Who won NASCAR’s Bristol Dirt Race?

Ace of dirt racing Christopher Bell won his first NASCAR Cup Series dirt race on Sunday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Christopher Bell quickly realized that Bristol Motor Speedway's dirt surface was tailor-made for drivers with dirt experience. It was the ideal setting for Bell to win his sixth NASCAR Cup Series race there on Sunday night.

Christopher Bell, who took over the lead by remaining out between Stages 2 and 3, dominated the final 100 laps but had to fend off many attacks, the most recent being from Tyler Reddick in the final five laps.

Reddick, who won Stage 2, pitted during the break for new tires and put them to good use, putting himself in a position to fight for the win down the line. With Reddick finishing in for a last pass attempinon the final 250 laps, Bell's victory was assured when NASCAR was forced to display the 14th yellow caution of the race for Ross Chastain's stalled car in Turn 4.

Bell's first victory of the season comes after he won three times last season and continued to Championship 4 for the first time in his career. In the first eight races of the 2023 season, Bell, 28, had five top-five finishes.

"Man, let me tell you, these are some of the longest laps of my entire life. This place is so much fun, whether it is dirt or concrete, whenever the cushion got up there on the top (lane), it was very tough because you couldn’t drive it super hard otherwise you’d get sucked in." Bell said during the post-race interview.

Several times in the last 25 laps, Bell seemed to collide with the wall in Turns 3 and 4, which he referred to as "the scary corner."

"If you got into it too far, you lost all your momentum. (Turns) 1 and 2, I think I kept hitting the wall a couple times. Seems like there was a little bit more moisture up there, it would hold me better."

Austin Dillon finished third, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished fourth, and Chase Briscoe finished fifth. Justin Haley, Martin Truex Jr., Todd Gilliland, Kevin Harvick, and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top ten.

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William Byron expresses displeasure after receiving a second NASCAR penalty

After the race in Richmond last weekend, NASCAR summoned Byron and Alex Bowman's cars to the R&D Center for additional inspection. NASCAR fined both teams after finding a violation.

“I don’t understand it. I’m not happy. It doesn’t look very random, does it?" Byron said.

Byron and Bowman were docked 60 points and five playoff points each for being the only drivers to win two Cup races this year. Their interim crew chiefs were each given a $75,000 fine and two race suspensions. After this weekend's race, Hendrick Motorsports said it will determine whether to appeal the fine.