“I don't know how I won, but I got to the”: Christopher Bell gets real on thrilling Phoenix win over Denny Hamlin

Christopher Bell clinched a thrilling victory at Phoenix Raceway, narrowly edging out his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin in a dramatic photo finish on Sunday (March 9). After the race, Bell reflected on his battle with Hamlin for the win, emphasizing the moments when he believed the race was slipping away from his hands.

The battle between Bell and Hamlin on the restart with two laps to go was one of the highlights of the race. On the final lap, Bell takes the lead in Turn 1, but Hamlin fights back off Turn 2 before Bell charges off Turn 4 to beat out Hamlin by 0.049 seconds to win his third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race of the season.

In a post-race interview with Bob Pockrass, the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver spoke about his dramatic side-by-side finish with Hamlin and credited his biggest rival Kyle Larson’s push from behind as the decisive factor that helped him to cross the finish line in P1.

Bell said:

“I thought I had lost the race coming to the white flag on the bottom with Denny on my outside. And then, uh, I once again felt like I had lost the race coming to the checkered flag down the back straightaway whenever Denny was on the outside. And I don't know how I won, but I got to the. I do know how I won the #5 car [Kyle Larson] gave me a great shove coming off the turn forward to push me to the line, and that was the difference maker.”

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“It worked out exactly opposite”: Christopher Bell on Phoenix outing

Christopher Bell’s 0.049-second victory over Hamlin was the second-closest finish in Phoenix Raceway history. With the win, the #20 JGR driver became the first driver to earn three wins in a row in NASCAR’s Next Gen Car era and the first since Kyle Larson, who won three straight Cup races in 2021.

In the aforementioned interview, the 30-year-old Norman, Oklahoma, native described his Phoenix victory as a chaotic and unpredictable event that unfolded in the opposite of how he hoped.

When Pockrass asked about whether Christopher Bell feels that the late race caution was a signal that his third win of the season is coming at Phoenix, the #20 driver, who led the 102 laps, replied:

“I definitely was once I didn't get cleared; the race as a guy leading, it worked out exactly opposite of what you hoped for. So what, we went green with the red tires with what, 35 to go or something? And I'm like, the worst case scenario is if we go 20 laps or so and get a yellow flag, and then it's like, well, do you pay for yellow tires? Do you stay out? What do you do? And that exact scenario happened. And then I was fortunate enough to win the restart. I got to the lead, and we're in the closing laps.”

With three wins in a row, Christopher Bell has already locked his playoff spot and is second in the Cup Series points table with 152 points.