Christopher Bell made the race-winning pass in the Southern 500 with 12 laps to go to deny Kyle Larson, who led a race-high 99 laps, Sunday night.
This marks the Chase driver’s first win of the year after finishing runner-up an astounding seven times this season. Bell’s last win came last September at Bristol Motor Speedway, the third stop of the Playoffs.
Bell crossed the line 1.038 seconds ahead of his JGR teammate Ty Gibbs, with 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick in third. Penske’s Ryan Blaney, Hendrick’s Larson, and JGR’s Chase Briscoe followed. Larson was unable to hold off the top four as he slid to fifth on older tires in the final stint.
Josh Berry, who will move from Wood Brothers to Legacy Motor Club this fall, finished seventh as the highest-finishing driver not in the NASCAR Chase for the 2026 championship.
Christopher Bell climbs to second in the standings with the win, one spot below Denny Hamlin, who finished 18th following contact with Michael McDowell. Hamlin’s sizable buffer over the rest of the field drops to just 12 points above Bell.
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron had the worst race among playoff drivers, credited in 37th with a DNF after an engine failure with 48 laps remaining.
