Christopher Bell overcame approaching darkness and a determined field on wet weather tires to win Sunday night at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
His win came four years after NASCAR called the race there for darkness at this track with Bell second to Aric Almirola that day.
“Hey guys,” Bell said to the fans, “this one didn’t get shortened.”
Instead it was extended four laps by overtime.
MORE: New Hampshire results
Chase Briscoe finished second and Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Josh Berry placed third. Kyle Larson was fourth. Chris Buescher completed the top five.
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Chase Briscoe admits “the rain saved us” after struggling early at New Hampshire but capitalizes on a big points day with nine races remaining before the Cup Series playoffs.
Rain played a key role in the race Sunday.
The start time was moved up about 30 minutes to 2:06 p.m. ET because of the threat of rain and ended at 8:10 p.m. ET after a rain delay of more than two hours.
The race was stopped with 82 laps to go because of rain and lightning. Tyler Reddick was the leader. Bell was ninth.
The race resumed 2 hours, 14 minutes later with teams on wet weather tires. NASCAR mandated when teams could change wet weather tires the rest of the way.
Drivers discuss their race and running on the wet weather tires at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Bell went on to lead the final 64 laps to earn his third victory of the year. His 22 playoff points is second only to Kyle Larson, who has 23 playoff points this season.
“You never know how this thing is going to shake out whenever you change so many things like that and the adverse conditions,” Bell told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider. “I personally love adverse conditions because you’re always trying to think outside the box.”
Busch spins as struggles continue in New Hampshire
Kyle Busch’s difficult stretch in the Cup Series continues as he drifts up the racetrack into Noah Gragson and both drivers spin at New Hampshire, with Busch getting a piece of the outside wall.
Stage 1 winner: Christopher Bell
Stage 2 winner: Denny Hamlin
Who had a good race: Chase Briscoe recorded his best finish of the season with his second-place result. … Josh Berry (third) tied his season-best result. … Chris Buescher (fifth) had his first top-15 result at New Hampshire.
Who had a bad race: Kyle Busch was lapped about 40 laps into the race and later involved in three accidents on what was a miserable race for the Richard Childress Racing driver, who fell further back from the playoff cutline. … Alex Bowman finished last after an engine failure.
Notable: With Christopher Bell winning, it continued two streaks at New Hampshire. Joe Gibbs Racing has had a car finish first or second in every race at New Hampshire since 2015. Hendrick Motorsports saw its winless drought continue at New Hampshire. Hendrick’s last Cup win there was July 2012 with Kasey Kahne.
Next: The series races June 29 at Nashville Superspeedway (5 p.m. ET on NBC)
Multiple cars wreck after Gragson spins at Loudon
Noah Gragson goes for a slide up the racetrack and collects Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon and a handful of others while on wet weather tires at New Hampshire.
