By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
DARLINGTON, S.C.-Christopher Bell survived a near-disaster with Cole Custer on the first lap of overtime and held on to win Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 over Custer and snakebit Sheldon Creed.
During a green-flag run that started on lap 97 of 150, Creed caught and passed Bell for the lead on Lap 139 and was poised to claim his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory after a record 11 runner-up finishes in the series.
But Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger slapped the outside wall on Lap 143, causing the sixth caution of the afternoon, and Creed lost the top spot with a slow 15-second stop on pit road, thanks to issues with the right rear tire.
Creed restarted third behind Bell in the outside lane. Contact between the cars of Bell and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Custer on the backstretch got both cars out of shape below the normal racing line, but the drivers recovered and held their positions.
“That was wild, for sure,” said Bell, who started from the pole and led 108 laps. “I thought I was headed nose-first into the inside wall… It’s a tough race track, and off of (Turn) 2, whether you’re on the bottom of the top, it flushes you to the wall, and then you kind of get a little bit of a wiggle coming down.
“Once again, I feel terrible for Sheldon, to essentially win the race on the long run there and then lose it on pit road. It’s a big bummer… It seemed like our car was really good on the short runs. Obviously, the 18, Sheldon, was really good on the long runs.
“Unfortunately for him, the race played out differently, and fortunately for us, we got another shot at it.”
The victory was Bell’s second of the season in as many starts, with the first victory having come at New Hampshire in June. But Bell’s triumph came at the expense of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.
As expected, Creed was disconsolate as he reflected on the race that got away.
“I lost one the same way a few years ago here,” lamented Creed, who led 30 laps and was pulling away from Bell before the final caution. “This has been a really good place for me. I’ve always loved racing here. Man, I don’t know if we could be any better than that.
“I felt like I put in one of my best performances today… Man, it’s a bummer. I’m so proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing on this 18 team. I took a chance on myself and brought all the money we could. I’m literally not even making a dollar this year.”
Creed will leave Joe Gibbs Racing to drive a Ford for the Haas Factory Team next year.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott finished fourth, followed by Sammy Smith, who leap-frogged Ryan Sieg into the final Playoff-eligible position on points. Smith leads Sieg by 10 points with three races left in the Xfinity regular season.
Jesse Love, Shane van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier completed the top 10.
Creed did pick up his first stage win of the season, beating Bell to the finish line in Stage 2. Bell won the opening 45-lap stage over Hill.
Under intense pressure to make the Playoffs, Bubba Wallace captures pole for regular season finale
August 31, 2024
By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service
DARLINGTON, S.C. – Offering up a fist pump and big smile, Bubba Wallace claimed perhaps the most consequential pole position of his young career – turning in the fastest lap in the final round of NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Only a scant number of tickets remain for the race, and track officials urge fans to purchase their tickets now while supplies last at www.darlingtonraceway.com.
Wallace’s lap of 167.143 mph in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota Saturday afternoon puts him out front to start the 500-miler at the historic 1.366-mile Darlington track. And it’s a good beginning for a big night. Wallace currently is just one position below the Playoff line – trailing RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher by 21 points entering this last race to set the 16-driver Playoff grid.
“Looking at us coming in, being on the bubble, 21 points out, a ton of pressure, well I think the pressure just switched,” said the 30-year old North Carolinian Wallace, who has four top-10 finishes in his last four races at the track famously nicknamed “Too Tough to Tame.”
“We’re not here to mess around. I showed up with a more open and calm demeanor, free and relaxing demeanor but at the same time I don’t want to be messed with.
“So it’s a fine balance you have to walk.”
Series rookie 21-year old Carson Hocevar will start alongside Wallace on the front row – his best career start in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe will start his No. 14 Ford third with Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. rounding out the top-five.
Wallace’s 23XI Racing teammate, championship leader Tyler Reddick will roll off sixth in the No. 45 Toyota. He holds a 17-point advantage over the defending race winner Larson for the regular season championship that will be decided Sunday night. Larson’s Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott is only 18 points behind Reddick and will start 20th.
Reigning series champion, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, Hendrick’s William Byron, JGR’s Christopher Bell and Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Chris Buescher round out the top-10.
Buescher currently holds a 21-point advantage over Wallace for that 16th and final Playoff position. After a top-10 showing in practice, Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain will roll off 22nd on the grid. He’s just behind Wallace in the standings, 27 points behind Buescher.
“The first round I thought we did a good job, the team did a good job of making adjustments for the second round,” said Buescher, driver of the No. 17 RFK Ford. “We were working hard to try to make three and four better because we left a lot on the table there but then I ended up messing up turn one a little bit. It is still a good start for us.”
Wallace said that he was a little angry at himself after a sixth-place effort in practice saying he had wanted to “make a statement” and felt he ultimately did so in qualifying.
“Anything can happen,” Wallace said of his Playoff potential. “We saw that last week. So we have to run our own race and it makes it a lot easier for us. I have the first pit stall and as long as we executive and make the right calls and do great on pit road. All I want for every single person on this team including myself is to go bed tomorrow night and know we did everything we could, we did all we could. Maybe it was good enough, maybe it wasn’t. That’s the lottery ticket we’ll find out after tomorrow night’s race.”
One of Wallace’s 23XI Racing team owners, four-time Darlington winner Denny Hamlin said he understands the pressure Wallace is facing trying to race his way into the playoffs in the regular season finale.
“It’s tough, because I think if you’ve got pressure in race 26 then I think that we’ve had 25 other opportunities where the pressure should have been the same,” said Hamlin, who will start 14th Sunday. “So just, what I’ve been preaching is that every race counts.
“You have to bring it every single week. You cannot take one week off in this thing, especially if you aren’t winning, you have to be a top-10 guy every single week. So that’s really, really hard to sustain. I still think Bubba is still on the rise, he’s still getting better, and he’s taken strides over where he was just two years ago. So I’m really happy with the result either way, but I know he’s going to give his 100% effort.”
