Lap 92: Warning for Christopher Bell ends stage 2
The yellow flag flew on Lap 92 when Christopher Bell spun on the exit of Turn 1. He avoided damage but messed up the order.
The incident happened four laps from the end of Stage 2. Kyle Larson was about to pit when Bell spun. He swerved back onto the track and stayed in the lead ahead of Ty Dillon, who hadn’t pitted yet.
Larson had to switch to maximum fuel economy mode as caution was still required in the race. The No. 5 team’s hope was that he had just enough to win the stage under caution and then pit to get fuel and tires.
“Will I make it back to the pit lane?” Larson asked over the radio.
“Fingering your fingers. Just do whatever you can to take care of it,” responded crew chief Cliff Daniels.
Victory in stage two added a playoff point to Larson’s overall score, but also put an emphasis on history. According to Racing Insights, none of the 11 winners of stage two at Pocono won the race.
For Bell, the single car spin was the continuation of a frustrating period in which the number 20, while quick, failed to find victories due to mistakes.
“I mean, it’s really crazy,” Bell said in New Hampshire. “My results have been terrible lately and we’re still chasing forward. So this is good for me. So if we can start improving our results, hopefully I can capitalize on that.”