NASCAR Xfinity Series: Christopher Bell wins 2018 Bar Harbor 200

Christopher Bell closed out the first round of the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs with a win in the Bar Harbor 200 at Dover International Speedway.

Coming into the Bar Harbor 200, the 29th race on the 33-race 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule and the third race on the seven-race playoff schedule, at Dover International Speedway, no Xfinity Series driver had ever earned six victories in his or her rookie season.

Greg Biffle earned five victories in the 2001 season while Kyle Busch did so in the 2004 season and Carl Edwards did so in the 2005 season. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell had done so this season by winning five of the first 28 races.

Bell proceeded to set the all-time Xfinity Series rookie record by earning his sixth victory of the season in the final race of the opening round of the playoffs, the round of 12.

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The 23-year-old Norman, Oklahoma native won the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 1.0-mile (1.609-kilometer) Dover International Speedway oval in Dover, Delaware in his #20 Toyota by 0.525 seconds over Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer, who finished in second place in his #00 Toyota.

Bell’s victory is his second of the round of 12, as he also won the race at Richmond Raceway two weeks ago. Of the Xfinity Series playoff drivers, he ends the round as the only one with a playoff win so far. Chase Briscoe, who is not a full-time Xfinity Series driver, won the race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval last week.

JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier was the highest finishing Chevrolet driver of the race. He finished in third place in his #7 Chevrolet. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ryan Preece and GMS Racing’s Spencer Gallagher rounded out the top five by finishing in fourth and fifth in their #18 Toyota and #23 Chevrolet, respectively.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones, Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, Chip Ganassi Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek and Kaulig Racing’s Ryan Truex rounded out the top 10 by finishing in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #19 Toyota, #21 Chevrolet, #22 Ford, #42 Chevrolet and #11 Chevrolet, respectively.

The race featured a total of 10 lead changes among six drivers. Aside of Bell, who led 110 laps, five other drivers led at least one lap of the race. Those drivers were Custer, Allgaier, Gallagher, Jones and Hemric. Bell won stage one and Hemric won stage two.

The race also featured a total of four caution flag periods for 23 laps. Of these four caution flag periods, two rook place as a result of on-track incidents and two took place as a result of the endings of stages one and two. Of the 40 drivers who started the race, 29 finished it, and of the 29 drivers who finished it, 17 finished it on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2018 Bar Harbor 200 at Dover International Speedway.

Race Results
1st – Christopher Bell
2nd – Cole Custer
3rd – Justin Allgaier
4th – Ryan Preece
5th – Spencer Gallagher
6th – Brandon Jones
7th – Daniel Hemric
8th – Austin Cindric
9th – John Hunter Nemechek
10th – Ryan Truex
11th – Elliott Sadler
12th – Michael Annett
13th – Ross Chastain
14th – Tyler Reddick
15th – Matt Tifft
16th – Ryan Reed
17th – Shane Lee
18th – Ryan Sieg
19th – Chase Briscoe
20th – Jeremy Clements
21st – Alex Labbe
22nd – Brandon Brown
23rd – Garrett Smithley
24th – David Starr
25th – Vinnie Miller
26th – Landon Cassill
27th – Timmy Hill
28th – Matt Mills
29th – Bayley Currey
30th – Joey Gase
31st – Josh Bilicki
32nd – Spencer Boyd
33rd – J.J. Yeley
34th – Chad Finchum
35th – Mike Harmon
36th – Carl Long
37th – B.J. McLeod
38th – Morgan Shepherd
39th – Jeff Green
40th – Stephen Leicht

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The NASCAR Xfinity Series has off next weekend before the second round of the playoffs, the round of 8, is scheduled to begin on Saturday, October 20. The race scheduled to take place on that date is the Kansas Lottery 300, which is set to be broadcast live on NBC from Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET.

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