Christopher Bell picked a good time to end his winless streak.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver passed Kyle Larson with 18 laps left Sunday at Darlington Raceway and went on to win the Cook Out Southern 500 to begin the NASCAR Chase for the Championship.
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It was Bell’s first win since Sept. 13, 2025 (at Bristol Motor Speedway) and comes after seven second-place finishes this year.
“Wow. What a night,” Bell said. “Darlington is NASCAR. There is no other track that is harder to drive that rewards a talented driver than Darlington. This is the epitome of NASCAR, and I am super grateful to be here. Better than a dream come true.”
The victory gives him Bell wins at two of NASCAR’s crown jewel races which includes Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis and Daytona 500. Bell won the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 in 2024.
Sunday’s race was the first of the 10-race Chase for the Championship that includes the top 16 drivers in points standings. This same format was used from 2004-13 until it was replaced by a playoff. Under the playoff format, drivers were eliminated during the 10 races, with four drivers racing for the championship in the final race.
Drivers this week said they liked the return of “the Chase” — all 16 drivers battle in the points standings with no eliminations — and that it’s a better way of crowning a champion.
“That’s the way it is supposed to be,” Bell said of the championship format. “… I still believe I have to win more races to be a champion but we are off to a good start.”
Bell came into the Chase in sixth place, 50 points behind regular-season champion Denny Hamlin. With the win, he moved up to second, 12 points behind his teammate Hamlin. The victory means all four Joe Gibbs drivers have won a race in the same season since 2019.
The season has had a little bid of everything for Bell. He fractured his wrist following a wreck at Michigan and thought that might force him to miss a few weeks.
But he suited up the next race at Pocono with a cast. The injury didn’t require surgery, and he raced with a splint after that.
Bell admitted his wrist still hurts after racesm and he had a wrap on after the race.
“I definitely have been uncomfortable,” Bell said. “New Hampshire, I was in a lot of pain post-race. Daytona was an easier race on me and I thought this one would be really hard, but I feel good. I am making strides.”
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Bell won the second stage of the race, but a slow pit stop before the final stage pushed him back to the middle of the pack. Still, he was able to recover and race his way back toward the front.
Bell’s crew chief Adam Stevens and made a late-race call to come and get four tires when Larson, who was running fourth, and three other drivers stayed out after a seven-minute rain delay. He restarted fifth and eventually worked his way to pass Larson, one of four drivers to not pit during the last caution.
Ty Gibbs was second followed by Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Larson, the defending Cup Series champion who was the top finishing Chevrolet. The Hendrick driver said his team made the right call to stay out but knew it was only a matter of time before or any of the others who pitted would make their way to the front.
“I was surprised that those guys in front of me pitted,” Larson said. “… I thought many more would stay out and least have those guys start in the fourth or fifth row. When they started on the third row and Bell got to second so fast, I knew it would be hard, and I wasn’t able to manage the beginning of the run the way I wanted to.”
Chase Briscoe, another JGR driver, finished sixth as he fell short in trying to win his third straight Southern 500. He led 30 laps in the race but dropped to 20th after he ran out of gas between the second and third stage.
Still, Briscoe turned in a possibly disastrous finish to leave in fifth place in points.
Hamlin finished 18th. He led earlier in the race but dropped back into the field after a slow pit stop between stage two and stage three. Then Michael McDowell hit Hamlin’s car in the back on lap 237 and caused damage.
Still JGR drivers make up four of the six spots in the standings. Reddick, who drives a Toyota for 23XI Racing also is in the top six. Bell said after the race he believes a Toyota driver will win the championship this year.
The biggest loser in Sunday’s race was William Byron, who entered the Chase in 14th place but had engine issues in the final stage. He was running in the top 10 before the car’s engine blew up.
Byron is now last in the Chase standings, 114 points behind Hamlin.
“Definitely unfortunate,” Byron said.
A look at the NASCAR Cup series standings after Darlington, the first race in the 10-race Chase for the Championship
This story was originally published September 6, 2026 at 9:30 PM with the headline “The Chase begins with Christopher Bell victory in Southern 500 at Darlington.”
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