Christopher Bell gets eighth win of the season in Texas

credit: Lisa Janine Cloud/Skirts and Scuffs
by Lisa Janine Cloud

Christopher Bell claimed a berth in the Xfinity Series Final Four with his victory Saturday night in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. The Norman, Oklahoma, native cruised to the win with a comfortable 5.561 margin over Ross Chastain in second.

Bell led 101 of 200 laps at the 1.5 mile track just two-and-a-half hours from his hometown. In fact, he could probably have driven the 165 miles home in the time it took to run the race. The victory was first in the Xfinity Series at what he considers his home track and he pasted his eighth sticker of the 2019 season on his Rheem Toyota in Victory Lane. Bell has 16 career wins in the Xfinity Series.

Austin Cindric came in third, while Brandon Jones bulldogged his way past Justin Allgaier to finish fourth, bringing top-finishing rookie John Hunter Nemechek with him. Allgaier, who started in the rear of the field after an engine change, dropped to sixth.

Harrison Burton came home seventh in his Xfinity debut at TMS, with Cole Custer, Jeb Burton, and Ryan Sieg rounding out the top ten. 

Bell and Tyler Reddick traded the lead several times throughout the race until Reddick wrecked on Lap 160 while trying to avoid Chase Briscoe who bumped the wall. Reddick wound up 29th, while Briscoe limped home in 22nd.

The race slowed nine times for caution, a total of 51 laps, and was under a red flag for 5:38.

Here are the point standings going into Phoenix:

Rank Driver Points Diff
1 Christopher Bell 3166
2 Cole Custer 3135 -31
3 Tyler Reddick 3119 -47
4 Justin Allgaier 3101 -65
5 Chase Briscoe 3083 -83
6 Michael Annett 3073 -93
7 Austin Cindric 3070 -96
8 Noah Gragson 3054 -112

Full race results:

Fin Driver
1    Christopher Bell
2    Ross Chastain
3    Austin Cindric
4    Brandon Jones
5    John Hunter Nemechek
6    Justin Allgaier
7    Harrison Burton
8    Cole Custer
9    Jeb Burton
10    Ryan Sieg
11    Michael Annett
12    Ray Black, Jr.
13    Gray Gaulding
14    Josh Williams
15    Chad Finchum
16    B.J. McLeod
17    Garrett Smithley
18    Matt Mills
19    Stephen Leicht
20    Bayley Currey
21    Josh Bilicki
22    Chase Briscoe
23    Stefan Parsons
24    Vinnie Miller
25    Brandon Brown
26    Joey Gase
27    C.J. McLaughlin
28    Jeremy Clements
29    Tyler Reddick
30    Noah Gragson
31    Ronnie Bassett, Jr.
32    Justin Haley
33    David Starr
34    Kyle Weatherman
35    Timmy Hill
36    Landon Cassill
37    Bobby Dale Earnhardt
38    J.J. Yeley
Christopher Bell gets eighth win of the season in Texas Christopher Bell gets eighth win of the season in Texas Reviewed by Janine Cloud on Sunday, November 03, 2019 Rating: 5