Christopher Bell Makes History at Iowa Speedway
Christopher Bell’s Casey’s General Store’s Victory Lane celebration (Photo Credit: Jennifer Coleman Photography)
Bell becomes the first full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver to win three straight races since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 1999
NEWTON, Iowa (July 28, 2018) – Christopher Bell earned a victory in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 presented by The Rasmussen Group at Iowa Speedway, becoming the first Xfinity regular since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 1999 to collect three consecutive race wins.
But it wasn’t smooth sailing for Bell at the end of the race. Bell looked to be cruising to the victory. His lead was 5 seconds until a caution that happened directly in front of his No. 20 Toyota derailed that comfort with 14 laps to go. The spinning No. 60 Ford of Chase Briscoe nearly took out Bell’s car, which somehow remained largely unscathed and was able to maintain control of the ensuing two restarts as the leader.
Things got worse for Bell on the first restart attempt of NASCAR overtime, losing the lead to Justin Allgaier as drivers made it four-wide in a frantic dash into Turn 1.
A 17-minute red flag for an incident involving Matt Tifft and Max Tullman set up a second overtime, which bunched up the field for one final restart. Bell was aggressive once the green flag waved, harassing Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet through Turns 1 and 2. Bell dipped low on Allgaier in Turn 3 and the two made contact while racing side-by-side to the white flag.
Bell completed the pass in Turn 1 on the last lap and pulled away from Allgaier for the checkered flag, leading 94 laps en route to his fifth career NASCAR Xfinity Series triumph.
“When it’s your day, it’s your day,” said Bell after the battle with Allgaier. “I’ll take them any way I can get them.”
Allgaier wasn’t happy with Bell’s tactics, making his opinions known after climbing from the car.
“He lifted me up at the start and lifted me off of Turn 2 and then tried to put me in the fence,” Allgaier said. “Yeah, I’m salty.”
Bell joins a long line of NASCAR Xfinity Series winners who collected early-career victories at Iowa Speedway including Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones, among others. It’s further proof that Stars Are Made Here.
Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is Watkins Glen International on Saturday, August 4 (2:00 p.m. CT, NBC).
While saying goodbye to the 2018 racing season is tough to do, we’re excited about next year! Iowa Speedway is fortunate to host a variety of motorsport disciplines every year, and 2019 won’t be any different.
NASCAR released it’s 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series schedules in June. For the fourth straight year, the season will open with a NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series doubleheader on Father’s Day weekend June 15-16.
Iowa Speedweeks will kick off with back-to-back weekends featuring the Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 on July 20 culminating with the NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 on July 27.
