Only a few things were guaranteed before today’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch would not be winning this race, in fact no MENCS competitors would be winning today. Of the entire field of series regulars, four would be racing to win $100,000 in a Dash for Cash! Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and Michael Annett all earned the opportunity last week to compete for the money. Also, Harrison Burton would be making his first start in the series.
Custer’s speed put him on pole, and kept him out front for the first 26 laps before Reddick, and his Dolly Parton Chevrolet, took advantage of lapped traffic to make a pass for the lead. The first caution would come out for a Ross Chastain spin on lap 42 with only thirteen cars on the lead lap.
Reddick would continue to lead after the restart, to eventually battle Justin Allgaier through lap traffic before Allgaier made a last lap pass to win the stage. Unfortunately, Reddick would lift off of the gas prior to the end of the 85 lap stage due to a miscommunication from his spotter.
The stage two restart was hectic, but Allgaier would run out front the entire 85 laps and capture the stage victory under yellow after a caution flew in the closing laps.
Christopher Bell’s crew put his Toyota Supra in second place for the start of stage three where he would pressure Allgaier for the lead until Allgaier’s JR Motorsports Chevrolet had a mechanical failure causing him to exit the race with less than 70 laps to go.
With 40 laps to go the caution came out after Harrison Burton found his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Toyota in the wall. He would still manage to restart 11th, the last car on the lead lap.
Brandon Jones stayed out under the caution to lead the field back to the green flag. Even on older tires Jones was able to maintain the lead. As the laps wound down the top four drivers battled within a second of each other as they wound their way around lap traffic in the closing laps.
Bell took the lead from Jones with 17 to go. Jones found himself in the wall shortly thereafter with a flat right front tire, forcing him to pit under green flag conditions.
Reddick and Custer continued to battled for second as tempers ran hot towards the end, but they would be no match for Christopher Bell who captures his first victory at Bristol Motor Speedway, his second victory of the year, and the $100,000 Dash for Cash prize.
Top five: Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer, Chase Briscoe, John Hunter Nemecheck
The NASCAR Xfinity Series finds themselves back on track next week at Richmond Raceway on April 12th at 7:00PM ET.
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