LOUDON, NH – Christopher Bell won the USA TODAY 301 to score his ninth career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season, and his second at New Hampshire. His margin of victory over Chase Briscoe was 1.104 seconds.
Christopher Bell outlasted the rain, darkness, repeated cautions, and the rest of the field.
There were 14 caution periods for a total of 85 laps. Twenty-nine of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
Bell is now second in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with eight races remaining in the regular season.
Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott leave New Hampshire tied atop the championship standings with a 40-point advantage over third-place Denny Hamlin.
Stage 1 Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stewart Haas Racing Finish:
- Chase Briscoe (Started 23rd, Finished 2nd / Running, completed 305 of 305 laps)
- Josh Berry (Started 10th, Finished 3rd / Running, completed 305 of 305 laps)
- Ryan Preece (Started 31st, Finished 11th / Running, completed 305 of 305 laps)
- Noah Gragson (Started 21st, Finished 27th / Running, completed 305 of 305 laps)
Stewart Haas Points:
- Chase Briscoe (16th with 405 points, 215 out of first)
- Josh Berry (19th with 357 points, 263 out of first)
- Noah Gragson (25th with 297 points, 323 out of first)
- Ryan Preece (28th with 275 points, 345 out of first)
Briscoe earned his second top-five and sixth top-10 of the season with his second-place finish Sunday at New Hampshire. His first top-five and second top-10 in four career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the 1.058-mile oval.
Briscoe’s second-place finish was the 12th top-five of his NASCAR Cup Series career, a mark highlighted by his March 2022 win at Phoenix Raceway.
“The rain saved us,” said Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Zep Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “Awesome recovery for our Zep Ford. I’ve always joked this is one of my worst racetracks, so to run second is kind of surprising, to be honest with you. But, yeah, the rain definitely helped us. If it wasn’t for the rain, we literally would’ve run 24th, probably. We were able to have a couple of good restarts. Our guys did a really good job just understanding the rain balance. I think we learned a lot when we did it at Richmond. We needed a good turnaround day. It definitely didn’t start that way, but I’m certainly glad that it ended that way.”
This was Briscoe’s best finish so far this year. His previous best was fifth, earned May 12 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Briscoe’s second-place result bettered his previous best finish at New Hampshire – 10th, earned last July.
Berry earned his second top-five and fourth top-10 of the season, and it came in his first career NASCAR Cup Series start at New Hampshire.
Berry equaled his season’s best finish of third, originally earned May 12 at Darlington.
“Man, that was a lot of fun, honestly,” said Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 MINER Ford Mustang Dark Horse. ” I’m going to think back to a million different things I could’ve done differently there. But the bottom was so hard to get going through (turns) one and two. I felt like if I could just clear the 14 (Briscoe), I was kind of inching in on C-Bell (Christopher Bell) before the final caution and I just got a little loose off of two. That let Chase get back to my left rear; he kind of dragged me back, and we got stuck racing each other. I don’t know. I wanted to take the front row so badly at the end, but we felt like we were making the right decision based on the track conditions. They just didn’t work out.”
This was Berry’s second straight top-10. He finished seventh last Sunday at Iowa Speedway in Newton.
He finished fifth in Stage 1 to earn six bonus points and eighth in Stage 2 to earn three more bonus points.
Berry was the highest-finishing rookie.
Preece earned his fifth top-15 of the season, and first top-15 in six career NASCAR Cup Series starts at New Hampshire.
“I feel a lot better about it now with how we ended versus how it was before that rain delay. We were going to end up 28th, and now we have ended up 11th,” said Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “We needed a good run, but I’m still ticked off finishing 11th because I feel like we should’ve finished higher. It was great to be back home with family and friends here at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Overall, I was happy with the speed in our Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang Dark Horse. The team has been working hard, and we’ll go get ‘em at Nashville.”
Preece’s 11th-place result bettered his previous best finish at New Hampshire – 16th, earned in August 2020.
Gragson’s 27th-place result bettered his previous best finish at New Hampshire – 32nd, earned last July.
“I just lacked grip. Super lose all the way around the track,” said Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse. “Must’ve hit the paint on entry to (turn) one, and not intentionally by any means with the 23 (Bubba Wallace). Just a mistake on my part. It was unfortunate, and I apologize to the 23 guys for ruining their day. That’s obviously not what we want to do and not what I want to do. It was completely unintentional.” –
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Ally 400, which will be held on Sunday, June 30, at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT and will be covered live by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
