Christopher Bell faced an uphill battle to win a fourth straight NASCAR Cup Series race before Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 started.
Bell and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota qualified 13th but had to start at the rear of the field for adjustments to the car made after qualifying.
The race wasn’t any smoother, as Bell had to overcome a pit road penalty. He charged through the field multiple times to finish 12th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Bell came into Las Vegas having won the previous three races (Atlanta, Austin and Phoenix). He was seeking to become the ninth driver in NASCAR’s modern era (since 1972) to win four straight races.
“It was just a bummer,” said Bell, who leaves Las Vegas second in the point standings, 29 behind William Byron. “I thought that the performance in the car wasn’t what held us back. We got in position there in Stage 2 before the pit road mishap, and I struggled on restarts whenever I was in the back of the pack.”
Bell finished 10th at the end of Stage 1 at lap 80. The Norman, Oklahoma, native moved into second place at lap 99 before a caution fell at lap 108.
On the pit stop under caution a lap later, Bell pitted for four tires, but as he left his pit box, he felt a loose wheel. As Bell drove down pit road, he went into the pit box of teammate Chase Briscoe, and the No. 19 team’s tire changes tightened his left front tire.
Bell was given a penalty for having service done to his car outside of his pit box and had to start at the end of the restart line.
“I didn’t know where (my teammate’s pit boxes) were and if there was going to be a car in it or not,” Bell said. “I saw the 19 out of the corner of my eye, and I was pointing like I’m going left. I was just fortunate he wasn’t in there, and everyone gave way for me to get left.”
The heads-up call by Bell’s team on the radio saved him from losing a wheel on the track, which would have been a two-lap penalty, and getting more damage to his car.
“I don’t know how much it helped, though, because I still had to go to the back,” Bell said. “At least we didn’t lose a wheel.”
Bell pitted under caution late in the race and tried to stretch his tank of fuel for the final 67 laps but struggled to drive back through the field. He was seeking his first win at Las Vegas after finishing second in the two previous fall races at the track.
“We’re working on the car to get it to turn better with no downforce, and whenever I got cycled back up front, I was just really loose,” Bell said. “I feel like if we didn’t have the pit road mishap, we would have been in contention and would have had a shot at it, but just going to the back to the front so many times, we just didn’t have it.”
Local drivers struggle
There was no home cooking for the three Las Vegas natives on Sunday. Riley Herbst was the highest-finishing local driver in 19th place.
Kyle Busch and Noah Gragson both had tire issues. Gragson finished 31st, and Busch was 33rd after qualifying fourth.
On lap 113, Busch had his right rear tire come off as he got loose and hit the wall heading on the back straightway coming off turn 2. Busch went to the garage to repair the damage and had to serve a two-lap penalty for his wheel coming off.
Busch finished 35 laps down. The 39-year-old had scored three top-10 finishes in the previous three races and is still seeking his first win in the Cup Series since June 4, 2023.
Gragson had his tire troubles with 25 laps to go, as he had a right front tire go down in turns 1 and 2 and finished 26 laps down.
Freeman gives command
Legendary actor Morgan Freeman gave the command to start engines before Sunday’s race.
The 87-year-old has seemingly done it all in the acting world. He even knows a little bit about what the Cup Series drivers go through on a race day.
“I had the opportunity, for my 60th birthday, I got a three-day schooling at Lowe’s Raceway (now Charlotte Motor Speedway),” Freeman said in a news conference before the race. “I know a little bit about it.”
Freeman got right to the point, delivering what is deemed “the most famous words in motor sports” flanked by a pair of showgirls and wearing a Bubba Wallace hat on the start-finish line at the track.
It’s @morgan_freeman with the command, and we’re ready to go racing! pic.twitter.com/FNhKmxDdgt
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 16, 2025
“I’m just going to think about my lines,” Freeman said in response to a question about what he was going to think about as he prepared to give the command.
Wallace gave Freeman a team hat before the race. Freeman, who has also driven a pace car at the Indianapolis 500, said he keeps up with Wallace a little bit.
New era at LVMS
Sunday was the final NASCAR weekend for Las Vegas Motor Speedway president and general manager Chris Powell, who is retiring at the end of the month following more than 26 years in the role.
Under Powell’s leadership, the track has been touted as one of the sport’s top facilities, winning Speedway Motorsports Inc’s “Speedway of the Year” award 10 of the past 13 years, adding a second Cup Series date and having the facility host nonracing events like the Electric Daisy Carnival.
Even though there were nine cautions on Sunday, the race went more smoothly than Powell’s first race when the ticketing system crashed and they had to reseat everyone, or when a World of Outlaws race at the dirt track was canceled after a sprinkler issue.
It was also the final race for Jeff Motley, the speedway’s vice president of communications for more than 26 years. He has said he will remain in the Las Vegas sports scene in another role.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
