Christopher Bell slings to dramatic win at Eldora Speedway
[Full Results At Race Report]
July 22, 2015
By Chris Knight
NASCAR Wire Service
In
one of the most anticipated races of the year, Christopher Bell scored a
dramatic win in the third annual 1-800-CAR-CASH Mud Summer Classic on
the famed Eldora Speedway dirt.
It
was the first victory for Bell in just his third career start. Bell’s
triumph marked back-to-back victories for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the
No. 54 Toyota Tundra at Eldora.
“It’s
just unbelievable,” said Bell in Victory Lane. “I’ve been coming here
quite a few times and if you would have told me two years ago that my
first win at Eldora was going to be in a truck, I would have told you
you’re crazy. This is just fantastic. I’m just thrilled to be here.”
Veteran
dirt late model ace Bobby Pierce scored the Keystone Light Pole Award
earlier in the day, giving MB Motorsports, one of the longest running
teams in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, its first-ever pole.
Pierce lost the lead on Lap 1 to John Hunter Nemechek, but took it back
on Lap 2.
Pierce
maintained control of the race, until a Lap 42 restart when Bell, also a
dirt veteran, swiped the lead from Pierce in Turn 1. Bell led through
Lap 60.
When
Spencer Gallagher spun on lap 53, NASCAR utilized the yellow flag to
serve as the competition caution originally scheduled for Lap 60,
allowing teams to come in for tires and fuel. Brad Keselowski elected to
stay out during the caution, inheriting the lead alongside Bell for the
Lap 61 restart.
Bell
quickly slid by Keselowski a lap later and stretched his advantage by
1.5 seconds until a debris caution on Lap 72 brought the field to his
bumper.
Through
the race’s then-longest green flag stretch, Bell increased his lead on
Pierce, but when Chris Fontaine spun on Lap 94, it once again bunched up
the field.
On
the restart, Pierce attacked Bell and stole the lead on the backstretch
and kept it through a yellow for John Wes Townley on Lap 94. Bell slid
in front of Pierce two laps after the restart and held the point until
the end of segment two for the second competition caution of the night.
Under the yellow, most of the field elected to stay out, setting up for the start of segment three, a 40-lap dash.
Showcasing
his dirt track skills, Bell checked out from the field with Pierce, Ty
Dillon, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick chasing. The opportunity to pull
away would be denied when the 11th caution flag of the night waved.
Chasing
his first career win in his truck series debut, Pierce stalking Bell
for the lead, made contact with the Turn 4 wall with about 15 laps
remaining, causing significant rear-end damage. Even with a battered
truck, Pierce stayed on the throttle. The challenge for the lead would
be slowed with 11 laps remaining when Timothy Peters went for a solo
spin in Turn 2.
A
five-lap sprint to the finish set up for the winner of the
1-800-CAR-CASH Mud Summer Classic with Bell and Pierce up front on the
restart.
Bell
would accelerate hard, while a slow restart for Pierce put him in the
clutches of Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick. Pierce escaped them and set
his sights on Bell.
When
Korbin Forrister spun with two laps to go, the drama meter pegged even
more, setting up for a green-white-checkered finish.
On
the final restart of the night, Bell refused to give up the race lead
and withstood an attempted pass by Pierce on the last lap to earn the
win.
“I’ll
tell you that’s pretty awesome that Bobby and I could come here and run
1-2,” added Bell. “I never heard of him until I was at a sprint car
race last year and he was running his late model. It’s pretty cool that a
couple of dirt guys could run 1-2 at a dirt race track.”
Tyler
Reddick finished third ahead of Erik Jones and Daniel Hemric. Inaugural
Eldora winner Austin Dillon was sixth followed by Nemechek, Cameron
Hayley, Matt Crafton and Ty Dillon.
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