Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Kyle Larson is the first driver to secure a spot in the Championship 4 after winning at Phoenix Raceway. He achieved this feat after a dominant run and a late battle with Christopher Bell.
The intensity increased with each lap of the final stage, especially with fewer than 10 to go in the race. Bell began turning faster lap times than Larson, which helped him erase a deficit of more than two seconds.
Bell pulled within one second of the lead with two laps remaining and then he put himself right behind Larson as they were coming to the checkered flag. A big block by Larson stopped one of Bell’s runs. Larson then won the drag race to the checkered flag after Bell moved to his inside.
“Thankfully, Christopher always races extremely clean,” Larson told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider after climbing from his race-winning car. “It could have got crazier than it did coming to the start-finish line. Thank you to him for racing with respect there.”
READ MORE:Kyle Larson Reacts to Denny Hamlin’s “Equal Shot” as he sent a…
The win led to a celebration by the members of the No. 5 team. The close loss also led to disappointment in the Joe Gibbs Racing camp.
Bell walked away with the second-most stage points earned on the day with 17. This moved him to only three points below the Championship 4 cutline heading to Homestead next week. He just didn’t accomplish his ultimate goal of locking up a spot in the season’s most important race.
“I feel like that was my moment to make the Final Four and didn’t quite capture it,” Bell told NBC Sports.
