DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Christopher Bell thought his chance to win at Darlington Raceway was over — twice.
He got passed by Sheldon Creed with eight laps remaining, then after regaining the lead a final time coming out the pits with four laps left, was bumped from behind in overtime by Cole Custer.
“I thought I was going head on into the inside wall,” Bell said with smile.
Instead, Bell held on to win the Xfinity Series event and give himself a chance to sweep the weekend at Darlington in the Southern 500 on Sunday night.
“It’s never over until it’s over,” he said. “I’ve learned that plenty of times.”
Bell, the NASCAR Cup Series regular who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, had the most dominant car the entire race, leading 103 of the first 137 laps.
But Creed swept past him low in turn two with eight laps remaining and began to pull away from Bell until the sixth caution came out on lap 142.
All the leaders came in to freshen up tires on the rubber-chewing track and Bell beat everyone back to the track headed to overtime.
Custer, the defending series champion, went low on the restart and looked as if he had position before Bell inched back in front. Custer bumped him from behind and the two, maintaining their grip, slid down the track and stayed 1-2 in line.
“I really need to see a replay of it. That was wild,” Bell said. “Darlington is such a tough racetrack.”
Bell, who started from the pole, claimed his 19th career Xfinity win and his second this season after taking NASCAR’s Triple-A event at New Hampshire in June.
Custer finished second and Creed took third. Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion also pulling double duty, was fourth, followed by Sammy Smith, Jesse Love, Shane Van Grisbergen, Chandler Smith and Austin Hill.
Justin Allgaier, who won the Xfinity race at Darlington on Mother’s Day weekend in May, finished 10th.
“I think I almost cleared him into one, but that’s just hard racing,” Custer said. “It was fun racing Christopher there.”
Bell has won three times on the Cup Series and looks to add to that total at the Southern 500 on Sunday night. He ended up leading 109 of the 150 laps and will try and sweep the weekend in the Cup Series’ regular-season finale.
It was another heartbreaking finish for Creed, who once again looked as if he would break through for his first career Xfinity win.
“Once again, I feel terrible for Sheldon,” Bell said. “To essentially win the race, passing me low down there and then losing it on pit road, is a big bummer.”
While climbing out of his car, Creed shook his head at his latest close call. The 2020 Truck Series champion has 23 top-five Xfinity finishes the past three seasons — without a victory.
“Man, I don’t know if I can be any better than that,” Creed said. “I put in one of my best performances.”
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