Why did NASCAR declare Christopher Bell the winner of rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600?

In a twisted turnaround of events, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell has been declared the winner of the Coca-Cola 600 hosted by the Charlotte Motor Speedway. This comes after heavy downpours nixed officials' initial plan to resume the remaining 151 laps by speeding up the track drying process.

The 1.5-mile Concord-based oval witnessed the 127th Cup Series race in action, but after wrapping up more than half of the 400-lap run, inclement weather conditions played its cards against the high-octane cars battling for the top spot.

Ty Gibbs was the polesitter at the race, followed by William Byron in second and Christopher Bell in third. Stage 1 saw Byron reign supreme while the #20 Toyota driver dropped one place and finished fourth. The next stage was sealed by Bell and from there, he led the race until heavy rains halted the race on Lap 249.

After waiting for over two hours, the race was called off as high humidity in the atmosphere was sure to hinder the officials' efforts to dry the track and the race couldn't be resumed before 1 AM ET. Hence, the Charlotte run stood canceled and the then frontrunner, Christopher Bell was declared the winner.

The JGR driver led a race-high 90 laps and etched his eighth Cup Series win after benefitting from the harsh weather conditions.

“Due to inclement weather, high humidity and the likelihood of resuming action after 1 a.m. ET with the track-drying process, Christopher Bell is the winner of the 65th Coca Cola 600”, the message read via NASCAR's official release.

Christopher Bell outlines his surprise win at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Christopher Bell's current season is seemingly on a high note. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver finished third at the season-opener Daytona 500 but saw a drop in his performance in the next two runs. However, the #20 Toyota driver reclaimed his dominance and emerged victorious at the Phoenix Raceway.

After his Phoenix triumph, Bell churned a plethora of promising outcomes on the asphalt and has collected two wins, four top-5s, and seven top-10s this season.

Despite facing constant challenges from Brad Keselowski, William Byron, and Tyler Reddick on the 1.5-mile asphalt, Christopher Bell tamed the high-banking oval, maintaining his lead till the race got canceled. He was eventually named the winner.

"Man it feels so good. To win or lose, to just have a great race to go off of. A race that we led laps, we were able to pass cars. We lost the lead at times, we were able to drive back to the lead and had great pitstops," Bell said via Dirty Mo Media on X.

"This is a team effort, it was amazing to have a good race and hopefully this is something we can build on and get back to being more consistent," the race winner added.

The Coca-Cola 600 win marked Christopher Bell's first victory on the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway.