Christopher Bell triumphed in overtime to secure victory in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, leading only the final lap and edging out in a three-wide finish as a caution flag was waved on the last lap to end the race.
This marks the second consecutive year the race ended with a three-wide finish. Bell, the 30-year-old Oklahoma native, crossed the line ahead of second-year driver Carson Hocevar and 2021 champion Kyle Larson. It was Bell’s 10th career Cup Series win and his first on a drafting track like Atlanta, Daytona, or Talladega. This victory also marked Joe Gibbs Racing’s first win since June of last year.
Bell expressed his excitement, saying, “This is what you dream of,” after the race. He shared his appreciation for superspeedways and praised his team for improving his car’s performance, allowing him to push forward in the second half of the race.
Larson, despite finishing third, was content with his performance, despite his struggles with speedway races. He led for 12 laps but made contact with Austin Cindric’s car late, prompting the overtime finish.
Hocevar finished as runner-up, marking a career best for the 22-year-old. After the race, he was approached by both Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney. Blaney, who had been spun out by Hocevar earlier, advised him to be more cautious with his racing decisions, offering constructive criticism for the future. Hocevar acknowledged his mistakes, particularly during the final lap with Larson, and apologized.
The race’s early stages saw the Ford cars dominate, with Joey Logano leading a race-high 83 laps, though he ended up finishing 12th. Fords held the top spots for most of the first 140 laps. However, pit strategy and teamwork in the final laps gave way to better handling from the other competitors.
The race ended under caution after a collision involving Josh Berry, Justin Haley, and Ryan Preece on the backstretch during overtime.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished fifth, with Denny Hamlin following in sixth. Kyle Busch, who avoided the accidents that involved other top contenders, finished seventh. Other notable finishers included Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, and John Hunter Nemechek, who marked his second consecutive top-10 finish of the season.
Blaney now leads the championship by 12 points over William Byron, with A.J. Allmendinger setting the fastest lap of the race. The series will next head to the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, the first road course race of the season, where Byron is the defending champion.
