Bell bests Elliott for New Hampshire Cup win

While Martin Truex Jr. dominated much of the race, it was Elliott and Bell who emerged as the fastest cars following the final round of pit stops.

Elliott nudged Kurt Busch out of the way for the lead on Lap 247 of 301 only to see Bell power around Elliott on Lap 260.

From there, Bell couldn’t be touched and topped Elliott by 5.767 seconds for his first win of the 2022 season and just the second of his career.

“I can’t believe it,” Bell said over his team radio after taking the checkered flag.

Bell, 27, becomes the 14th different winner in the Cup Series this season.

 

“Man, that one was much-needed right there,” said Bell, who was in danger of missing the 16-driver playoff without a victory.

“That was a hell of a race from my viewpoint. That was so much fun racing with (Kurt Busch), (Joey Logano) and (Elliott). We were all running different lines. That was a blast. I’m so happy – so happy to be here at Joe Gibbs Racing.

“Winning Cup races is hard. It’s seems like we’ve been so close and we fell off a little bit last week. But here we are today.”

Bubba Wallace finished third, Truex ended up fourth and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 were Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez and Kurt Busch.

Stage 3

During the break between Stages 2 and 3, most of the lead-lap cars pit with Truex the first off pit road. Austin Cindric had an uncontrolled tire during his stop and had to restart from the rear of the field.

Harrison Burton, Chase Briscoe and Kyle Busch all stayed out and led the way on the restart on Lap 193. Truex lined up fourth and Elliott fifth.

Briscoe quickly powered to the lead on the restart. On Lap 198, Truex – on new tires- passed Briscoe to return to the front.

Todd Gilliland spun and hit the wall in Turn 4 on Lap 205 to bring out the ninth caution of the race. Most lead-lap cars pit with Truex first off pit road.

Kurt Busch stayed out and inherited the lead and led the way on the restart on Lap 210 followed by Joey Logano, Cole Custer and Truex.

On Lap 243, Elliott made contact with Logano racing for position with Elliott taking over the second spot while Logano dropped back to fourth.

Elliott then got into Kurt Busch in a battle for the lead with Elliott moving out front on Lap 247 for the first time in the race.

On Lap 260, Bell finally caught Elliott and got around him in Turn 4 to take the lead for the first time.

Kurt Busch was forced to pit under green for fuel on Lap 270.

With 30 laps remaining, Bell had moved out to a 1.2-second lead over Elliott as Wallace ran third and Harvick fourth.

With 10 laps to go, Bell’s lead over Elliott expanded to 2.5 seconds. Wallace remained in third, more than nine seconds behind the leader.

Logano was forced to pit under green with four laps remaining for fuel.

Stage 2

Truex held off a fast-approaching Harvick to claim the Stage 2 win, his seventh stage victory of the 2022 season.

Elliott was third, Logano fourth and Kyle Larson ended up fifth.

During the break between Stages 1 and 2, the lead-lap cars all pit with Truex first off pit road.

On the restart on Lap 78, Truex was followed by Harvick, Larson and Wallace.

Kyle Busch spun in the middle of the field on the backstretch on Lap 79 which brought out the third caution of the race.

Just a handful of cars pit. The race resumed on Lap 84 with Truex out front followed by Larson, Harvick and Wallace.

On Lap 89, Corey LaJoie got loose in Turn 2 and hit Burton in Turn 1. Michael McDowell also got caught up in the incident. LaJoie’s No. 7 Chevrolet suffered significant damage and he was forced to retire from the race.

“It got stuck between fourth and third gear on the downshift and locked both rear tires up,” LaJoie said. “It went to an immediate rear slide. It happened earlier today and I got out of shape but I could catch it. That was something weird we’ve got to look at.”

Most of the lead-lap cars pit with Truex first off with a fuel-only stop. Logano stayed out and inherited the lead. Elliott had to make a second stop for a loose lugnut.

Logano led the way on the restart on Lap 101, followed by Cindric, Buescher and Truex.

Truex ran down Logano and got around him on the inside in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 121 to retake the lead.

With 50 laps remaining in the stage, Truex has built a 3.1-second lead over Logano while Larson moved back into third.

On Lap 146, Ryan Blaney spun in Turn 4 and backed into the wall to bring out the fifth caution of the race.

All the lead-lap cars pit with Truex the first off pit road. Suarez came off second, thanks to a two-tire pit stop.

The race returned to green on Lap 152 with Truex out front followed by Suarez, Logano and Harvick.

Chase Briscoe spun in Turn 4 shortly after the restart to place the race back under caution.

The race returned to green on Lap 157 with Truex still in command.

Kyle Busch spun again on Lap 163 on the frontstretch to place the race back under caution. Just after the caution came out, Austin Dillon and Keselowski traded blows several times with both cars taking considerable damage.

The resumed on Lap 168 with Truex still out front followed by Logano, Harvick and Kurt Busch.

With five laps remaining in the stage, Truex maintained about a 1-second lead over Harvick as Elliott ran third.

Stage 1

Truex took command early and easily claimed the Stage 1 win over Wallace while leading all 70 laps.

Larson finished third, Elliott fourth and Harvick rounded out the top-five.

Truex started on the pole and easily cleared Elliott for the lead on the start.

On Lap 5, Alex Bowman and Ty Dillon wrecked on the backstretch in an incident that also collected B.J. McLeod and Josh Bilicki. That brought out the first caution of the race.

A handful of cars pit but the majority stayed out. On the restart on Lap 13, Truex led the way followed by Wallace, Elliott and Kurt Busch.

With 30 laps remaining in the stage, Truex moved out to a 1.6-second lead over Wallace as Larson moved into third.

With 10 laps to go, Truex’s advantage over Wallace had grown to 3.3-seconds as Larson remained in third.