Christopher Bell claimed victory in Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The 27-year-old driver notched a first-place finish in a must-win scenario, automatically etching his spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8.
Bell and his team underwent a late-race tire change in a last-ditch effort to claim victory. He sped his way through the field in the last few laps to beat Kevin Harvick by 1.7 seconds.
This was the second win of the season and third of his Cup Series career for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
The NASCAR world took to Twitter to react to this exciting finish.
“Christopher Bell needed a win to advance and gets it done! Defending champion Kyle Larson misses advancing by 2 points,” one fan wrote.
“GO CHRISTOPHER BELL,” another said.
Bell entered today’s race at 45 points below the cut line. Today’s win was absolutely necessary to keep his postseason run alive.
“Man, you just got to be there at the end of these things,” Bell said after the race, per NASCAR.com. “I keep watching all these races where the fastest car doesn’t always win. No secret that road courses have not been our strength year. We were just there at the right time. We obviously weren’t in position to win, we rolled the dice, gambled, it paid off for us.”
In addition to Bell, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Ross Chastain and Chase Briscoe advance to the Round of 8.