The NASCAR Cup Series visited Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. A.J. Allmendinger started the race on the pole, with Ryan Blaney starting second. NASCAR held a moment of silence in remembering Charlie Kirk.
Ryan Blaney won the first stage, and Ty Gibbs won the second stage. Late in the final stage, Brad Keselowski was leading when he bumped Cole Custer, who then hit Bubba Wallace, sending him to the wall at Turn 3. There were 14 cautions for 137 laps.
Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith were on the front row for the restart with four laps to go. Christopher Bell got by both Hocevar and Smith to take the lead. Bell led 12 of 500 laps, including the final laps, to win his fourth race of the season by 0.343 seconds over Brad Keselowski. He advances to the Round of 12 playoffs. It was also Bell’s 13th career Cup Series win.
Zane Smith, Ryan Blaney, and Joey Logano rounded out the top five. Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, and Ty Gibbs completed the top ten. Gibbs led the most laps in the race (201). During his victory lane speech, Bell dedicated the win to Charlie Kirk.
The Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway next Sunday at 2 pm on USA Network.
