Christopher Bell Returns to Winning Ways in Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol

Christopher Bell completed a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of the Round of 16 on Saturday night, winning the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Bell capitalized on a late-race restart, taking the lead on lap 497. From there, Bell held off Brad Keselowski for his fourth win of the season.

Race Results: NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol

With tires at a premium on Saturday night, Bell was among several drivers who pitted following a lap 489 caution for an incident involving Cole Custer and Bubba Wallace. Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar stayed out and lined up on the front row for the restart, with Alex Bowman also staying out looking for a win to advance in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Keselowski chose the outside lane behind Hocevar and Bowman, while Bell lined up behind Smith on the inside lane. That proved to be the winning decision, with Bell surging past Smith and Hocevar as they slid up the racetrack in turns one and two.

Keselowski closed back in on Bell, giving him a bump in turn three of the final lap, but Bell maintained control and took the checkered flag.

"I was nervous on the choose," said Bell. "I didn't know if I wanted to be on the bottom or the top. Whenever Brad picked the top, it really didn't give me an option. I had to pick the bottom.

"All night long, I don't know, old tires just really, really pushed up in the middle of the corner. I was hoping that those guys on old tires would push up, and they did. I was able to get by and get underneath Bowman. It wasn't pretty, but we got it done."

Bell won three consecutive races early in the season, but had not won since the NASCAR Cup Series' event at Phoenix Raceway in March. Now, the Oklahoma native is back in victory lane, just in time for the next round of the Playoffs.

"We just know that any week, any given week, it could be us," Bell said. "It hadn't been us for a long time, but Bristol, baby, tonight, it's us."

While Bell celebrated his Bristol victory, Keselowski was left second-guessing his decision to choose the outside lane on the pivotal restart.

"Just the story of our season, just a 50/50 shot on the restart, and I got the lane that couldn’t launch," said Keselowski.

"Just frustrating. We had a great car, great strategy, put ourselves in position to, if not win, at least have a really, really solid day, on that last restart and just rolled the dice and didn’t get anything good."

The Bass Pro Shops Night Race also marked the final race in the Round of 16 for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. While Bell's victory completed a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of the first round, four drivers saw their championship hopes come to an end.

Josh Berry's miserable playoff run ended with another last-place finish, as a fire took him out of contention after just 75 laps. Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and Shane van Gisbergen were also eliminated on Saturday night.

For Bowman, a calamitous race with extreme tire wear and just 13 cars finishing on the lead lap opened a door for him to win his way into the next round. However, his older tires were not up to the challenge on the final restart.

"I don’t think you can really point at something that cost us," said Bowman. "Being out of tires at the end isn’t good, right, and honestly, we just played the hand that we could and stayed out."

Meanwhile, Austin Cindric overcame a fire of his own to finish 30th, five laps down, and narrowly advance to the Round of 12.

"Yeah, it’s not ideal," said Cindric. "I had the fire there, and definitely held a lot of smoke, but huge credit to all my guys behind the wall, over the wall, to be prepared for a situation like that and to only lose five laps.

"We had a great car tonight, and definitely with the long run speed and being able to keep tires on the car, I’m not sure I would have been able to tell you that was going to be the game to start the day, but just proud of the effort, and well earned Sunday off for the 2 car."

The Round of 12 continues next Sunday, September 21 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the Mobil 1 301. Coverage of the event will be on USA Network, the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

-Photo credit: Rusty Jones, Lumen Digital Agency for Toyota Gazoo Racing