After six hours and a long rain delay that forced the race to finish on a wet racetrack in near darkness, Christopher Bell won the USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to earn his third win of the 2024 season and his second in the last three Loudon races. Bell took command of the race in wet conditions, withstanding a series of late-race restarts that sent the race to overtime before pulling away from the Stewart-Haas Racing teammates of Chase Briscoe in second and Josh Berry in third.
Although storms in the New England area threatened to end Sunday's race on lap 219, the rain eventually cleared to give NASCAR the opportunity to finish the race on wet weather tires, making for an especially dynamic run to the finish as the field was forced to figure out the damp condition and how it changed as the track dried out. Bell had little problem, rain or shine, as he took firm command of the race on his way to becoming the fourth driver this season to have won three races.
Three years ago, Bell had been in a similar situation -- at the front of the field after a day of rain delays, running Aric Almirola down for the lead and the win as the sun went down -- when NASCAR had elected to shorten the race by eight laps due to impending darkness, meaning Bell ran out of time and finished second.
This time, Bell was able to complete the extra mile -- and a little more -- to put the finishing touch on a day that marked a significant step for NASCAR's efforts to create solutions to get back to racing in inclement conditions.
"You never know how this thing's gonna shake out whenever you change so many things like that. The adverse conditions -- I personally love adverse conditions, because you're always trying to think outside the box," Bell told NBC Sports. "Whenever we went back out, I was feeling around and it felt like that the normal Loudon groove was really, really slippery. So I tried to just run down or run up, and [crew chief Adam Stevens] put the tune on this thing and it was turning really good …. Guys, this one didn't get shortened!"
Coupled with his wins at Phoenix and in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, Bell continues to stand in distinct company as one of just four drivers to have won multiple races in 2024, all of whom -- Bell, Denny Hamlin, William Byron and Kyle Larson -- hold three apiece. Bell's ninth career Cup win also comes at the end of a weekend sweep, as he won New Hampshire's Xfinity Series race on Saturday.
With inclement weather an issue throughout the weekend in New Hampshire, the expectation once the race passed the halfway point was that the field was racing the rain and likely racing to the finish: After coming to pit road at lap 156, Tyler Reddick was among a number of cars who employed alternate strategies following the end of stage two, staying out as the leaders came to pit road in an effort to get and hold the lead before the rains came.
When the race was red flagged on lap 219 for rain, it looked as though Reddick's strategy had worked, and that the race would be called in short order to give him his second win of the year. And in past years, that likely would have been the end of the race. But thanks to the wet weather rules package that has been developed and implemented in recent years by NASCAR, it was not.
After the rain passed through and the track was dried of standing water, NASCAR lifted the red flag and declared a wet racetrack for the run to the finish, putting the field on a damp racetrack with some alterations to normal race procedures: For instance, pit stops were non-competitive, with NASCAR dictating when teams could and could not put on new sets of wet weather tires.
Ultimately, the conditions would greatly alter how each driver attacked the racetrack, with the pace gradually picking back up as drivers became more emboldened and the track began to dry out. It also marked perhaps the most significant data set for Cup cars in wet conditions on an oval to date, building on some of what was learned earlier this year at Richmond when the race was started in the damp.
"It was fun racing up there at the end and slipping and sliding around," Briscoe told NBC Sports. "The track was changing a lot. It was a lot like sprint car racing -- the groove was literally changing lap-in and lap-out ... Truthfully, I think we could've probably started with the track a little bit wetter. The beginning was pretty fun. We were all over the place, five-wide at times and slipping and sliding around.
"It's been really encouraging," he continued, "I think, to see kind of the wet weather progression of how aggressive we've been with it, and I think we can continue to do that."
"It's definitely a challenge, it's intense, but it's so much fun," Berry said. "I find myself riding around under caution just trying to figure out where the grip's at, what pavement has grip, whether the paint has grip ... Then you see us running through the water on the frontstretch, I mean, I've never done anything like that in my life. But, man, it was so much fun."
Once it became clear that the track was beginning to dry out and the grip was on the top of the racetrack, the strategy at the choose zone before restarts became explicitly clear: The leaders would take the outside for the preferred line and the right angle to get optimal drive off the corner, while the inside line was more in-play for drivers trying to gain a great reward -- the race lead -- by taking a line that came with a greater risk.
That's the chance that Michael McDowell took with nine laps to go, as he took the inside at the choose zone to line up alongside Bell on a late restart and try to get the lead amid fairly desperate odds he faces to make the playoffs. But Bell would get the launch he needed to get away from McDowell before he sailed his car into turn 1 -- where it didn't stick, taking both himself and Ryan Blaney out in the process.
After the race, McDowell came over to Blaney on pit road to try and smooth things out. But his apology didn't do much to appease the defending Cup champion, who was clearly irked by the way he felt he was raced.
"An apology is nice, but it's not gonna bring back what he did. I knew what he was trying to do it -- It was like a low-percentage move. I mean, it's wet down there and you're just gonna stove it off in there and what do you think's gonna happen? Like, you're gonna take both of us out. I know he's gotta win and all that, that's his excuse, but you have to be a little more calculated than that. It just stinks that we were at the expense of it."
While the blow of Blaney's late-race accident was softened by the blow of his win at Iowa last week that solidified his playoff spot, others were left which much less consolation to go with their frustrations. Bubba Wallace appeared set to capitalize on problems for Joey Logano and build his points cushion over the playoff cut line, but that all went awry when Noah Gragson spun and slid up into Wallace, triggering a multi-car crash that ended his day and has now dropped him to 13 points back of Logano for the final playoff spot.
For Wallace, that points deficit is at least not nearly on the scale that Kyle Busch's is after another nightmare of a race: After running off the pace and going as many as two laps down to the leaders early, Busch was involved in three separate incidents, including one under caution after the red flag was lifted that finally ended his day and has dropped him to 45 points below the cut line. Alex Bowman also lost ground to the cut line, as he is now holds just a 59-point advantage after suffering an engine failure that left him 36th.
It's off to Music City and the Nashville Superspeedway for the fourth-annual running of the Ally 400 next Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is Christopher Bell's own personal Wet-Dry World! He sweeps the weekend in Loudon and earns his third win of the 2024 season!
1 - #20 - Christopher Bell
2 - #14 - Chase Briscoe
3 - #4 - Josh Berry (R)
4 - #5 - Kyle Larson
5 - #17 - Chris Buescher
6 - #45 - Tyler Reddick
7 - #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
8 - #42 - John Hunter Nemechek
9 - #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
10 - #1 - Ross Chastain
Bell with a terrific launch. Berry can't get the power down soon enough to clear Briscoe. Those two are side-by-side as Bell pulls away coming to the white flag.
NASCAR elects to keep going. We are going to overtime with darkness impending and another rain shower having popped up.
Berry chooses the outside behind Bell. Briscoe to the inside again. Both are in position to get a win here and put themselves on the playoff grid.
Spin by Brad Keselowski in Turns 1 and 2. NASCAR held the yellow for as long as they could, but Keselowski was not able to fire off and the caution is out again.
We are now past 8 p.m. ET on the East Coast, meaning that darkness is a much bigger problem than it has been all day. We'll see what NASCAR's call is as far as overtime goes.
Big launch by Bell allows him to get clear and away from the rest of the field. Berry will take second, Briscoe settles into third ahead of Larson and Buescher.
Three laps to go now.
Restart will come with four laps to go. Christopher Bell chooses the outside along with Josh Berry and Kyle Larson. Chase Briscoe is the first car on the inside line along with Chris Buescher and Justin Haley.
This will be the first time all day that Briscoe will restart up front, and he's got a chance to really upend things here.
McDowell sails it into Turn 1 and it doesn't stick! He takes himself out and takes Ryan Blaney with him! Caution is out again!
The restart is going to come with nine laps to go. Bell and Blaney choose the outside. Michael McDowell -- likely in a must-win situation as far as the playoffs go -- chooses to line up on the inside along with Kyle Larson. There's also the element of darkness at play -- we'll see what happens there as it pertains to whether or not this race can go to overtime.
Green flag!
NASCAR is now ruling that they'll allow teams to put on a new set of wets. This will be their final set of the day. Non-competitive pit stops.
NASCAR has ruled a quickie yellow with no tire changes. They will not be going to slicks.
The argument from the teams -- or at least Kyle Larson's team -- is that the current set of wet tires won't last that long with the track drying out the way it is.
Hocevar finally spins out in Turn 3 after sliding around for several laps. That happened just after Kyle Larson lost two spots reporting that the right rear of his car had completely gone away. Caution is out.
The question now is whether or not the track is ready for slicks again. While the track is noticeably drier in certain areas, ther are still quite a number of damp parts.
Bell is beginning to open his lead up to about one second. 20 laps to go.
You can see how much lighter grey the asphalt up towards the top of the track is as opposed to further down. Carson Hocevar went for a slide in Turn 1 but held onto it.
Everyone beginning to fight for the very outside line. That included Justin Haley and Tyler Reddick, who got together entering Turn 1 without incident. Haley in fifth continues an outstanding run to continue a series of terrific runs for Rick Ware Racing.
It's six tenths of a second from Bell to Blaney and 1.2 seconds from Bell to Larson. These last 20 laps will likely be determined by whoever can find the dry line first, get their car to run there, and get their tires to last as well.
Restart with 27 laps to go. A number of drivers, namely Tyler Reddick and Josh Berry, have used the choice of the inside line at the choose zone to pick up track position. But it's Bell, Blaney and Larson lined up on the outside trying to settle this race amongst themselves.
Bell emerges witth the lead as Blaney and Larson beat and bang for second! Blaney hangs on!
Race leader Christopher Bell has reported a voltage issue on his car. He holds the lead by virtue of non-competitive stops, which meant everyone maintained their positions coming on and off pit road.
Crew chief Adam Stevens says that the voltage isn't an issue now since Bell turned his cool suit off. Likely some leftover rain water may have messed with the electronics.
NASCAR is now permitting teams to come to pit road for non-competitive pit stops. They will be allowed to change from the set of wets they started on after the red flag to a new set of wets. NASCAR has told the field that they *must* come to pit road. No option to stay out.
Bubba Wallace was poised to capitalize on Joey Logano's troubles and build much more of a points cushion to the playoff bubble. Instead, he's now dropped seven points below Logano at the cut line, and he let Noah Gragson know he wasn't pleased with him after that accident on his way to his pit box.
Wallace is out of his car and done for the day.
Big crash in Turns 1 and 2! A bunch of cars involved.
Bubba Wallace has a lot of front end damage. Noah Gragson has crashed, as has Austin Dillon. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is in it and so is Zane Smith.
Noah Gragson spun out and up the track into Wallace, turning him up into Austin Dillon and head-on into the wall. Erik Jones, Austin Cindric, and John Hunter Nemechek all spun out in reaction.
Green flag is out again with 39 laps to go. Blaney elected for the outside behind Bell, and it'll work to keep Larson behind him. Josh Berry has now entered the top five with Michael McDowell and Chase Briscoe also moving forward with Chris Buescher dropping to eighth.
NASCAR saying that tire changes still are not permitted under this caution. Non-competitive pit stops still in effect
Blaney has cut Bell's lead in half. The gap is now just under 1.4 seconds from first to second.
It's about to get a lot closer: Caution is out for a crash by Corey LaJoie in Turn 2.
50 laps to go. Blaney has made the pass for second, Larson is now third, and Buescher is now fourth. Reddick has dropped back to fifth.
Blaney has 2.8 seconds to make up on Bell as the track continues to dry out. You're starting to see some lighter patches of racetrack down the frontstretch in particular.
Five-wide in midpack! The field is using every inch of racetrack available to them and it's creating a bunch of lines we wouldn't normally see.
Battle for second is heating up between Reddick, Blaney, Larson and Buescher. That's all happening well behind Christopher Bell, whose lead is now up to over three seconds.
Very close call between Cindric and Stenhouse entering Turn 1. They were racing for position and almost sent each other into the wall.
Battle for third now as Ryan Blaney is trying to take that spot from Larson. Chris Buescher has now entered the top five and is also a part of that battle.
Bell gets an outstanding drive from the bottom off turn 2 to take the lead from Reddick. He and Larson have been running on the very bottom of the racetrack on what is effectively this track's apron.
Field is currently running 34 second lap times as the field starts to pick their pace up.
A clarification from NASCAR to their race teams: The field isn't allowed to change the set of wet tires that they're currently on. Teams that changed from one set of wets to another under this caution have been told to put them back on.
Going to have another restart with 60 laps to go.
You're seeing a lot of the field fan out under caution towards either the very inside or the very outside of the racetrack. They're trying to find some standing water to run through in order to cool their tires off.
Keep in mind that the wet weather tires are a softer, more heat-sensitive compound that wears much quicker than standard racing slicks.
NASCAR has told teams under this caution that they must stay on wet weather tires for now. No change to slicks.
Tyler Reddick has opened up a 1.5 second lead on Christopher Bell. Seems like a lot of the field is still trying to figure the conditions out and just how much grip they have. There's very little spray (if any at all) and visibility is not a concern).
Caution is out for a spin off Turn 4. Ross Chastain has gone around.
Much damper than it was at the start of the day, but one way or another, we're going to see a finish! Green flag back out with 73 laps to go!
Field fans out dramatically in the first two corners as they begin to feel out the wet racetrack. Card all over the racetrack trying to find grip. Reddick leads Blaney, Bell, Larson and Gilliland.
