Christopher Bell Wins in Atlanta in Overtime

HAMPTON, GA - Christopher Bell passed Kyle Larson on the final lap to win in overtime at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The yellow flag flew with Bell just ahead of Carson Hocevar, who had nosed ahead of Larson for second Place.  The No. 20 Toyota driver led only the final lap on the 1.54-mile oval — the last of 15 leaders and a track-record 50 lead changes.

Bell was giddy after being cleared to be the winner.  A monumental feat considering it was the only lap he lead all day,

“This style of racing has just always been a little bit of a struggle for me, and throughout the beginning of the day, we obviously were just stuck way in the back. (Crew chief) Adam (Stevens) and these boys back here, they did an amazing job getting this thing fixed up to where I could just hold my foot down. That’s what it’s all about. You have to be able to stay in the throttle, and that last half of the race we were at our best.”

The accident that led to Bell’s win came in overtime when Hocevar got into Ryan Blaney, bring out the final caution,  Blaney was seen in a heated Conversation after the race.

“Apologies to Larson and HMS and Mr. H and everyone. They helped us out a lot, I didn’t realize we weren’t racing back to the line. The last two nights were kind of that way, and I hit (Bell) to get him out of the way and fill the middle. Little bit longer, maybe we win the race..”

The race went past the 400-mile distance when Larson squeezed Austin Cindric into the Turn 2 wall while taking the lead on Lap 258. Cindric spun down the track and collected William Byron, who crashed after being in position to win after collecting his second consecutive Daytona 500 victory last week.

“Not clear. Awesome,” Cindric sarcastically radioed his team after the No. 2 Ford came to a stop.

Josh Berry won the first stage and Kyle Larson won the second stage,  It was the first stage win for the Wood Brothers in years. 

Unofficial Results: Ambetter Health 400, February 23, 2025 - Atlanta Motor Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 32, Christopher Bell, No. 20 DEWALT Toyota, 266, , , 1, 1, 5, 40, Running
2) 26, Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet, 266, 9, 7, , , , 41, Running
3) 17, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 266, , 1, 4, 12, 1, 44, Running
4) 1, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 BodyArmor Zero Sugar Ford, 266, 8, , 1, 1, , 36, Running
5) 34, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Martin's Famous Potato Rolls Chevrolet, 266, , 8, , , , 35, Running
6) 37, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota, 266, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 6, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet, 266, , , 5, 13, , 30, Running
8) 33, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet, 266, , , 7, 25, , 29, Running
9) 14, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Toyota, 266, 4, 2, , , , 44, Running
10) 22, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Dollar Tree Toyota, 266, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 7, Zane Smith, No. 38 City of Refuge Ford, 266, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 4, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 266, 10, 3, 8, 83, , 34, Running
13) 24, Michael McDowell, No. 71 Group 1001 Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 12, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 5, Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Aaron's Rent to Own Ford, 266, 7, , 5, 7, , 26, Running
16) 15, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 27, Riley Herbst #, No. 35 Monster Energy Toyota, 266, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 11, Ryan Preece, No. 60 Kroger/Gevalia/Entenmann's Ford, 266, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 18, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Xfinity Mobile Toyota, 266, 6, 6, , , , 28, Running
20) 19, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 266, 5, , , , , 23, Running
21) 25, Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 266, , , 1, 5, , 16, Running
22) 38, * BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet, 266, , , 1, 1, , 0, Running
23) 30, Shane Van Gisbergen #, No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, 266, , , 2, 2, , 14, Running
24) 21, Justin Haley, No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 3, Josh Berry, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 265, 1, , 7, 56, 1, 22, Accident
26) 13, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 265, , 5, 3, 6, , 17, Running
27) 16, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 263, 3, 4, 1, 6, , 25, Running
28) 2, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Menards/Delta Ford, 257, 2, 9, 3, 47, , 20, Accident
29) 20, Ty Dillon, No. 10 Sea Best Chevrolet, 242, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 8, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 240, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 28, Erik Jones, No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota, 240, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 36, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 SAIA LTL Freight Toyota, 201, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 29, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, 183, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 10, Noah Gragson, No. 4 TitleMax Ford, 183, , 10, , , , 4, Accident
35) 31, Cody Ware, No. 51 Arby's Ford, 183, , , 1, 1, , 2, Accident
36) 23, Cole Custer, No. 41 3D Systems Ford, 183, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 39, * JJ Yeley, No. 44 Green River Whiskey Chevrolet, 183, , , , , , 1, Accident
38) 35, * Corey LaJoie, No. 01 AirMedCare Network Ford, 149, , , , , , 1, Accident
39) 9, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, 149, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points, (*) Must qualify on time, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 266 Laps - 409.64 Miles
Time: 3 Hrs, 27 Mins, 37 Secs.
Average Speed: 118.384 MPH
Margin of Victory: Under Caution

Stage 1 Top 10: 21, 2, 24, 23, 9, 45, 34, 12, 77, 22
Stage 2 Top 10: 5, 23, 22, 24, 48, 45, 77, 47, 2, 4

Comments: Christopher Bell has won the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his 10th victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Cautions: 11 for 63 laps;
Laps: 62-68 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]);
83-88 (No. 10 Incident Turn 4 [71]);
103-107 (No. 43, 17 Incident Backstretch [71]);
135-140 (Debris on Backstretch [71]);
151-156 (No. 9, 6, 01 Incident Frontstretch [71]);
162-168 (Stage 2 Conclusion [71]);
185-192 (No. 4, 38, 44, 41, 47, 51, 54, 99 Incident Frontstretch [71]);
206-212 (No. 17, 48, 54 Incident Frontstretch [9]);
235-238 (No. 12 Spin Turn 1 [48]);
259-264 (No. 2, 24 Incident Backstretch [48]);
266-266 (No. 21, 7, 60 Incident Backstretch [None]).

Lead Changes: 50 among 15 drivers;
R. Blaney 0;
A. Cindric 1-23;
T. Gilliland 24-25;
A. Cindric 26-32;
J. Berry 33-42;
T. Gilliland 43;
J. Berry 44-63;
C. Ware 64;
J. Logano 65-67;
J. Berry 68;
J. Logano 69-84;
BJ. McLeod*(i) 85;
J. Logano 86-91;
T. Gilliland 92;
J. Logano 93-94;
T. Gilliland 95-96;
J. Logano 97-107;
T. Gilliland 108;
J. Logano 109-140;
A. Bowman 141-143;
J. Logano 144-146;
A. Bowman 147;
J. Logano 148-157;
A. Bowman 158-159;
K. Larson 160-163;
C. Briscoe 164-168;
R. Chastain 169-180;
S. Van Gisbergen # 181;
R. Chastain 182-188;
S. Van Gisbergen # 189;
K. Busch 190-192;
W. Byron 193-198;
K. Busch 199;
J. Berry 200-212;
K. Busch 213;
J. Berry 214;
K. Busch 215-217;
R. Chastain 218;
K. Busch 219-223;
R. Blaney 224;
R. Chastain 225-226;
J. Berry 227-229;
R. Chastain 230;
J. Berry 231-238;
R. Chastain 239;
K. Larson 240;
A. Cindric 241-257;
K. Larson 258-263;
R. Chastain 264;
K. Larson 265;
C. Bell 266.