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Christopher Bell cruises to New Hampshire Xfinity win over Custer

Christopher Bell remains a perfect 2-for-2 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Race Winner Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Supra Rheem-Watts

Race Winner Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Supra Rheem-Watts

Lesley Ann Miller / Motorsport Images

One week after his top rival Cole Custer picked up his series-leading fifth win of the season, Bell matched that total with a dominating performance of his own.

Bell led 186 of 200 laps and easily held off Custer to win Saturday’s Roxor 200 at New Hampshire – giving him wins in both series starts at the track.

Bell and Custer are now tied with a series-leading five wins and the victory was the 13th of Bell’s career.

“I just had a really good race car,” Bell said. “I’m very thankful to be driving these Supras for Joe Gibbs Racing. All of our partners, man, they just provide really fast race cars and I’m the lucky guy who gets to drive them.

“It’s pretty good (to get the win). This race track has been really good to us. It’s so, so fun to be able to drive for these guys.

“We knew we’d be good here. Whoever the (championship) favorite is will be decided at Homestead.”

Allgaier ended up third, Tyler Reddick was fourth and Paul Menard completed the top-five.

On Lap 140, Noah Gragson tagged the wall in Turns 1 and 2 to bring out a caution that set up what could be the final round of pit stops.

All of the lead-lap cars elected to pit and Bell once again was the first off pit road. On the restart on Lap 147, Bell led the way followed by Allgaier, Reddick, Custer and Austin Cindric.

Custer powered into the second position on the restart in hopes of trying to run down Bell.

With 50 laps to go, Bell maintained a small advantage over Custer while Allgaier ran in third.

On Lap 154, Harrison Burton got turned by Paul Menard and slammed hard into the wall to bring out a caution. 

 

“He needs to race me clean, he hit me twice,” Menard said over his team radio. On the restart on Lap 158, Bell was out front followed by Custer and Allgaier.

After the race, Menard said: “He hit me twice, I hit him once. He was mad at me for hitting him once. Some of the kids get it, some don’t.”

With 20 laps remaining, Bell held a steady lead of 1.5 seconds over Custer while Allgaier continued to run third.

"He didn't seem to really care, that's fine for him," Burton said of Menard after the race. "I'm just gonna go out and beat him on the race track."

With 20 laps remaining, Bell held a steady lead of 1.5 seconds over Custer while Allgaier continued to run third.

Stage 2 

Bell dominated the second stage, taking the segment win by more than 6.5 seconds over Allgaier. It’s Bell’s 11th stage victory of the season.

Custer was third, Reddick fourth and Menard completed the top-five.

Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, those cars that had not pit under the previous caution did so this time which allowed Bell to inherit the lead. On the restart on Lap 53, Bell was followed by Reddick and Allgaier.

After 60 laps, Bell had moved out to 2.8-second lead over Reddick. Custer ran third, followed by Allgaier and Chase Briscoe.

With 20 laps remaining in the second stage, Bell’s lead over Reddick had ballooned to 4.2 seconds as Allgaier ran in third.

After 80 laps, Allgaier got around Reddick to move into the runner-up position behind Bell.

With five laps to go, Custer went to the inside of Reddick to claim the third position as Bell continued to lead the way.

Stage 1

Brandon Jones inched out the Stage 1 victory as he, Bell and Reddick raced three-wide for the lead at the conclusion of the 45-lap stage.

The stage victory was the first of the season for Jones.

 

Ryan Sieg ended up fourth and Allgaier completed the top-five.

Custer started on the pole but Bell went inside of him coming to the start/finish line to grab the lead on Lap 1.

After 15 laps, Bell had moved out to almost a 1-second lead over Custer. Allgaier ran third, Menard fourth and Jones fifth.

With 20 laps remaining in the first stage, Bell’s lead over Custer had grown to 1.3 seconds while Allgaier remained in third, 3.4 seconds behind the leader.

On Lap 32, John Hunter Nemechek tagged the Turn 1 wall and dropped his rear bumper cover on the track which brought out the race’s first caution.

Most of the lead-lap cars elected to pit and Bell was the first off pit road. Brandon Jones and several others remained on the track and led the way on the restart on Lap 38.

Sieg grabbed the lead on the restart only to see Jones power back around him and back out front.

With two laps to go in the stage, Jones continued to lead followed by Reddick and Bell.

Three drivers had to start the race from the rear of the field – Cindric for an engine change, Shane Lee for missing driver introductions and Vinnie Miller for a driver change.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Laps Led
1 20 United States Christopher Bell  Toyota 200   186
2 00 United States Cole Custer  Ford 200 4.068  
3 7 United States Justin Allgaier  Chevrolet 200 9.525  
4 2 United States Tyler Reddick  Chevrolet 200 10.161  
5 12 United States Paul Menard  Ford 200 10.554  
6 98 United States Chase Briscoe  Ford 200 17.109  
7 8 United States Ryan Truex  Chevrolet 200 17.483  
8 93 United States Ryan Sieg  Chevrolet 200 19.460 1
9 19 United States Brandon Jones  Toyota 200 20.162 13
10 9 United States Noah Gragson  Chevrolet 200 20.569  
11 1 United States Michael Annett  Chevrolet 200 21.540  
12 22 United States Austin Cindric  Ford 200 23.210  
13 11 United States Justin Haley  Chevrolet 200 23.648  
14 21 United States Kaz Grala  Chevrolet 200 24.358  
15 51 United States Jeremy Clements  Chevrolet 200 25.303  
16 86 United States Brandon Brown  Chevrolet 200 25.607  
17 08 United States Gray Gaulding  Chevrolet 199 1 lap  
18 07 United States Ray Black Jr.  Chevrolet 199 1 lap  
19 36 United States Josh Williams  Chevrolet 199 1 lap  
20 5 United States Matt Mills  Toyota 198 2 laps  
21 01 United States Stephen Leicht  Chevrolet 198 2 laps  
22 90 Canada Alex Labbé  Chevrolet 197 3 laps  
23 4 United States B.J. McLeod  Chevrolet 197 3 laps  
24   United States Garrett Smithley  Chevrolet 197 3 laps  
25 99 United States Tommy Joe Martins  Toyota 197 3 laps  
26 52 United States David Starr  Chevrolet 196 4 laps  
27 78 United States Ross Chastain  Toyota 195 5 laps  
28 39 CJ Mclaughlin  Chevrolet 192 8 laps  
29 18 United States Harrison Burton  Toyota 169 31 laps  
30 42 United States Chad Finchum  Toyota 167 33 laps  
31 35 United States Joey Gase  Toyota 159 41 laps  
32 15 Tyler Matthews  Chevrolet 154 46 laps  
33 28 United States Shane Lee  Toyota 112 88 laps  
34 66 United States Timmy Hill  Toyota 92 108 laps  
35 17 United States Bayley Currey  Chevrolet 51 149 laps  
36 23 United States John Hunter Nemechek  Chevrolet 31 169 laps  
37 89 United States Landon Cassill  Chevrolet 22 178 laps  
38 13 United States Carl Long  Toyota 16 184 laps  

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