NASCAR Xfinity Series: Christopher Bell wins 2018 Whelen Trusted To Perform 200

Christopher Bell needed to win the Whelen Trusted To Perform 200 at ISM Raceway to advance to the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4. He did just that.

After entering the second round of the three-round, seven-race 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs, the round of 8, leading the playoff picture well above the Championship 4 cut line, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell had a disastrous first two races of the round at Kansas Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.

In fact, the 23-year-old Norman, Oklahoma native was in a position where he pretty much needed to win the final race of the round of 8, the Whelen Trusted To Perform 200, at ISM Raceway in order to advance to the Championship 4. This officially became the case as the laps wound down in this race and stage points had been awarded.

But after starting in 38th place, Bell won the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona in his #20 Toyota by 1.887 seconds over Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric, who finished in second in his #21 Chevrolet. The win is Bell’s seventh of the season and the eighth of his Xfinity Series career.

More from Xfinity Series

Bell and Hemric are both set to join Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer, who finished the race in eighth place in his #00 Ford, in the Championship 4. Custer clinched a berth in the Championship 4 after winning last Saturday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway and was the only driver who had locked himself into the Championship 4 heading into the round of 8 finale.

JR Motorsports’ Tyler Reddick, who finished the race in sixth place, is the fourth and final driver who is set to compete in the Championship 4.

Richard Childress Racing’s Matt Tifft and Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, who were both round of 8 drivers, finished the race in third and fourth place in their #2 Chevrolet and #22 Ford, respectively, but neither one is set to advance to the Championship 4.

Part-time driver Ryan Preece of Joe Gibbs Racing finished in fifth place in his #18 Toyota. Full-time teammate Brandon Jones finished in seventh in his #19 Toyota.

Part-time drivers John Hunter Nemechek of Chip Ganassi Racing, who started the race from the pole position, and Spencer Gallagher of GMS Racing rounded out the top 10 by finishing in ninth and 10th in their #42 Chevrolet and #23 Chevrolet, respectively.

The race featured a total of seven lead changes among five drivers. Aside of Bell, who led more laps than anybody else in the field with 94 laps led, four drivers led at least one lap of the race. Those drivers were Hemric, Cindric, Nemechek and Justin Allgaier. Allgaier won both stages one and two.

Allgaier and teammate Elliott Sadler were the other two round of 8 drivers who failed to advance to the Championship 4. After winning the race’s first two stages, Allgaier had a disastrous final stage that included a slow pit stop, contact to the right front of his car with Nemechek’s car and a fire in his right front brake. He finished in 24th place in his #7 Chevrolet. Sadler finished in 11th in his #1 Chevrolet.

The race also featured a total of six caution flag periods for 34 laps. Four of these six caution flag periods took place as a result of on-track incidents while the usual two took place as a result of the endings of stages one and two. Of the 40 drivers who started the race, 34 finished it and 17 finished it on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2018 Whelen Trusted To Perform 200 at ISM Raceway.

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

Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark

The 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 17. This round features just one race, the season finale. This race, the Ford EcoBoost 300, is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Home/Xfinity Series