Christopher Bell completes JGR’s playoff sweep with a win at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.
BRISTOL, Tenn. — With a charge to the lead from fifth place with four laps left in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell kept Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota perfect in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Bell Completes Playoff Sweep
Bell survived a hard, square shot to his rear bumper from Brad Keselowski in the final corner and steered straight to the finish line, 0.343 seconds ahead of the Roush Fenway Keselowski co-owner and driver.
Joining JGR teammates Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin as winners in the Playoffs Round of 16, Bell advanced to the Round of 12, which begins Sept. 21 at one of his best tracks, New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The race marked the end of the Playoffs for the four drivers who came to Thunder Valley below the elimination line—Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Shane van Gisbergen, and Josh Berry.
Of the four, only Bowman made a significant charge, finishing ten points below Austin Cindric, the final Round of 12 qualifier.
Six days after complaining bitterly about strategy in a seventh-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Bell was back on top, scoring his fourth victory of the season, his first at Bristol, and the 13th of his career.
On fresh right-side tires after a pit stop on lap 491, the driver of No. 20 Camry took the lead from fifth on lap 497 of 500 and kept Keselowski, on four new tires, at bay for the duration, even though Keselowski got to Bell’s rear bumper on the final circuit.
Softer Tires: A Surprising Turn of Events
With new, softer right-side tires supplied by Goodyear for the race, the extent of tire wear was a shock to the drivers and crew chiefs.
“Well, I’ll tell you what, I was nervous on the twos (tires),” Bell said. “I didn’t know if I wanted to be on the bottom or the top, and whenever Brad picked the top (lane) didn’t really give me an option. I had to pick the bottom.
“All night long, I don’t know, old tires just really, really pushed up in the middle of the corners, so I was hoping that those guys (starting ahead of him) on old tires would push up, and they did. They did, and I was able to get by or get underneath them.
“It wasn’t pretty there at the end, but we got her done.”
Keselowski rued his pick of the top lane for the final restart.
“Just the story of our season, just a 50/50 shot on the restart, and I got the lane that couldn’t launch,” Keselowski said. “Just frustrating. We had a great car, great strategy, put ourselves in position to, if not win, at least have a really, really solid day, and on that last restart, (we) just rolled the dice and didn’t get anything good.”
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race Results
Bell’s teammate, Ty Gibbs, led a race-high 201 laps, but overshot his pit stall on the last green-flag stop and finished tenth. Briscoe was out front for 127 laps and finished ninth after a late green-flag stop for fresh tires.
Non-Playoff driver Zane Smith ran third, followed by Team Penske title contenders Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano. Part-timer Corey Heim scored a career-best sixth, followed by non-Playoff driver Carson Hocevar and Bowman.
The NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings
For practical purposes, most of the Round of 16 eliminations were settled early. On lap 75, Josh Berry brought his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford to pit road with smoke from the right-front wheel well filling the cockpit.
Berry climbed from the car, finishing last for the third straight event, out of the race and out of the Playoffs.
“It’s hard to put into words, but I’d be way more disappointed if we just ran like crap for three weeks,” said Berry, who had qualified tenth and moved forward from his starting spot. “We’ve been up front. We’ve qualified well. We had the issue at Darlington, bottoming out. Last week, we got clipped by the 9 (Chase Elliott), and then tonight the car catches on fire…
“Honestly, I think the way that was playing out we would have 100 percent had a chance to win tonight.”
By the time Berry exited, Austin Dillon, who entered the race 11 points below the cut line, already had experienced severe cording of his right-side tires. Dillon pitted on lap 28 and compounded his issues with a pit road speeding penalty.
The Other Eliminations
Dillon was 30th at the end of Stage 1, the last driver one lap down, with little hope of remaining in the Playoffs. By the end of Stage 2, he was two laps down in 33rd. Dillon finished 28th, missing the Round of 12 by 14 points.
Shane van Gisbergen, 15 points down at the start of the race, steadily lost ground throughout the first two stages. The coup de grâce for the New Zealander was a spin in the fourth turn after a bump from William Byron.
Another spin left the Sunoco rookie with a 26th-place finish. Van Gisbergen is 16 points behind Cindric in his first trip to the postseason.
Of the drivers who started below the cut line, only Bowman mounted a concerted threat. The No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports driver recovered from a spin on lap 100, surging forward on new tires. He finished third behind Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney in Stage 2.
Bowman had come to Bristol at 35 points down. With the eight points he collected in the second stage, he moved to 11 points behind Ross Chastain. Chastain was in the transfer spot into the Round of 12 for the start of the final stage.
Moving on to the Round of 12
Chastain recovered from a lost lap, finishing 19th. He preserves his berth in the Round of 12. Cindric had a close call when his right-front wheel well started spewing flames on lap 457. Cindric lost five laps on pit road. Bowman closed to within a point of the transfer spot. However, the gap widened in the closing laps.
Chase Elliott crashed on lap 311 after contact with John Hunter Nemechek’s Toyota. Elliott finished 38th, but the Hendrick driver had enough of a cushion to move on to the Round of 12.
Advancing based on wins are Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin, and Christopher Bell. Hamlin is the leader based on his points. Bell is 6 points behind Hamlin. Briscoe is 16 points down.
Other drivers advancing to the next Playoff round on points are William Byron and Kyle Larson. They are tied at 2 points behind the leader. Ryan Blaney is seven points back. Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace are 21 and 26 points back, while Austin Cindric is 26 points down. Joey Logano and Ross Chastain are tied at -27 points. Tyler Reddick now holds the 12th spot at -28 points.
Next Up
The NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Mobil 1 301 begins at 2 pm ET on Sunday, September 21st, on USA, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. HBO Max will offer driver views. The defending winner is Christopher Bell.