Christopher Bell seized the victory on a late restart at Bristol Motor Speedway, completing a first-round sweep of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for Joe Gibbs Racing

Ty Gibbs (54) leads Ryan Blaney (12) during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — Christopher Bell seized the victory on a late restart Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, completing a first-round sweep of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Leading the final four laps, Bell finished 0.343 seconds ahead of Brad Keselowski, who was trying to end a 51-race winless streak.

Bell joined JGR teammates Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe as first-round winners as Toyotas remained unbeaten in the 10-race playoffs.

Zane Smith finished third, followed by Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano.

There were a season-high 14 caution flags for 137 laps as drivers and teams struggled to get a handle on a new right-side tire with excessive wear that required more pit stops.

The playoff drama spiked with 40 laps remaining when a fire erupted under Austin Cindric’s No. 2 Ford. His team was able to extinguish the flames, but Cindric lost several laps in the pits and re-emerged outside the top 30 and just ahead of Alex Bowman in the points for the 12th and final transfer spot to the second round.

But Bowman, who had rebounded from a spin on the 100th lap, still needed to win to bump out Cindric. He finished eighth and came up 10 points short of advancing.

Also eliminated were Austin Dillon (28th), Shane van Gisbergen (26th) and Josh Berry (39th).

Seeking his first Cup victory, Ty Gibbs led a race-high 201 of 500 laps but bungled while trying to reach the pits for his final green-flag stop, losing major time in his No. 54 Toyota.

First out

...

AJ Allmendinger (16) leads the field during the start of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

With smoke billowing from the cockpit and flames shooting out from his right-front tire, Berry made an eye-catching exit as the first driver eliminated. The Wood Brothers Racing driver qualified 10th and ran as high as third before a fire erupted on his No. 21 Ford.

“Man, just so disappointing,” Berry said. “That was going to be a lot of fun. We were moving forward. It’s been a tough couple of weeks, but it hasn’t been because of performance. We executed well and ran well, just haven’t had the finishes.”

Berry, whose playoff debut began with a crash on the first lap of the Southern 500, finished last in all three races of the first round. “I don’t think you could ever script three last-place finishes in the ways that we’ve gotten them,” he said.

Uncharacteristic outburst

Bell is typically low-key, but the Joe Gibbs Racing driver blasted his team and its strategy with a vulgarity-laced tirade after finishing seventh in the prior race at Gateway. Bell, who is winless in 24 races and without a top five since July, said he was frustrated after watching teammates Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe win the first two races of the playoffs.

“If I was consistently leading laps and in position to win, then I would never have been frustrated,” Bell said. “But the fact of the matter is I haven’t been in position to win races, I haven’t led laps. My teammates are leading it seems like almost every lap, and they’re getting the results. It’s less about winning races and more about being in position to do well, and we haven’t had that.”

Up next

The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs will open the second round Sunday, Sept. 21 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It’s the first Cup race at the 1.058-mile oval since June 2024 and the first playoff race in Loudon, New Hampshire, since September 2017.

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing