Christopher Bell completes JGR Playoff round sweep with Bristol win: With a charge to the lead from fifth place with four laps left in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell kept Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota perfect in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Bell survived a hard, square shot to his rear bumper from Brad Keselowski in the final corner and steered straight to the finish line, 0.343 seconds ahead of the Roush Fenway Keselowski co-owner and driver.[Read More]
#20-Christopher Bell won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The win is his fourth win of the year, second at Bristol (but first on pavement) and 13th career win.
#6-Brad Keselowski finished 2nd followed by #38-Zane Smith, #12-Ryan Blaney, #22-Joey Logano, #67-Corey Heim, #77-Carson Hocevar, #48-Alex Bowman, #19-Chase Briscoe, and #54-Ty Gibbs.
Pole sitter #16-A.J. Allmendinger led 24 laps but was caught in a late accident and finished 36th.
The race was a determined by tire management with heavy wear forcing NASCAR to give team an extra set during the race.
Drivers eliminated from the playoffs: #3-Austin Dillon, #21-Josh Berry, #48-Alex Bowman, #88-Shane Van Gisbergen
Stage 1 was won by #12-Ryan Blaney. Stage 2 was won by #54-Ty Gibbs.
The fastest lap bonus a earned by #16-A.J. Allmendinger.
There were 36 lead changes among 14 drivers and 14 cautions for 137 yellow flag laps. It’s the most cautions and the most caution laps of the year.
The average speed of the race was: 69.865mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Driver Points Standings Before Reset, Owner Points Standings, Owner Points Standings Before Reset, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
Where the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers finished at Bristol:
#20-Christopher Bell, 1st
#12-Ryan Blaney, 4th
#22-Joey Logano, 5th
#48-Alex Bowman, 8th
#19-Chase Briscoe, 9th
#24-William Byron, 12th
#45-Tyler Reddick, 15th
#1-Ross Chastain, 19th
#88-Shane Van Gisbergen, 26th
#3-Austin Dillon, 28th
#2-Austin Cindric, 30th
#11-Denny Hamlin, 31st
#5-Kyle Larson, 32nd
#23-Bubba Wallace, 34th
#9-Chase Elliott, 38th
#21-Josh Berry, 39th
Race Fast Facts – Bristol:
Christopher Bell (P) won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, his 13th victory in 209 Cup Series races.
This is his fourth victory and 16th top-10 finish in 2025.
This is his first victory and seventh top-10 finish in nine races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Brad Keselowski (second) posted his 11th top-10 finish in 29 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is his ninth top-10 finish in 2025.
* Zane Smith (third) posted his first top-10 finish in four races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Riley Herbst (18th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Chase Briscoe (P) leads the point standings by 6 points over Ryan Blaney (P)
(NASCAR)
Reseeded Cup Series Playoff Standings after Bristol:
1) #11-Denny Hamlin [34 playoff points], 3034, +26
2) #5-Kyle Larson, [32 playoff points], 3032, +24
3) #24-William Byron [32 playoff points], 3032, +24
4) #20-Christopher Bell [23 playoff points], 3028, +20
5) #12-Ryan Blaney [27 playoff points], 3027, +19
6) #19-Chase Briscoe [18 playoff points], 3018, +10
7) #9-Chase Elliott [13 playoff points], 3013, +5
8) #23-Bubba Wallace [9 playoff points], 3009, +1
Outside the top 8
9) #2-Austin Cindric [8 playoff points], 3008, -1
10) #1-Ross Chastain [7 playoff points], 3007, -2
11) #22-Joey Logano [7 playoff points], 3007, -2
12) #45-Tyler Reddick [6 playoff points], 3006, -3
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Cup Series Playoff Standings after Bristol:
End of Round of 16; Before Points Reset
1) #19-Chase Briscoe [Win in Round of 16] [18 playoff points], 2143
2) #11-Denny Hamlin [Win in Round of 16] [34 playoff points], 2127
3) #20-Christopher Bell [Win in Round of 16] [28 playoff points], 2115
4) #12-Ryan Blaney [27 playoff points], 2137, +81
5) #24-William Byron [32 playoff points], 2115, +59
6) #5-Kyle Larson, [32 playoff points], 2108, +52
7) #23-Bubba Wallace [9 playoff points], 2106, +50
8) #45-Tyler Reddick [6 playoff points], 2102, +46
9) #22-Joey Logano [7 playoff points], 2096, +40
10) #1-Ross Chastain [7 playoff points], 2080, +24
11) #9-Chase Elliott [13 playoff points], 2072, +16
12) #2-Austin Cindric [8 playoff points], 2066, +10
Outside the top 12
13) #48-Alex Bowman [2 playoff points], 2056, -10
14) #3-Austin Dillon [5 playoff points], 2052, -14
15) #88-Shane Van Gisbergen [22 playoff points], 2050, -16
16) #21-Josh Berry [6 playoff points], 2010, -56
See the Driver Points Standings Before Reset and Owner Points Standings Before Reset.
Race updates:
Checkered flag for Bell. Keselowski is second then Smith, Blaney, Logano, Heim, Hocevar, Bowman, Birscoe, and Gibbs.
White flag for Bell over Keselowski.
Lap 498 – Bell to the lead with three to go. Keselowski to second.
Lap 497 – Green flag with four laps to go. The top two are winless in their career, the next two are winless this year.
Lap 493 – Under caution it’s Hocevar, Smith, Bowman, Keselowski, Bell, Logano, Heim, Blaney, Byron. The top 3 on older tires. Keselowski, Bell, and Logano took two tires.
Lap 491 – Keselowski, Blaney, Bell, Logano, Heim pit.
Lap 490 – Cars on the lead lap: Keselowski, Bell, Blaney, Logano, Hocevar, Heim, Smith and Bowman. Byron will be the free pass.
Lap 488 – CAUTION out with 13 laps remaining. Wallace into the wall after contact from Custer.
Lap 486 – Keselowski leads Bell by 3.5 seconds, then Blnaey is 4.7 seconds off the lead. But drivers that have pitted are coming fast.
Lap 481 – Twenty to go. Keselowski, Briscoe, Bell, Blaney, Logano the top 5.
Lap 476 – Hocevar pits from the lead. Keselowski back out front.
Lap 473 – Bowman comes to pit for the final time. Hocevar leads Smith.
Lap 468 – Now Bowman to second. He needs to win to advance in the playoffs.
Lap 467 – Hocevar takes the lead. Smith to second,.
Lap 464 – Cindric is now 33rd, 5 laps down.
Lap 458 – Cindric has to pit with a fire in the rocker panel.
Lap 451 – Fifty laps to go. The top 10: Keselowski, Hocevar, Smith, Bowman, Nemechek, Preece, Logano, Briscoe, Buescher and Heim.
Lap 450 – Logano pits from the lead.
Lap 446 – Logano now the leader over Keselowski, Hocevar, Smith and Nemechek
Lap 440 – Now Smith to the front.
Lap 439 – Keselowski to the lead.
Lap 435 – Gibbs missed the entrance to pit road and has to make another lap.
Lap 433 – Bowman pits.
Lap 432 – Bell takes the lead.
Lap 429 – Some green flag pit stops getting underway.
Lap 426 – Seventy file laps remaining. Gibbs, Briscoe, Buescher, Keselowski, Bowman, Bell, Hocevar, Smith, Logano, Blaney.
Lap 417 – Gibbs moves around Briscoe to take the lead again.
Lap 401 – Gibbs moves to second.
Lap 398 – Green with 103 laps remaining. Briscoe, Buescher, Gibbs, Bowman, Keselowski, Preece, Blaney, Cindric, Wallace and Nemechek the top 10.
Lap 393 – Pit road is open. Most of the field stays out. Logano, Hocevar, and Smith among those that pit.
Lap 389 – Hamlin will be held two laps due to his wheel coming off.
Lap 384 – CAUTION. It’s Hamlin, Bryon and Allmendinger. Hamlin has lost the front right wheel.
Lap 377 – Hocevar to second. Bowman has fallen to 6th.
Lap 374 – Green flag for Briscoe. He’s followed by Bowman, Smith, Buescher, Hocevar, Gibbs, Keselowski, McDowell, Logano, and Preece.
Lap 369 – Pit road open. Hamlin and a few others pit.
Lap 366 – Another CAUTION, the 12th of the night. Larson spins and hits the wall. Hamlin got into the wall just before the caution.
Lap 365 – Briscoe is back on the lead.
Lap 362 – Green flag. Hamlin stayed out and is the leader. Briscoe is second.
Lap 357 – Pit road is open. Leaders are in. Off pit road: Briscoe, Bell, Bowman, Smith, Hocevar, Buescher, Gibbs.
Lap 355 – CAUTION out again. Stenhouse spins after contact from Wallace. Wallace was trying to get to pit road.
Lap 351 – 150 laps to go: Briscoe, Bell, Gibbs, Buescher, Blaney, Smith, Keselowski, Preece, Logano, and Byron the top 10.
Lap 334 – Briscoe back to the lead with fresher tires.
Lap 331 – Elliott is officially out.
Lap 330 – Green flag with 171 laps remaining.
Lap 327 – On the restart it will be Wallace, Gibbs, Hocevar, Keselowski, Cindric, McDowell, Preece, Stenhouse, Briscoe, Buescher.
Lap 324 – After lengthy track cleanup, pit road is open. Many leaders are in.
Lap 314 – Elliott will go to the DVP area behind the wall. Lots of fluid coming out of the car.
Lap 311 – Tenth CAUTION of the night is out. Elliott into the wall. Big front end damage for him.
Lap 310 – Wallace up to second.
Lap 303 – Bell gets shuffled back to 6th.
Lap 301 – Back to green with 199 laps remaining. Briscoe over Buescher, Bell, Blaney and Wallace.
Lap 296 – Pit road open. Again, most leaders stay out.
Lap 294 – CAUTION for a Gragson spin. Chastain is the free pass.
Lap 289 – Green flag. Briscoe leads Bell, Buescher, Hocevar and Nemechek.
Lap 284 – Pit road is open. Most leaders stay out, but Gibbs pits, as does Bowman and Hamlin.
Lap 282 – CAUTION out again. It’s Custer spinning this time.
Lap 278 – Briscoe takes the lead for the first time tonight.
Lap 277 – Back to green. Gibbs still out front. Buescher second, then Briscoe, Bell and Smith.
Lap 273 – Wallace pits but most of the field stays out.
Lap 270 – CAUTION is out. SVG got some contact from TDillon in turn two and spun but didn’t hit anything. McDowell is the free pass.
Lap 267 – NASCAR says extra tires are mounted and teams can get them.
Lap 266 – Back to green for the final stage. Gibbs, Bowman, Hocevar, Buescher, Wallace, Smith, Hamlin, Jones, Briscoe, and Bell the top 10. No 19 drivers on the lead lap. Playoff drivers a lap or more down: Reddick, Chastain, ADillon, SVG and Berry (out).
Lap 259 – Pit road is open. A mix of strategies. Gibbs stays out to keep the lead. Blaney comes in.
Lap 256 – NASCAR will release an additional set of tires to all team once there are enough mounted for everyone.
Lap 251 – CAUTION for the end of stage 2. Gibbs wins it over Blaney, Bowman, Keselowski, Hocevar, Cindric, Buescher, Wallace, Smith and Hamlin. Byron will be the free pass.
Lap 248 – Gibbs back to the lead. Stenhouse was hung out on the outside.
Lap 247 – Green flag with 4 laps left in stage 2. Stenhouse over Gibbs, Bowman, Keselowski, and Hocevar. Stenhouse did not pit under caution.
Lap 241 – Pit road is open. Leaders are in. Gibbs off first, then Bowman, Keselowski, Hocevar, Blaney and Cindric.
Lap 239 – CAUTION for a spin by SVG in 3&4.
Lap 229 – Gibbs back to the lead. He has led 144 laps so far tonight.
Lap 226 – Twenty five laps left in stage 2. Hocevar leads Gibbs, Bowman, Keselowski, Cindric, Blaney, Stenhouse, Smith, Buescher, and Wallace.
Lap 218 – Hocevar back to the lead.
Lap 214 – Cindric pitted and Bowman is now the leader.
Lap 212 – Cindric now to the lead as Hocevar pits.
Lap 211 – Hocevar takes the lead as Gibbs heads to pit road.
Lap 207 – Pit stops continuing to cycle through, Most leads are still out. Bowman and Wallace have pitted.
Lap 192 – Green flag pit stops are underway. A handful of drivers have been in so far.
Lap 170 – Gibbs still leads. Hocevar up to second, then Blaney, Wallace, Nemechek, Bowman, Buescher, Jones, Allmendinger.
Lap 162 – Goodyear is mounting an extra set of tires for each team. They haven’t been released to the teams yet though. NASCAR has not made a final decision.
Lap 156 – Back to green. Gibbs leads Wallace, Allmendinger, Smith, and Nemechek.
Lap 150 – Leaders stay out under caution. Larson comes in so the crew can adjust the handling. Bowman comes back in for additional service.
Lap 147 – CAUTION on the fronstretch. McDowell, Stenhouse, Jones involved. It started with Herbst getting into Stenhouse. Bell is the free pass.
Lap 143 – Gibbs back out front.
Lap 139 – Wallace to the lead for the first time tonight.
Lap 138 – Back to green for the start of the second stage.
Lap 132 – Larson too fast on pit road.
Lap 130 – Pit road is open. Leaders are in. Gibbs, Smith, Nemechek, Wallace Byron the first off.
Lap 126 – CAUTION for the end of stage 1. Blaney wins it over Gibbs, Byron, Wallace, Smith, Buescher, Allmendinger, Keselowski, Nemechek, Stenhouse. Jones is the free pass.
Lap 125 – Blaney takes the lead.
Lap 116 – Blaney, with fresher tires, has moved to third.
Lap 108 – Back to green. Gibbs, Smith, Byron, Allmendinger, Buescher, Wallace, Hamlin, Cindric, Nemechek, Blaney the top 10. Eighteen laps left in stage 1.
Lap 103 – Pit road open. Most stay out.
Lap 101 – CAUTION out. Bowman with a spin in turn 2. No damage. Briscoe is the free pass.
Lap 95 – Back to green. Gibbs leads Byron, Smith, Allmendinger, Wallace, Cindric, Buescher, Hamlin, Nemechek, Keselowski, Blaney and Stenhouse on the lead lap. Barry is officially done for the night.
Lap 89 – Playoff drivers currently on the lead lap: Byron, Wallace, Cindric, Hamlin.
Lap 88 – Lap down cars come in for service this time.
Lap 87 – Pit road is open. Leaders all come in for service.
Lap 82 – Ninth place Nemechek will be the free pass.
Lap 81- CAUTION comes out so NASCAR can clear up pit road from Berry’s car.
Lap 77 – Berry has to pit with a fire in the left front. Appears to be from the tire. He gets out of the car as the team puts out the fire. That will eliminate Berry from the playoffs.
Lap 76 – It’s now Gibbs, Byron, Smith, Allmendinger, Hamlin, Cindric, Wallace, Buescher, Briscoe, Nemechek.
Lap 66 – Blaney finally pits. He is the last driver to come in.
Lap 64 – Gibbs back to the lead. Blaney still has not pitted.
Lap 61- Blaney, Gibbs, Byron, Smith, Allmendinger, Hocevar, Preece, Cindric, Hamlin, Wallace the top 10.
Lap 58 – Blaney back to the lead as Cindric pits. He’s followed by Larson.
Lap 53 – Just 8 drivers on the lead lap at this point but they have not pitted.
Lap 50 – Cindric takes the lead from Blaney.
Lap 46 – Byron and SVG among those pitting.
Lap 43 – Gibbs pits. Steady stops continuing throughout the field.
Lap 41 – Hamlin pits.
Lap 37 – Briscoe, Nemechek, and Wallace pit. Tire wear unexpectedly becoming an issue after no problems in practice yesterday.
Lap 33 – Blaney takes the lead. ADillon was too fast entering pit road and will have a pass through. Logano goes down a lap, as does Briscoe.
Lap 30 – Allmendinger comes to pit road. ADillon also will need to pit.
Lap 27 – Allmendinger says he may have a tire coming apart. Preece has pitted.
Lap 25 – Gibbs takes the lead. Blaney to second. Allmendinger back to third.
Lap 19 – Leaders have caught the back of the field and are starting to lap cars.
Lap 16 – Allmendinger leads Gibbs, Blaney, Cindric, and Wallace. Logano has fallen to 33rd.
Lap 2 – Allmendinger leads the first lap. Gibbs to second.
• 7:36pm/et – Green flag at Bristol for the final race in the round of 16.
• 7:27pm/et – Engines fired.
• 7:16pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
• 7:00pm/et – USA Network now has pre-race coverage.
• 5:30pm/et – About two hours until green flag, still no cars to the rear tonight.
• 3:45pm/et – The Cup garage is now open and teams are preparing for tonight’s race.
• No weather issues tonight. The National Weather Service says zero chance of rain with a high near 81during the day and a low around 56 tonight. Calm wind.
Race details:
Broadcast: USA, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 500 laps / 266.5 miles
Stages: 125/250/500
Average time of race: 2:49:07
Pit road speed: 30 mph
Caution car speed: 35 mph
Fuel Window: 200 laps
Timing (all times local & subject to change)
- Drivers Meeting will begin at 6:20 p.m. in the Garage Bar.
- Drivers Intros will begin at 6:45 p.m. (stage in the center of the infield).
- Drivers will pick their walk out song and introduce themselves | non-playoff drivers introduced first followed by playoff drivers in playoff standings.
- Drivers will do a full ridearound lap – dropped at the front of the grid in Turn 3.
Invocation: 7:16:20 p.m.
National Anthem: 7:17:00 p.m.
Command: 7:26:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 7:35:00 p.m.
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: none
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway have been made.
Pole winner #16-AJ Allmendinger chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #12-Ryan Blaney took the 23rd stall.
See all pit choices on the Bristol Pit Stall page.
#16-AJ Allmendinger won the Busch pole for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway with a speed of 126.930mph for his first pole of the year, first at Bristol and fifth of his career.
#12-Ryan Blaney will start second followed by #2-Austin Cindric, #54-Ty Gibbs, #5-Kyle Larson, #11-Denny Hamlin, #24-William Byron, #23-Bubba Wallace, #20-Christopher Bell, and #21-Josh Berry.
See the complete qualifying results and the Bass Pro Shops Night Race Starting Lineup.
Where the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers start at Bristol:
#12-Ryan Blaney, 2nd
#2-Austin Cindric, 3rd
#5-Kyle Larson, 5th
#11-Denny Hamlin, 6th
#24-William Byron, 7th
#23-Bubba Wallace, 8th
#20-Christopher Bell, 9th
#21-Josh Berry, 10th
#1-Ross Chastain, 13th
#45-Tyler Reddick, 14th
#48-Alex Bowman, 15th
#9-Chase Elliott, 16th
#22-Joey Logano, 22nd
#3-Austin Dillon, 23rd
#88-Shane Van Gisbergen, 28th
#19-Chase Briscoe, 31st
Bristol – Qualifying Fast Facts:
AJ Allmendinger won the Pole Award for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race with a lap of 15.117 seconds, 126.930 mph.
This is his fifth pole in 475 NASCAR Cup Series races. This is his first pole and 10th top-10 start in 2025.
This is his first pole in 27 races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Ryan Blaney (P) (second) posted his 13th top-10 start of 2025 and his 12th in 18 races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Austin Cindric (P) (third) posted his second top-10 start at Bristol Motor Speedway.
It is his 14th in 29 races this season. Shane Van Gisbergen (P) (28th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR)
Qualifying Order
Pre-race inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage is complete. There were no multiple failures.
Practice for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway is over. The results:
#7-Justin Haley 125.354
#12-Ryan Blaney 125.354
#77-Carson Hocevar 125.338
#6-Brad Keselowski 125.313
#71-Michael McDowell
Slowest: #66-Chad Finchum 120.907
Most laps run: 84, #12-Ryan Blaney, #54-Ty Gibbs
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 39 drivers): #7-Justin Haley
Notes: No tire issues during the session, with little signs of wear.
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Bass Pro Shops Night Race Practice speeds page.
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway is posted, 39 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Open teams are: #4-Noah Gragson, #23-Bubba Wallace, #33-Austin Hill, #34-Todd Gilliland, #35-Riley Herbst, #38-Zane Smith, #45-Tyler Reddick, #66-Chad Finchum, #67-Corey Heim.
See the full entry list on the Bass Pro Shops Night Race Entry List page.
Goodyear Fast Facts — Bristol: NASCAR Cup Series teams will run the same left-side tire used in April’s spring race, paired with a new softer right-side tire which makes its debut this weekend. It will be the only appearance in 2025 for this right-side tire.
Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Bass Pro Shops Night Race: A look at some of the top statistical performers at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee going into the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday.
NASCAR Cup Series News & Notes – Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Storylines and Insights:
- This weekend marks the 127th running of a NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, not including the three races held on the track’s dirt surface from 2021-2023.
- This is the sixth time Bristol hosted a Playoff race, each race being the elimination race for the Round of 16.
- Denny Hamlin (3) and Kyle Larson (3) combined have won six of the last nine Bristol races including each of the last four races with each winning twice.
- Denny Hamlin won four times at Bristol; three of his four wins came in the last nine races.
- Kyle Larson led 462 of the 500 laps led at Bristol last September, the most ever led by a Hendrick Motorsports driver in a Cup race.
- Kyle Larson won the last two races at Bristol after sweeping both stages in each and leading 87% of the laps (873 of 1000).
- See much more
Race rules and information:
