Christopher Bell beats Reddick to claim Bristol Dirt Cup win

Bell, who inherited the lead by staying out between Stages 2 and 3, led the final 100 laps but had to ward off repeated challenges, with the last coming from Tyler Reddick in the final five laps.

Reddick, who won Stage 2, had pit for new tires during the break and put them to good use and put himself in position to challenge for the win down the stretch.

With Reddick closing in for a final attempt at a pass on the last of 250 laps, Bell’s win was secured when NASCAR was forced to display the caution – the 14th of the race – for the stopped car of Ross Chastain in Turn 4.

The win is the first this season for Bell, who won three times last season and advanced to the Championship 4 for the first time in his career. Bell, 28, has five top-five finishes in the first eight races of the 2023 season.

“Man, let me tell you, these are some of the longest laps of my entire life. This place is so much fun, whether it is dirt or concrete,” Bell said. “Whenever the cushion got up there on the top (lane), it was very tough because you couldn’t drive it super hard otherwise you’d get sucked in.

“If you got your right-front into it, you’d push a little bit. If you got your right-rear into it, you’d slide. It was a lot of fun.”

Several times in the last 25 laps, Bell looked like he may slam the wall in Turns 3 and 4, which he called “the scary corner.”

“If you got into it too far, you lost all your momentum. (Turns) 1 and 2, I think I kept hitting the wall a couple times. Seems like there was a little bit more moisture up there, it would hold me better.

“I am like, ‘Okay, I can really attack (Turns) 1 and .’ But three and four I had to be careful.”

Austin Dillon ended up third, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fourth and Chase Briscoe rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 were Justin Haley, Martin Truex Jr., Todd Gilliland, Kevin Harvick and Ty Gibbs.

Stage 3

Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, most of the lead-lap cars elected to hit pit road but Bell was among eight that remained on the track and inherited the lead.

On the restart on Lap 151, Bell was followed by Aric Almirola, William Byron, Michael McDowell and Denny Hamlin. Reddick, the first off pit road during the controlled stops, lined up 12th.

Kyle Larson, who did not change tires during the break, spun off Turn 4 on Lap 156, which brought out the 10th caution of the race. The race returned to green on Lap 162.

On Lap 175, Ryan Preece and Larson door-slammed each other twice before it finally sent Larson into the wall to place the race back under caution.

“He’s had a short temper about something earlier,” Larson said of Preece. “It is what it is. I should’ve never been back in that position anyway. I spun out and killed my race. Mad at myself more than anything.”

The damage to Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet was enough to bring an early end to his race. The race returned to green on Lap 182 with Bell still in control.

Noah Gragson spun entering Turn 1 on Lap and came to a stop on the track, which triggered the 12th caution of the race. The race resumed on Lap 208 with Bell out front, followed by Briscoe and Austin Dillon.

With 40 laps to go, Reddick got around Austin Dillon to move into third behind Bell and Briscoe.

On Lap 224, Reddick went to the inside of Briscoe and moved into the second position, behind Bell.

After reporting something may have broken on his No. 8 Chevrolet, Kyle Busch spun around off Turn 4 and down toward pit road on Lap 235 to place the race back under caution.

The race resumed with eights laps remaining with Bell out front followed by Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon and Briscoe.

Stage 2

Reddick withstood a fierce last-lap charge from Austin Dillon and came away with the Stage 2 win.

Larson was third, Bell fourth and Busch rounded out the top-five.

Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, most of the lead-lap cars decided to pit but Reddick was among a handful that remained on the track and inherited the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 76.

Reddick was followed by Bubba Wallace, Truex and Ty Dillon on the restart.

Jonathan Davenport spun on his own off Turn 4 on Lap 81 and had trouble getting restarted which placed the race back under caution.

Reddick remained in the lead on the restart on Lap 87.

McDowell looped his No. 34 Ford around on the backstretch on Lap 88 in an incident that also collected Brad Keselowski to bring out the sixth caution of the race.

The race resumed on Lap 95 with Reddick still leading the way.

On Lap 98, Joey Logano was forced to hit pit road under green with a flat tire. He eventually had to take his No. 22 Ford to the garage, unable to make repairs.

Preece spun around on the backstretch on Lap 103 which brought out a caution. Reddick remained out front on the restart on Lap 112.

On Lap 126, J.J. Yeley and Keselowski both spun off Turn 2 which forced NASCAR to display another caution. The race returned to green on Lap 132.

Busch went to the outside of Reddick and finally got around him on Lap 135 to take the lead for the first time in the race.

On Lap 141, Reddick took the field three-wide and reclaimed the lead as Austin Dillon moved into second.

Stage 1

Larson claimed the Stage 1 win under caution as Hamlin and Josh Berry wrecked off Turn 4 on the final lap,

Austin Dillon ended up second, Busch third, Preece fourth and Blaney rounded out the top-five.

Larson started on the pole and quickly moved out to a sizeable advantage over Austin Dillon.

Wallace spun around in Turn 1 on Lap 11 and Logano got into him as well which brought out the first caution of the race. Byron and Gilliland also caught a piece of that incident.

Logano spun into the barrels protecting the entrance to the backstretch pit road which caused an extended cleanup.

A handful of teams decided to pit. The race returned to green on Lap 21 with Larson out front followed by Austin Dillon and Bell.

Matt Crafton, substituting for Cody Ware in the No. 51 Ford, spun off Turn 4 on Lap 38 in an incident that also collected Logano.

The race returned to green on Lap 46 with Larson still in command.

On Lap 56, Busch finally worked his way around Austin Dillon to move into the runner-up spot behind Larson.

On Lap 58, Keselowski spun off Turn 4 and came to a stop on the track to bring out the third caution of the race. The race resumed on Lap 65 with Larson still out front.

Austin Dillon went to the inside of Busch off Turn 4 on Lap 70 and reclaimed the second position.