Christopher Bell has slammed his foot on the gas to open 2025, and Sunday at Phoenix Raceway he claimed his third consecutive victory of the young NASCAR Cup Series season.
Bell edged Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin and Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson at the finish line to win the Shriners Children’s 500, the second year in a row Bell has triumphed in the March race at the Avondale, Arizona track.
Bell, who won two weeks ago at Atlanta and last weekend at Circuit of the Americas, became the first driver since 2021 to win three consecutive races. Larson accomplished the feat twice that season en route to the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Bell also became the first driver since Kevin Harvick in 2018 to win three of the first four races and the first driver to win three straight in the Next Gen car, which debuted in 2022
Bell’s lone blemish of the season came in the season-opening Daytona 500, when he finished 31st after getting caught up in a late crash.
The 30-year-old Bell had the dominant car of the day Sunday at Phoenix, despite starting 11th. He raced into the top four by the end of the opening stage and then won Stage 2. It appeared Bell would cruise to victory until his JGR teammate brought out the caution flag with eight laps remaining in the race when Hamlin hit the wall after blowing out a tire. That forced Bell to maintain the lead on one more restart, but Hamlin and Larson made him work in the final few laps.
‘Oh, my gosh, man,’ Bell said after climbing out of his No. 20 Toyota. ‘It was all about who could get clear on the restart. Neither of us could. We were racing really, really hard there coming to the line. JGR ran 1-2, how about that?’
Hamlin nearly stole the victory from his younger teammate in one of the closest finishes in the history of Phoenix Raceway, but Bell was able to hold him off by 0.049 seconds.
‘The 5 (Larson’s Chevrolet) really gave me a great push on the frontstretch on the (final) restart, down the backstretch,’ Hamlin said. ‘I had kind of position on the 20. I knew he was going to ship it in there. Obviously we just kind of ran out of racetrack there.
‘Great finish. Great job by the whole Joe Gibbs team to give us some fast cars.’
The win was the 12th of Bell’s NASCAR Cup Series career, and he’s already matched his most wins in a season, with three in both 2022 and 2024.
Josh Berry, Chris Buescher and William Byron, who won the Daytona 500, rounded out the top six. Byron also won the opening stage at Phoenix and led the Cup Series standings entering Sunday’s race.
NASCAR at Phoenix – Top 10 finishers
(Car number in parentheses)
- (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota
- (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota
- (5) Kyle Larson, Cheverolet
- (21) Josh Berry, Ford
- (17) Chris Buescher, Ford
- (24) William Byron, Chevrolet
- (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet
- (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet
- (38) Zane Smith, Ford
- (9) Chase Elliott, , Chevrolet
SHRINERS CHILDREN’S 500: Click here for full results of Sunday’s race
NASCAR at Phoenix – Stage 2
Joey Logano rebounded from a penalty in the opening segment to climb all the way back to the lead, but ultimately it was defending race winner Christopher Bell who won the stage. Bell had taken the lead following pit stops to begin Stage 2, but Logano roared through the field on the option tire to overtake him. But, in the waning laps of the segment, Logano’s softer tire finally began to wear out, and Bell was able to retake the lead and win the stage.
The segment was marred by a huge multicar crash following a restart on Lap 99. As drivers were battling mid-pack through Turn 2, a four-wide scrum became way too tight went Ty Gibbs began drifting up the track, triggering multiple collisions. The eventual melee mangled several cars and caused early exits for Riley Herbts, Carson Hocever, Chase Briscoe, Justin Haley, Brad Keselowski, Cole Custer and Shane Van Gisbergen. A handful of other drivers went multiple laps down after making repairs, including Michael McDowell and Noah Gragson.
Here are the top 10 finishers of Stage 2:
- Christopher Bell, Toyota
- Joey Logano, Ford
- William Byron, Chevrolet
- Ryan Blaney, Ford
- Tyler Reddick, Toyota
- Austin Cindric, Ford
- Denny Hamlin, Toyota
- Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet
- Kyle Larson, Cheverolet
- Josh Berry, Ford
NASCAR at Phoenix – Stage 1
Pole sitter William Byron dominated the opening stage of the Shriners Children’s 500, leading all but the five led by Logano. But Logano was penalized for going under the yellow line on a restart and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty, which sent him to the back of the field. Meanwhile, Ryan Preece made up 30 positions as the only driver using the option tire in the opening stage. Every driver will make use of the option tires at least one during the 312-lap race.
Here are the top 10 finishers of Stage 1:
- William Byron, Chevrolet
- Tyler Reddick, Toyota
- Ryan Preece, Ford
- Christopher Bell, Toyota
- Ryan Blaney, Ford
- Josh Berry, Ford
- Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet
- Denny Hamlin, Toyota
- Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
- Kyle Larson, Chevrolet
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