LOUDON, N.H. — Christopher Bell had to overcome a lot on Sunday. He had to beat the rain. He had to beat the darkness. And, of course, he had to beat the field.
The 29-year-old bested each challenge en route to his overtime win at the 2024 USA TODAY 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Chase Brisco finished second and Kyle Larson came in third.New Hampshire’s victory lane has become a familiar place for Bell, who also won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race for the weekend sweep of the “Magic Mile.” Bell has now won twice in five career starts in New Hampshire.
“This track has so much character,” Adam Stevens, Bell’s crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing, said. “It really tasks the driver with being willing and able to move around and find that little bit of grip as the line moves and the rubber goes down.
Bell was a contender from the jump of Sunday’s marathon race that lasted more than six hours including delays. He won the first stage of the race after overtaking polesitter Chase Elliott on lap 43 and stayed in contention until heavy rain brought things to a halt with less than 90 laps to go.
Lightning in the area as well as a tornado watch kept the action suspended for two hours and 14 minutes until NASCAR decided to dry the track and restart the race with cars using wet-weather tires.
Several of the race’s astounding 14 cautions occurred after the wet restart with cars struggling to find grip and temperature balance in the tires. Still, Bell’s No. 20 Toyota prevailed even as darkness enveloped the track during the race’s final few laps that bled into the 8 p.m. ET hour.
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