From a Chili Bowl Nationals champion to Bristol Motor Speedway covered in dirt.
Christopher Bell captured his first win of the 2023 NASCAR season on Sunday, bringing the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to victory lane in the Bristol Dirt Race.
“Let me tell you, those were some of the longest laps of my entire life,” Bell said on the FOX broadcast. “This place is super fun whether its covered with dirt or on concrete.”
“It’s a 20-second lap, but you’re moving your hands 18 times a corner… I had a lot of fun.”
Bell, and others marveled at the fun that was had in the race. Austin Dillon called it the coolest race he’s ever been in.
“I thought it was an awesome race and I hope the fans thought it was too,” Chase Briscoe said on the broadcast. “That was, I felt like more of a real dirt race than we’ve had in any of the years. I had a lot of fun.”
Kyle Larson exited the race early after contact with Ryan Preece. Dirt Late Model star Jonathan Davenport finished things out P36 after a part break.
The series returns to the track Sunday, April 16 for its next race as they take on Martinsville Speedway.
NASCAR Cup Series results
Bristol Dirt Race
Bristol Motor Speedway
Sun. April 9, 2023
1. Christopher Bell
2. Tyler Reddick
3. Austin Dillon
4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
5. Chase Briscoe
6. Justin Haley
7. Martin Truex Jr.
8. Todd Gilliland
9. Kevin Harvick
10. Ty Gibbs
11. Michael McDowell
12. Bubba Wallace
13. William Byron
14. Erik Jones
15. Harrison Burton
16. AJ Allmendinger
17. Brad Keselowski
18. Chris Buescher
19. Austin Cindric
20. J.J. Yeley
21. Ty Dillon
22. Denny Hamlin
23. Ryan Blaney
24. Ryan Preece
25. Daniel Suarez
26. B.J. McLeod
27. Josh Berry
28. Ross Chastain
29. Alex Bowman
30. Corey LaJoie
31. Aric Almirola
32. Kyle Busch
33. Noah Gragson
34. Matt Crafton
35. Kyle Larson
36. Jonathan Davenport
37. Joey Logano
