Bell wins Charlotte as champion Larson bumped from playoffs

CONCORD, N.C. — Christopher Bell saved his title chances with an overtime win Sunday on the road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a stunning finish that knocked reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson from the playoffs.

Bell entered the race 11th in the standings with four drivers set to be eliminated as NASCAR’s playoff field was trimmed from 12 to eight. He knew he had to win to avoid elimination, but seemed to have little chance as Chase Elliott dominated the final stage.

But a race void of any cautions suddenly flipped with five laps to go when a sponsorship sign flew off the speedway wall and landed on the track.

At last, NASCAR called a caution and the entire playoff picture changed.

Bell got fresh tires during the caution period and began charging his way through the field when the race restarted with three laps to go.

Then came the chaos. AJ Allmendinger, winner of the Xfinity Series race on Saturday, passed Elliott for the lead. Then Kevin Harvick pushed Allmendinger off the track to take the lead and Bell kept making up ground. Elliott was pushed off track by Tyler Reddick and cars were spinning all through the field.

Another caution for a spin and a broken patch of curbing brought out yet another yellow and sent the race to overtime. Now Bell had a legitimate shot at the win.

He surged past Harvick in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at the start of the two-lap overtime sprint and pulled away. All the action was deeper in the pack, where Chase Briscoe and Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric were jockeying with Larson for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Larson, a 10-race winner last year and the most dominant driver in the country, was five laps down because he broke a part when he hit the wall earlier in the race in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. There was little he could do but hope that Briscoe and Cindric didn’t gain enough positions to bump him from the playoffs.

Cindric was spun in overtime, but Briscoe was relentless and got a boost from his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer, who used his Ford to hold up traffic to help Briscoe gain another spot and finish ninth.