NASCAR Xfinity Series: Christopher Bell wins 2018 Lakes Region 200

By Asher Fair | Jul 21, 2018

LOUDON, NH - JULY 21: Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

Christopher Bell earned his third victory of the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series season by winning the Lakes Region 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

In the 2018 Lakes Region 200, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell took the checkered flag ahead of Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski to claim his third victory of the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series season and his second victory in the last two Xfinity Series races.

Bell solidified himself as the Xfinity Series championship favorite by winning the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 1.058-mile (1.703-kilometer) New Hampshire Motor Speedway oval in Loudon, New Hampshire, as he is the only driver who has won three Xfinity Series races this year.

Coming off of his second victory of the season in last weekend’s race at Kentucky, the 23-year-old won the race in his #20 Toyota by 0.416 seconds of Keselowski, who was the highest finishing Ford driver in the race in his #2 Ford. Bell’s first victory of the season came in the race at Richmond Raceway back in April.

Keselowski took the pole position for the Lakes Region 200, but he was sent to the back of the field at the start of the race as a result of the fact that he was late to the drivers meeting.

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Keselowski entered the race having driven in two Xfinity Series races so far this season, and he won them both. He competed in and won the races at ISM Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ryan Preece rounded out the top three in third place in his #18 Toyota. Chip Ganassi Racing’s John Hunter Nemecheck was the highest finishing Chevrolet driver of the race. He finished in fourth in his #42 Chevrolet.

The race featured a total of 13 lead changes among five drivers. Aside of Bell, who started the race in second place but was promoted to the pole position following Keselowski’s penalty, four drivers led at least one lap of the race. Those four drivers were Keselowski, Preece, Elliott Sadler and Daniel Hemric.

Sadler finished in ninth place and Hemric finished in 11th. Bell won stage one and Keselowski won stage two. Bell led more laps than anybody else in the field with 93 laps led.

The race also featured a total of seven caution flag periods for 33 laps. Like usual, two of those caution flag periods took place as a result of the endings of stages one and two. The other five took place as a result of on-track incidents. Of the 40 drivers who started the race, 32 finished it. Of those 32 drivers, 18 finished the race on the lead lap.

Here is a link to the full race results of the 2018 Lakes Region 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

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The next NASCAR Xfinity Series race is the 2018 U.S. Cellular 250. That race is scheduled to be broadcast live from Iowa Speedway on NBC Sports Network starting at 5:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 28

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