Home

NASCAR

WATCH: How Christopher Bell Shocked Joey Logano in Final Laps for Ground-Breaking NASCAR Win

Published 02/22/2021, 10:15 AM EST

Follow Us

USA Today via Reuters

Christopher Bell won his first-ever NASCAR Cup race at the Daytona road course. The man was chasing Joey Logano for the race lead at the time, with two laps to go. Soon, it became a game of cat and mouse between the Joe Gibbs and the Penske cars. While all this was going on, Denny Hamlin was hanging back in third place and waiting for a Busch Clash repeat.

However, Bell began to make serious inroads on the #22 car after exiting Turn 3. By the exit of the second loop, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was right on Logano’s tail. Then, things went wrong for the latter as he hit a damp patch on the track and nearly lost control.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

On the bright side for Logano, Christopher Bell could not capitalize on this and had to settle for second for now. As it turned out, the JGR driver also hit a wet patch and understeered a little. Upon exiting the Bus Stop sequence, they were literally bumper-to-bumper, before Bell went around the outside.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Christopher Bell finally took the lead of the race

The two were side-by-side when heading into the final chance sequence, and Bell managed to slip ahead. This was a little easier for him because Logano’s brakes were fading already. From there, the #20 driver had to switch from attack to defence, as the final lap began.

Speaking about it, he said, “That last lap was pretty surreal. All race long, I felt like I was trying to do my best job of not screwing up. Hit my marks, not overdrive into the corners. When I got by the #22 car by the white flag, I knew that I was faster than him.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Exclusive Invite for NASCAR Community

EssentiallySports gives you the power to decide who drives the #14 on 20th April

Logano’s brakes were red hot, and he was clearly struggling to get the car stopped. However, Bell was not out of the woods just yet, as he ran wide and allowed Logano to creep in closer. In the end, it was too little, too late for the Penske man, as Christopher Bell seized a maiden win.

Joey Logano Uses Marriage Analogy as He Aims to “Figure It Out” With Brad Keselowski After NASCAR Daytona 500 Crash

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Dhruv George

14,311Articles

One take at a time

Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
Show More>