Christopher Bell made history as the first NASCAR Cup Series driver to win three consecutive races in the Next Gen era. A tight 0.049-second margin separated Bell from Denny Hamlin at the Phoenix finish line — it was the second-closest finish in the track’s history.
Christopher Bell Makes History in Phoenix
REPOST to congratulate Christopher Bell for WINNING at Phoenix! 🏁🏁🏁
He becomes the first driver since Kyle Larson in 2021 to win three straight NASCAR Cup Series races. pic.twitter.com/f43SXde42U
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) March 9, 2025
Despite starting 11th in the 312-mile Phoenix race, Bell worked his way to the front in his Joe Gibbs Racing car. He capitalized on a timely pit stop and held firm through crucial late restarts.
Bell now adds Phoenix to his list of conquests, just after wins at Atlanta and Circuit of the Americas. That means the 30-year-old is the first driver since Kyle Larson in 2021 to win three straight NASCAR Cup Series races.
Bell’s victory cemented his place among NASCAR’s elite. He joins only three others in Cup Series history to win three of the first four races — a feat last accomplished by Kevin Harvick in 2018. Now, all eyes are on the possibility of a fourth straight win, a milestone not reached since Jimmie Johnson’s dominant 2007 season.
“We’ve had four races this year, put ourselves in position in all four, and managed to win three, which is a pretty remarkable batting average — something that will be hard to maintain, I believe,” Bell’s crew chief Adam Stevens said.
“How about that one, race fans? Oh, my gosh, man,” Bell told FS1’s Regan Smith. “Whenever you’re sitting there dreaming it up, that’s about as ugly as it gets. You put the (softer) tires on, you’re like, ‘All right, what I don’t want to happen is go 20, 30 laps, get a yellow…’ That happened. Then we went 10 more laps, had another yellow.
“It was all about who could get clear on the restart. Neither of us could. We were racing really, really hard there coming to the line. JGR ran 1-2, how about that?”
After leading a race-high 105 laps, Bell restarted from the inside following a late caution caused by JGR teammate Ty Gibbs. Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota edged ahead at the white flag, but Bell charged back on the final lap, reclaiming the lead to clinch his 12th career win.
Three of the first four races this season have been decided by last-lap passes — two from Bell at Phoenix and Atlanta, and one from William Byron in the Daytona 500.
