Christopher Bell Victorious at Darlington

Christopher Bell doing a burnout on the front straightaway after winning at Darlington Raceway. (Photo: Ricky Martinez | The Podium Finish)

DARLINGTON, S.C. —  With just five laps remaining in the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway, Sheldon Creed, who pursued his maiden win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, was running away with the win until a caution came out.

AJ Allmendinger, who cut a tire down the lap prior while battling Cole Custer for position, hit the outside wall hard in Turns 1 and 2, sending the race into overtime.

The caution also brought the field down pit road where Christopher Bell, who dominated the race, won the battle off pit road and Custer came off second while Creed fell back to third for the upcoming restart.

On the said restart, Bell narrowly cleared Custer for the lead coming out of Turn 2 onto the back straightaway before the two drivers had a heart-stopping moment, making contact and flying multiple grooves down the racetrack. Both drivers remained going straight and Bell went on to win the race.

“That was wild, for sure,” Bell said. “I thought I was headed nose-first into the inside wall. It’s a tough race track, and off of (Turn) 2, whether you’re on the bottom of the top, it flushes you to the wall, and then you kind of get a little bit of a wiggle coming down.”

Sheldon Creed on pit road after a third-place finish at Darlington Raceway. (Photo: Ricky Martinez | The Podium Finish)

In just his second NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the season, Bell now has wins in both of them, with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Creed missing out on both.

“Once again, I feel terrible for Sheldon, to essentially win the race on the long run there and then lose it on pit road. It’s a big bummer,” said Bell. “It seemed like our car was really good on the short runs. Obviously, the (No.) 18, Sheldon (Creed), was really good on the long runs.”

“Really happy to win in this Sports Clips Camry, (Crew Chief) Tyler Allen what can I say, he’s been killing it this year and I’m just the lucky guy that gets to drive for him,” Bell said.

Once again missing out on reaching Victory Lane was Creed, who following the race was very demoralized talking to the media.

“I lost one the same way a few years ago here,” Creed told NBC Sports reporter Dave Burns. “This has been a really good place for me. I’ve always loved racing here. Man, I don’t know what to do to be any better than that. I felt like I put in one of my best performances today.”

“Man, it’s a bummer. I’m so proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing on this (No.) 18 team Friends of Jaclyn Toyota,” said Creed. “I took a chance on myself and brought all the money we could. I’m literally not even making a dollar this year so it just hurts when they get away like that.”

Christopher Bell standing on top of his No. 20 car on the front straightway at Darlington Raceway after winning the Sports Clips VFW Help a Hero 200. (Photo: Ricky Martinez | The Podium Finish)

Custer came home in second place, finishing above Justin Allgaier, who finished in 10th, but remains 28 points back in the race for the regular season championship with just three races to go.

The battle for the final playoff position also changed once again as Sammy Smith leapfrogged Ryan Sieg and now has a 10-point cushion following a fifth-place run.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Christopher Bell
2. Austin Hill
3. AJ Allmendinger
4. Parker Kligerman
5. Sheldon Creed
6. Sammy Smith
7. Justin Allgaier
8. Chad Finchum
9. Cole Custer
10. Chandler Smith

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Sheldon Creed
2. Christopher Bell
3. AJ Allmendinger
4. Sammy Smith
5. Justin Allgaier
6. Cole Custer
7. Austin Hill
8. Parker Kligerman
9. Noah Gragson
10. Chase Elliott

Sports Clip VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway Finishing Results