Trackin' Trucks: Christopher Bell Wins Wild One at Texas

Christopher Bell celebrates in Victory Lane at Texas.

Credit: Sarah Crabill

by Courtney Horn

Christopher Bell won on Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, for his second victory of the season. Bell, who also won Stage 2, battled in the closing laps with Brad Keselowski Racing’s Chase Briscoe before a last lap crash left the field frozen.

The wreck occurred when Timothy Peters, running for MDM Racing, made contact with Austin Wayne Self. Peters spun, slid through the grass on the frontstretch and flipped before coming to a stop upside down on the pavement in his No. 99 Chevrolet.

The winstaronlinegaming.com 400 ended under caution as track safety workers helped turn over the wrecked truck so Peters could get out. Per NASCAR rules, Peters was sent to the infield care center but was evaluated and released.

“First off, I want to make sure everyone is okay,” Bell said, “It’s kind of a sorrowful victory here in Victory Lane. That was a pretty bad flip, and I’ve taken my fair share of flips, and it hurts a lot worse whenever it’s in the grass like that one was, so I hope he’s okay. That’s the most important part.

“But second of all, we’re in Victory Lane, so it’s just a dream come true to be able to win here in Texas – my hometown. All of the Tundras are built right here in Texas (San Antonio), so it’s a huge win for us, everybody at Toyota and Toyota Racing Development. Man, our JBL Tundra was super, super good.”

Briscoe led seven laps toward his career best finish of second place. Briscoe’s teammate, Austin Cindric, finished 25th after hitting the wall on Lap 3.

Stage 1 winner Johnny Sauter finished eighth after being involved in the white-flag crash.

Ben Rhodes recovered nicely from a punctured right rear tire early in the race to finish fifth. He also sits fifth in driver standings, 90 points back from leader Sauter.

A Look Ahead

The Camping World Truck Series heads North to Illinois at Gateway Motorsports Park where Ryan Truex is in search of his sixth consecutive top-10 finish. Truex hasn’t finished outside the top 10 since March 4th at Atlanta.

Don’t miss the Drivin’ for Linemen 200 next Saturday, June 17, 2017 at 8:30 p.m ET on Fox Sports 1.