A Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of Phoenix Raceway is capped off with the first career Cup Series win in The Valley of the Sun by 29-year-old Christopher Bell in the Shriners Children’s 500!
The Toyota Camry’s dominated the 312-mile race in Avondale by leading 298 of the event’s 312 laps. Bell looked to be the car to beat until a pit stop at the end of the second stage of the race derailed his positive momentum and was forced to restart the final stage of the race in the middle of the field. Even after the pit stop, Bell and the No. 20 team rallied back and made their way to the lead on Lap 272 and held the top spot through the end of the race.
A member of the Championship 4 in the past two Championship Weekends at Phoenix Raceway, Bell won the race by a margin of 5.465 seconds, the largest victory in NASCAR’s Next Gen car which debuted for the 2022 season. It is Bell’s 7th career NASCAR Cup Series victory and likely locks him into the NASCAR Playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.
“Man, this one feels really good,” said Bell. “Just a credit to (crew chief) Adam (Stevens), man. Adam, my engineers… all the mechanics on this thing. You don’t get cars like that very often, as you know. Just super, super proud. Proud to be on this 20-car. This Rheem Camry was amazing today. I feel like we have capability of running races like this a lot. Hopefully, this is the first of many this year.”
Chris Buescher slid by Ty Gibbs in the closing laps for the second and third positions, Buescher’s teammate Brad Keselowski finished fourth, and defending Cup Series Champion, Ryan Blaney, closed out the top-five.
Joe Gibbs Racing also found victory lane in Friday’s rain-shortened ARCA Menards Series General Tire 150, won by 17-year-old William Sawalich, and Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Call 811 Before You Dig 200, won by Chandler Smith.
Glendale’s Michael McDowell qualified ninth and earned a career-best finish at Phoenix Raceway in the eighth position for Front Row Motorsports. Tucson’s Alex Bowman piloted his Henrick Motorsports No. 48 to a 20th-place finish.
NASCAR’s next stop is in Tennessee as the series hits The Last Great Colosseum at Bristol Motor Speedway next Sunday. And mark your calendars as NASCAR Championship Weekend returns to Phoenix Raceway to crown four champions in the ARCA Menards West Series, Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity Series, and Cup Series over three days from November 8-10.
