Bell beats Hamlin in NASCAR thriller for historic three-peat

In a green-white-chequered finish, Hamlin put in a valiant effort to challenge race leader Bell for the win.

The pair went side-by-side through the final turn but it was Bell who prevailed by just 0.049s at the flag in the second-closest finish to any NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson in the #5 Chevrolet Camro was third and 0.097s off Bell at the chequered flag.

It marked three wins in a row for Bell after his triumphs at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Circuit of the Americas.

Bell made history to become the first three-peat winner in the Next Gen era. Bell is also the first driver since Kevin Harvick in 2018 to win three of the first four races in a Cup Series.

Bell is the first driver since Larson in 2021 to win three Cup Series races in a row.

“How about that one, race fans? Oh my gosh, man. Whenever you’re sat there dreaming it up, that’s about as ugly as it gets,” said Bell.

“You put the red tyres on and it’s like, ‘Alright, what I don’t want to happen is for 20 or 30 laps to get a yellow’ and that’s what happened.

“Then we went 10 more laps and had another yellow and it was all just about who could get clear on the restart. Neither of us could and we were just racing really, really hard coming to the line. JGR ran one-two, how about that?”

THREE WINS IN A ROW FOR CHRISTOPHER BELL! What a finish. pic.twitter.com/4io4UIO91s

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 9, 2025

While Bell was jubilant, Hamlin was downbeat after coming up short despite his best result of the season to date.

The #19 Toyota Camry driver was left frustrated by a late caution for Ryan Blaney’s smoking Ford Mustang with nine laps to go.

Bell looked like he was on course to cruise to victory before the final caution came out, but Hamlin thought he could have caught the race-winning #20 Toyota Camry.

“Obviously our car was really fast and I kind of wanted it to stay green there because I thought in the long runs were where we were going to be able to excel, especially on these tyres,” said Hamlin.

“We got a good restart. The #5 really gave me a great push on the front stretch on the restart and then down the back stretch, so I had kind of position on the #20 but I knew he was going to ship it in there and he had to use me – he could – and we just ran out race track there.

“A great finish and a great job by the whole Joe Gibbs team to give us some fast cars.”

With the latest win, Bell equals his own previous best tally of wins in a Cup Series season.

Behind the top three, Josh Berry and Chris Buescher wound up fourth and fifth.

In total, there were 10 caution periods – the most noteworthy involved New Zealand’s Shane van Gisbergen who was taken out on Lap 99.

To that point, the #88 Trackhouse Racing driver had moved his way from the rear of the field to 19th before the crash on the race restart.

“They were racing four-wide. I hoped over a wheel and there wasn’t much I could do,” said van Gisbergen.

“I tried to pull it up and got a bit loose. We were getting better and better as the race went on.

“I felt like the #88 WeatherTech Chevy was getting better, too. It’s a shame we’re still not out there learning.”

Results: NASCAR Cup Series Shriners Children’s 500, Phoenix Raceway