glad we got his logo and victory lane there. I love this racetrack. Love you, fans. You guys got to see some demo racing there for a little bit, so I’m sure you guys love that.

“Man, it’s such an awesome racetrack. I always tell everybody this is my favorite place to go, because it’s so fast, but yet it’s a half mile. You got that short track racing with intermediate speeds. So, I love this racetrack and can’t wait for Sunday.”

Behind Bell and Smith at the checkers were: Gio Ruggiero, Ross Chastain, and Christian Eckes. The rest of the Bristol top 10 were: Jake Garcia, Dawson Sutton, Kyle Busch, Carson Hocevar, and Butterbean Queen.