By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Ever since Christopher Bell crashed out early in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, he’s been the top gun in the XFINITY Series.
Finishing second in Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Joe Gibbs Racing rookie once again topped the series regulars, beaten only by a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver in Kyle Larson.
This comes a week after a third-place run at Atlanta Motor Speedway when Cup guys Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano beat him to the line.
No matter who you beat, a second-place run always has its disappointments. Bell led six laps at Las Vegas and put on a powerful race for the lead with Larson to end the race’s first stage. Bell beat Larson to win the first stage while Larson took Stage 2 and the race win.
What made the race interesting was the history the two share, each coming from the world of dirt racing where slide jobs and lane changes are the norms. This type of racing played a significant factor on the surface of Vegas and saw both drivers dominate the afternoon toward a 1-2 finish.
“It would’ve been nice to get up there into the lead,” Bell said of the final restart with eight laps to go. “I knew if I could get Kyle [Larson] out there, we’d be able to race it out.”
Unfortunately for the pole-sitter, catching Larson was not in the cards in the place where gambling is key. The No. 42 set sail off the line and beat Bell by 0.881 seconds.
Still, racing Larson for the top spot was a thrill for Bell, as the reigning Camping World Truck Series champion exits Nevada third in series points.
“It’s really cool to be able to run 1-2,” he said. “It was a lot of fun racing. I hope it was a lot of fun watching. That was really cool, there will be a lot more of that.”
What a save and @CBellRacing goes to the #XfinitySeries lead, but @KyleLarsonRacin takes it back! What a battle! pic.twitter.com/W2eeepFtKW
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) March 3, 2018