Christopher Bell Holds Off Cole Custer to Win at Iowa Speedway

AP Photo

NEWTON, IA – RIS – Christopher Bell won his fourth race of the of the season in Sunday’s Circuit City 250.com NASCAR Xfinity race.  For much of the day, Bell was battling Cole Custer, but Bell outdueled him on the final green fag run. And really most of the day.  Bell led 186 laps to Custer’s 59 laps. 

Pole-sitter Custer was second, followed by Justin Allgaier and Harrison Burton. Zane Smith of JR Motorsports was fifth in just his fifth start in the series.

Custer briefly snagged the lead with 32 laps left on a restart, but Bell quickly grabbed it back as the two cars made contact on Bell's low pass. Bell then held Custer off on a restart with 10 to go by grabbing the high line.

Bell gave Joe Gibbs Racing its fifth win in its last seven starts at Iowa, and Bell was able to celebrate back-to-back wins with his parents in attendance.

"Man, I got to win at Dover (the week before) Mother's Day weekend...with my mom there. Now I just won on Father's Day weekend with my dad here," said Bell, who won for the 12th time in the series. "It was pretty special."

The first race of Sunday's unintended doubleheader produced some unexpected drama, as Truck series winner Ross Chastain had his victory taken away from him after his truck failed the post-race inspection.

Bell ensured that the nightcap was largely a snoozer.

Custer won his 10th career pole earlier Sunday and led the first 54 laps. But Bell took over after a restart late in the first stage and won a frame for the seventh time this season.

Bell increased his edge over the next 60 laps, pushing his lead to as much as six seconds to take the second stage as well.

A caution with 72 laps left gave Custer a shot at overtaking Bell. But Bell held Custer off by going high - an approach that appeared to be quite popular this weekend.

A flag about 35 laps later laps left gave Custer one more crack at Bell, and Custer edged Bell by a half of a second in the race off pit road to retake the lead.

Bell went low a few laps later though, nudging his way back out front as Custer struggled to keep his No. 00 Ford out of the wall.

"I think it was racing," Custer said when asked if he had any hard feelings about how Bell raced him. "It was fun. Christopher and (his team) had the best car all day."

Tyler Reddick, the series leader and the winner of three of the last five races, finished a season-worst 15th. A flat tire late in the first stage put Reddick in a hole he couldn't climb out of.

The Xfinity drivers have next week off before heading to Chicagoland Speedway on June 29th in the Camping World 500 at Chicagoland Speedway.

Race Results for the 9th Annual CircuitCity.com 250 presented by Tamron - June 16, 2019 - Iowa Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 2, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Ruud Toyota, 250, 1, 1, 2, 186, 7, 60, Running
2) 1, Cole Custer, No. 00 FIELDS Ford, 250, 2, 2, 3, 59, , 53, Running
3) 14, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, 250, 3, 5, , , , 48, Running
4) 10, Harrison Burton(i), No. 18 Dex Imaging Toyota, 250, 5, 3, , , , 0, Running
5) 3, Zane Smith, No. 8 LaPaz Margarita Mix Chevrolet, 250, 6, 6, , , , 42, Running
6) 4, Noah Gragson #, No. 9 Switch Chevrolet, 250, 4, , , , , 38, Running
7) 9, Chase Briscoe #, No. 98 Nutri Chomps/Bomgaars Ford, 250, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 6, John Hunter Nemechek #, No. 23 Allegiant Chevrolet, 250, 8, 9, , , , 34, Running
9) 12, Michael Annett, No. 1 TMC Transportation Chevrolet, 250, 10, 7, , , , 33, Running
10) 7, Austin Cindric, No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford, 250, 9, 4, , , , 36, Running
11) 11, Brandon Jones, No. 19 1st Foundation Toyota, 250, , 8, , , , 29, Running
12) 13, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 8, Justin Haley #, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 250, 7, 10, 1, 5, , 29, Running
14) 18, Gray Gaulding, No. 08 Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 5, Tyler Reddick, No. 2 TAME the BEAST Chevrolet, 249, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 19, Ray Black II, No. 07 ISOKERN Fireplaces & Chimneys Scuba Life , 249, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 23, Josh Williams, No. 36 Starbrite Star Tron/Simcraft Chevrolet, 249, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 17, Shane Lee, No. 28 Circuit City Toyota, 248, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 21, Joe Graf Jr., No. 21 Eat Sleep Race Chevrolet, 247, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 33, Tyler Matthews, No. 15 Line Tec Services Chevrolet, 247, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 20, Chad Finchum, No. 42 MBM Motorsports Toyota, 246, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 32, Ryan Repko, No. 01 The McLain Group Chevrolet, 245, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 28, Ryan Ellis, No. 99 The Wes Cook Band Toyota, 244, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 27, Ronnie Bassett Jr., No. 90 Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet, 244, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 22, Stephen Leicht, No. 4 SEM Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 12, Brakes
26) 26, Matt Mills, No. 5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet, 123, , , , , , 11, Electrical
27) 34, Mike Harmon, No. 74 The Journey Home Project/Charlie Daniels , 120, , , , , , 10, Brakes
28) 37, Stan Mullis, No. 66 LasVegas.net Toyota, 109, , , , , , 9, Power 
29) 25, Garrett Smithley, No. 0 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet, 106, , , , , , 8, Hub
30) 16, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 C2 Freight Resources Chevrolet, 78, , , , , , 7, Fuel Pressure
31) 15, Brandon Brown #, No. 86 Vero True Social Chevrolet, 76, , , , , , 6, Engine
32) 31, Vinnie Miller, No. 78 Pit Viper/Koolbox Chevrolet, 48, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 30, Joey Gase, No. 35 Iowa Donor Network Toyota, 46, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 24, David Starr, No. 52 Franklin Signs & Graphics Chevrolet, 30, , , , , , 3, Engine
35) 29, Morgan Shepherd, No. 89 Visone RV Chevrolet, 23, , , , , , 2, Brakes
36) 38, Timmy Hill, No. 13 CrashClaimsR.US Toyota, 21, , , , , , 1, Electrical
37) 35, Jeff Green, No. 38 RSS Racing Chevrolet, 16, , , , , , 1, Electrical
38) 36, Josh Bilicki, No. 93 Ziegler Auto Group Chevrolet, 10, , , , , , 1, Electrical
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 19 Mins, 2 Secs.
Total Race Length: 250 Laps - 218.75 Miles
0.875 - Mile Paved
Average Speed: 94.402 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.756 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 20, 00, 7, 9, 18, 8, 11, 23, 22, 1

Stage 2 Top 10: 20, 00, 18, 22, 7, 8, 1, 19, 23, 11

Race Comments: Christopher Bell won the 9th Annual CircuitCity.com 250 presented by Tamron at Iowa Speedway, his 12th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.
Prior to the start of the race the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 11 (Engine change).

Caution Flags: 7 for 48 laps;
Laps: 31-38 (No. 52 Spin Frontstretch [0]);
50-56 (No. 35, 78 Incident Turn 3 [07]);
62-68 (Stage 1 Conclusion [21]);
122-129 (Stage 2 Conclusion [51]);
180-186 (No. 15 Incident Turn 2 [08]);
217-222 (No. 00 Incident Turn 2 [08]);
236-240 (No. 42 Incident Turn 2 [9]).