Christopher Bell closes late at Austin for back-to-back wins

Field Level Media|published: Sun 2nd March, 19:32 2025

Feb 16, 2025; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell (20) walks to the drivers meeting before the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Christopher Bell finally found his way around Kyle Busch with five laps to go and went back-to-back with wins, capturing Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

In a restart with 14 circuits left on the first road course of 2025, Bell's No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota went under Busch's No. 8 Chevrolet and carried on to beat William Byron's No. 24 Chevrolet by 0.433 seconds for his 11th career win after taking Atlanta last Sunday.

Byron, polesitter Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott followed behind.

Fifth-place finisher Busch led a race-best 42 laps in his bid to break a 59-race winless streak.

In his first Cup start, 18-year-old Connor Zilisch brought the No. 87 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet home in last place, 37th, after wrecking on Lap 51. Zilisch had placed first on Saturday for his second career Xfinity win

Drivers found Turn 1 to be troubling right away as the field bunched up as it charged hard to the top of the hill on Lap 1. Ross Chastain dive-bombed the corner and spun Elliott, while Denny Hamlin and Zilisch sustained damage.

Though Hamlin kept going at full speed, his No. 11 Toyota was torn up in the area of the right-front tire. Meanwhile, Zilisch had to pit for a cut tire and fell back to 36th but stayed on the lead lap.

Charging to the front with Busch, Shane van Gisbergen passed Reddick on Lap 9, and the New Zealander and Busch checked out to a 3-second advantage.

Front row starter Bubba Wallace, who had a penalty earlier, decided not to pit and won the 10 bonus points for Stage 1 on Lap 20, while Joey Logano, who also bypassed pit road, and van Gisbergen were the top three.

In an incident-free Stage 2, van Gisbergen and Busch swapped the lead over the 25-lap portion, but Ryan Preece took the top spot for his second career stage win, with Ryan Blaney and Michael McDowell slotting ahead of Busch and van Gisbergen.

On the final stage's first lap, Daniel Suarez's No. 99 spun off Turn 19 and was hit at full speed by Trackhouse teammate Zilisch, who ended up in the barrier in the race's third caution. Suarez was scored 36th, ahead of only Zilisch.

--Field Level Media

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