In a dramatic overtime finish, Christopher Bell emerged victorious in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver led only the final lap, edging out second-year driver Carson Hocevar and 2021 series champion Kyle Larson in a three-wide photo finish as the caution flag flew to end the NASCAR Cup Series race.
The thrilling conclusion marked the second consecutive year that the Atlanta race featured a three-wide battle to the checkered flag. Bell, a 30-year-old Oklahoma native, claimed his 10th career series victory and his first on a drafting-style track like Atlanta. It also marked the first win for Joe Gibbs Racing since June of last year.
An elated Bell shared his excitement after the race, saying, “I’ll tell you what, that right there is what you dream of. To be able to restart on the first or second row on a restart at a speedway, you never know how those things are going to play out. But, I’ll be the first to tell you, ‘I love superspeedways.'”
Despite his near-miss third-place finish, Larson was pleased with the result, considering his 0-for-48 record in speedway-type races, including 16 previous DNFs. He led 12 laps during the event but was involved in contact with Austin Cindric’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford with three laps remaining, forcing the race into overtime.
Hocevar’s runner-up finish marked a career-best performance for the 22-year-old driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. However, he faced criticism from veteran drivers Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney in separate post-race discussions regarding his on-track decisions.
Blaney, who finished fourth after being spun out by Hocevar with 27 laps remaining, shared his advice for the young driver, stating, “I just said, ‘Hey, you got to calm down.’ I told him a couple moves he made earlier in the race that were really, really sketchy. Obviously, me getting spun. He should know better than to hit me in that spot. He can’t just run into my bumper as I’m turning into a corner. I’m going to wreck. So, I just told him you’ve got to calm down. You got a lot of talent, but you got to be a little bit easier in this certain moment. Be smarter.”
Hocevar apologized for any contact with Larson on the final lap, saying, “I didn’t realize we weren’t racing back to the line. Some stuff I’ve got to learn and clean up a little bit, but I feel like we put ourselves in a perfect opportunity to win a race and I’ve never really had that opportunity before, especially on superspeedways. So, thanks to everybody at Spire Motorsports.”
The early stages of the race were dominated by the Ford contingent, with Joey Logano leading a race-high 83 laps. However, Logano ultimately finished 12th, while his teammate and pole-sitter Ryan Blaney now leads the championship by 12 points over Daytona 500 winner William Byron.
The race was punctuated by 11 caution periods, including eight for wrecks. One notable incident involved Daniel Suárez, last year’s Atlanta winner, who was sidelined in a Lap 184 tangle involving seven other cars.
As the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Circuit of The Americas for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix next Sunday, Christopher Bell and the Joe Gibbs Racing team will look to carry their momentum forward, while the rest of the field aims to rebound and challenge for the win on the first road course of the season.
