C Bell Grabs First Xfinity Darlington Win In Overtime Finish

Christopher Bell started first and finished first 

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(DARLINGTON, SC – AUG 31, 2024 – RIS) Christopher Bell’s pit crew got him off of pit road approaching an overtime restart and he went on to capture his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race win by 0.351 second over Cole Custer

Christopher Bell started on the pole for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 NASCAR Xfinity race and the race went under the yellow flag on the fourth lap because Parker Retzlaff’s car shut off at the start and would not restart, coasting to a halt on pit road, forcing the yellow. 

Joey Logano pulled into the pits after a slight contact with the wall, taking the No. 15 Ford behind the wall with the crew indicating that the engine had failed early in the race.

Bell went on to lead at the end of the first stage then Sheldon Creed took his first stage win of the 2024 season, after Kyle Weatherman’s impact with the wall put the stage under yellow about halfway through. Hell took second, with AJ Allmndinger, Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier the rest of the top five.

Bell continued his domination of the race but Sheldon Creed showed better speed, closing to within about a half second with ten laps left in the race and gaining to take the lead with nine laps remaining, driving out to open a lead of a quarter second in just two turns on the track. 

AJ Allmendinger slid into the wall due to a flat right front tire, causing a yellow flag and an overtime restart.  Creed lost two spots in the pits, restarting in third, with Bell vaulting back to the lead, followed by Justin Allgaier. Creed lined up behind his teammate on the outside lane, with Allgaier on the inside, followed by Sammy Smith. 

Custer and Bell made contact, sliding almost to the inside wall on the restart before Bell pulled out to a multi-length lead, to win ahead of Custer and Creed. “I really need to see a replay of it” joked Bell after the win. “Those guys won us the race,” he added, crediting his pit crew with the win.

“I’ve always loved racing here,” said a disappointed Creed. “Man, it’s a bummer,” he lamented.

Unofficial Results: Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200, August 31, 2024 - Darlington Raceway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
 1) 1, Christopher Bell(i), No. 20 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, 150, 1, 2, 7, 108, , 0, Running
 2) 21, Cole Custer, No. 00 Haas Automatiion Ford, 150, 9, 6, , , , 42, Running
 3) 2, Sheldon Creed, No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota, 150, 5, 1, 4, 30, 1, 50, Running
 4) 16, Chase Elliott(i), No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 150, , 10, , , , 0, Running
 5) 11, Sammy Smith, No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 150, 6, 4, , , , 44, Running
 6) 23, Jesse Love #, No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 31, Running
 7) 26, Shane Van Gisbergen #, No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 30, Running
 8) 5, Chandler Smith, No. 81 QuickTie Toyota, 150, 10, , , , , 30, Running
 9) 6, Austin Hill, No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, 150, 2, 7, , , , 41, Running
10) 20, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 150, 7, 5, , , , 37, Running
11) 15, Joe Graf Jr., No. 19 G Coin Toyota, 150, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 24, Ross Chastain(i), No. 92 Protect Your Melon Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 0, Running
13) 10, Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet, 150, 4, 8, , , , 34, Running
14) 27, Carson Kvapil, No. 88 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 29, Noah Gragson(i), No. 30 Drop Zone Hunting Ford, 150, , 9, , , , 0, Running
16) 30, Josh Williams, No. 11 Call 811 Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 17, Jeb Burton, No. 27 Celsius Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 13, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Sci Aps Ford, 150, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 22, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 38 ReMA Ford, 150, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 28, Brennan Poole, No. 44 Macc Door Systems Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 34, Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Southern Elevator Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 31, Kyle Sieg, No. 28 Southern String Hat Co Ford, 150, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 33, Leland Honeyman #, No. 42 RANDCO Industries Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 35, David Starr, No. 35  Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 12, Corey Heim(i), No. 26 Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota, 150, , , , , , 0, Running
26) 14, Anthony Alfredo, No. 5 Ferguson Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 4, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 149, 3, 3, , , , 26, Running
28) 3, Sam Mayer, No. 1 10X Health Chevrolet, 149, , , 1, 11, , 9, Running
29) 38, Greg Van Alst, No. 07 CB Fabricating Chevrolet, 149, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 36, Garrett Smithley, No. 45 Ken McKnight AC Chevrolet, 148, , , 1, 1, , 7, Running
31) 25, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Booze Pops Chevrolet, 146, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 7, Brandon Jones, No. 9 Menards/Patriot Lighting Chevrolet, 146, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 37, Chad Finchum, No. 14 Ted Russell Ford of Knoxville Ford, 142, 8, , , , , 7, Running
34) 32, Blaine Perkins, No. 29 AutoParkit.com Ford, 133, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 8, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 129, , , , , , 2, Running
36) 9, Parker Retzlaff, No. 31 Capital City Towing Chevrolet, 125, , , , , , 1, Running
37) 19, Kyle Weatherman, No. 91 Mainline Fleet Maintenance Chevrolet, 54, , , , , , 1, Accident
38) 18, Joey Logano(i), No. 15 Panini Ford, 12, , , , , , 0, Engine
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 150 Laps, 204.9 Miles
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 50 Mins, 49 Secs
Average Speed: 110.94 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.351 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 20, 21, 16, 48, 18, 8, 7, 14, 00, 81
Stage 2 Top 10: 18, 20, 16, 8, 7, 00, 21, 48, 30, 17

Comments: Christopher Bell won the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway, his 19th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: Nos. 2, 14, 38, 42 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (1) 74 Dawson Cram(i).

Cautions: 6 for 29 laps;
Laps: 6-8 (No. 31 Stalled on Track [None]);
31-35 (Debris turns 3-4 [51]);
46-52 (No. 9, 97 incident backstretch / Stage 1 Conclusion [07]);
54-57 (No. 91 incident turn 3 [5]);
92-96 (Stage 2 Conclusion [35]);
144-148 (No. 16 incident turn 1 [35]).

Lead Changes: 12 among 4 drivers;
C. Bell(i) 1-27;
S. Mayer 28-38;
C. Bell(i) 39-48;
G. Smithley 49;
C. Bell(i) 50-52;
S. Creed 53-57;
C. Bell(i) 58-76;
S. Creed 77-92;
C. Bell(i) 93;
S. Creed 94-96;
C. Bell(i) 97-138;
S. Creed 139-144;
C. Bell(i) 145-150.