In pre-qualifying inspection at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta), most of the 40-car field made it through the process without issue. However, the same cannot be said for Hendrick Motorsports and the No. 5 Chevrolet of Kyle Larson.

Larson’s car failed inspection twice, finally passing on the third attempt. They narrowly avoided having to a serve a pass-through penalty, but the two inspection failures will still result in some penalties for the team.

First, Larson’s car chief Jesse Saunders has been ejected and will not be able to be present at the track for the remainder of the race weekend. They have also lose their pit stall selection, meaning they will get whatever stall is left after the rest of the field picks.

There were no other reported issues. However, qualifying was shortened to one round due to some weather that passed through the area and a lightning delay that pushed the session another 30 minutes from its scheduled start time. Larson will be the 36th driver out on track. Since the reconfiguration, Larson’s best qualifying effort at Atlanta is third. He timed in 17th for the race here earlier this year.

Hendrick Motorsports was also penalized following last weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity race at Pocono after an issue was found with the No. 17 HMS Chevrolet driven by Chase Elliott. The part-time entry was fined $40,000, docked some points and the crew chief was suspended for three races.

While Christopher Bell still looks like he’s getting ready for that pesky, third-period geometry test, his youthful countenance – don’t you dare say baby-face – is, as many new and veteran drivers alike have found out first-hand, merely a mask. 

Like Sun Tzu’s first lesson in The Art of War, Bell’s disarming smile and easy-going nature help deceive his adversaries, lulling them to think the JGR driver doesn’t pose a threat. Surely his success is just a fluke, right? But don’t be fooled into thinking anything other than the fact: the 30-year-old talent is every bit of a bona fide Championship contender. And with four wins already to his name in 2025, including three consecutive victories plus the All-Star race’s $1 million purse, he’s putting the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series on notice this year. 

Who is Christopher Bell? 

Born December 16, 1994, in Norman, Oklahoma, Bell felt an immediate magnetism to racing. At just three years old, he was captivated watching local speedsters burn rubber, and in two years, he was inquiring about technical racing elements – the kind of head-scratchers an older teenager or even an adult would ask, reports The Oklahoman. A year later, he was making a name for himself at I-44 Speedway, and before his 10th birthday, Bell was crisscrossing the Sooner State, fueled by an endless supply of his mom’s hotel nachos as he staked his claim on dirt tracks in Tulsa, Claremore, and Fort Cobb to name a few.

By the time he was 12, Bell had found his raison d’être and told his father that he planned to “race cars for a living.” Though easier said than done, getting his hands around the wheel of a midget car proved to be a lynchpin moment for Bell’s career because it paved the way for him to get recognized by Keith Kunz Motorsports. As his relationship crystalized with the Indiana-based outfit, he replaced current Cup Series superstar Kyle Larson, and his success there eventually led to him signing with Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2015 to race in the Craftsman Truck Series. Two years later, Bell took home the grand prize, winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Christopher Bell’s Xfinity and Cup Series history

Following his second of three consecutive Chili Bowl series wins in 2018, Bell made the leap into competing full-time in the Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing. After becoming the first driver to win three races in a row since Dale Earnhardt Jr. accomplished the feat in 1999, Bell went on to set the Xfinity Series rookie win record with six victories. Buoyed by strong performances, he made it to the championship but finished 11th, dropping him to fourth in points in his inaugural season.

Bell followed up that success by finishing third overall in the Xfinity Series in 2019, which provided Leavine Family Racing enough confidence to offer him a Cup Series car in 2020. His debut season yielded only two top-5 and seven top-10 finishes but, more importantly, he scored a new ride with Joe Gibbs Racing, driving the No. 20 for the former NFL Super Bowl-winning coach. That year, while still refining his calculated yet aggressive driving style, Bell became the first Oklahoma native to win in NASCAR’s top flight and just the 35th driver to score victories in all three main series.

No stranger to must-win situations, Bell’s heroics during the Charlotte Roval race in 2022 powered him to the Round of 8, and he advanced to the finale in Phoenix after another must-win victory at Martinsville. While he ultimately came up short in the high desert, he did finish third to mark a career best. 

Despite only scoring a pair of wins the subsequent year, Bell motored through the playoffs, narrowly winning at Homestead to punch his Championship 4 ticket. Still, a mechanical failure with his brakes derailed any dream of hosting the Bill France Cup at the end of the Phoenix finale that year. In 2024, he slightly improved by increasing his wins to four, but he again fell short of ultimate glory, finishing fifth in the overall standings. 

While “Must-Win” Bell is always a threat in the playoffs, his trifecta of consecutive wins this season and visible confidence after eclipsing Joey Logano in the final 10 laps of the 2025 All-Star race now have many wondering if this truly is the year he gets over the hump and the Christopher Bell Era begins.

What kind of car does Christopher Bell drive?

Christopher Bell currently drives the No. 20 Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in the NASCAR Cup Series, and he competes part-time in the Xfinity Series, piloting the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra for JGR and the No. 24 Toyota GR Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. 

Bell currently lives on the luxurious Lake Norman in Mooresville, North Carolina, with his wife of five years, Morgan. Though it’s unknown what sort of vehicular fleet awaits Bell when he returns from triumphing on the track, the Cup Series star does keep one very special ride inside his house: his winning car from his first Chili Bowl Championship.    

The NASCAR Cup Series makes it way to USA Network on August 3 with the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol. Coverage then shifts to NBC on August 23 for the Coke Zero Sugar 400. The remainder of the post-season will air on USA Network except for the final two playoff races and the NASCAR Cup Series Championship in Phoenix, Arizona, which will air on NBC. To find out more, please check local listings and the Cup Series schedule.

Given that we’re approaching the first Saturday night race of the Cup Series season, this semi-rare blast of Friday qualifying might’ve snuck up on you.

HAMPTON, Ga. — (AP) — The debut of NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge in Saturday night’s Cup Series race in Atlanta generated differing opinions and expectations from drivers.

After all, there’s a points race to attend to. Every team’s top priority is qualifying for the playoffs and trying to win the championship. Some drivers acknowledge they simply haven’t paid attention to the new race within the race.

Joey Logano says he sees no reason to view the new tournament as a distraction.

“If there’s something to win, you want to go win it,” Logano said Friday before winning the pole for Saturday night’s race in his Team Penske Ford.

Denny Hamlin is the No. 1 seed in the 32-driver In-Season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament. Chase Briscoe, who held off Hamlin for his first win for Joe Gibbs Racing last week at Pocono Raceway, is the No. 2 seed. A $1 million prize awaits the winner as part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT.

Briscoe said Friday he felt “definitely a sigh of relief, you know, just a weight off your shoulders” following last week’s win. He said that sense of relief was shortlived.

“I’m expected to win multiple races, not just one,” Briscoe said. “It’s a sense of relief, but also more pressure because now they know you can win.”

NASCAR hopes the tournament generates mid-season interest. The single-elimination format cuts the field to 16 at Chicago, eight at Sonoma, four at Dover and the final two at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Many drivers expect their interest in the tournament will increase after Saturday night’s race.

“I think some of the drivers have been kind of dismissive over the bracket challenge,” said Brad Keselowski, who enters the race No. 30 in the points standings and in need of a win in Atlanta to earn a playoff spot in his RFK Racing Ford.

“I think it’ll become a lot more real, whether it be for the drivers or for the media or the fans, as it progresses into the later rounds over the next few weeks,” Keselowski said.

Added Ricky Stenhouse, who is 24th in the points race, of the new tournament: “It’s cool. I think after this weekend you’ll have a little better idea of what you have. Our main goal in Atlanta is winning and getting into the playoffs.”

Team Penske dominates qualifying

Team Penske claimed four of the top five qualifying positions and Ford claimed all of the top five spots.

Logano was first at 178.960 mph, tying Josh Berry, who drives for Wood Brothers but has a technical alliance with Team Penske. Ryan Blaney qualified third and Austin Cindric was one spot back for Team Penske, while Ryan Preece, in another Ford for RFK Racing, was fifth.

“It definitely helps at the start for sure,” Logano said. “Being at the front and controlling the race is the thing for sure.”

Drawing ‘Uncle’ Noah

Briscoe is facing No. 31 seed Noah Gragson in the first bracket. He says it’s a difficult matchup, in part because “he’s actually probably my best friend on the circuit … and my son’s favorite driver.”

Briscoe said his 3-year-old son, Brooks, thinks of Gragson “like that uncle that just you take your kid to, and he has Pop-Tarts and ice cream and everything else when he’s with them.”

Added Briscoe: “Hopefully I’ll win. If not I’ll never here the end of it from Noah or my son.”

Briscoe posted a photo on his X account of his son’s bracket. The photo shows the smiling Brooks holding a bracket with his father’s No. 19 winning every round of the tournament.

Racing for Rhealynn

Chase Elliott has a special paint scheme on his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet that was designed by 11-year-old cancer patient Rhealynn Mills. Elliott chose Mills’ design to highlight his foundation’s efforts to raise money for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Elliott said the “Design to Drive” program has raised $500,000 for the children’s hospital.

“The only bad thing is I feel like we’ve crashed every time we’ve done it,” Elliott said, adding his sponsor, NAPA Auto Parts, deserved credit “for giving up the car” so the paint scheme could instead feature Mills’ design.

New name for Atlanta track

EchoPark Speedway is the new name for the track that was still known as Atlanta Motor Speedway in February when Christopher Bell won while leading only the final lap in overtime. It’s the home track for Elliott, from Dawsonville, Georgia, and he acknowledged seeing the name change and the new green paint “was different for me. I think it’s fine.”

Odds and ends

Ryan Blaney is the favorite (+800) to win the race, per BetMGM Sportsbook. Joey Logano and Austin Cindric, each at +1000, were next.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Given that we’re approaching the first Saturday night race of the Cup Series season, this semi-rare blast of Friday qualifying might’ve snuck up on you.

What’s Happening?

Supercars veteran Jack Perkins will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut earlier than planned. The 38-year-old is now slated to race at the Chicago Street Race.

Perkins was originally slated to drive Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 at Portland International Speedway on Aug. 30. Now, the Supercars regular is moving his start-up to July 5’s The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Circuit.

According to a post on his Instagram, Perkins was about to board a flight to Darwin, Australia. He then claimed, “I got the call from JGR that they were looking for a driver for the 19 at the only street track on the NASCAR calendar.”

One phone call later, with Shaw and Partners Financial Services stepping up to sponsor the car, Perkins was set for his new NASCAR debut. Perkins’s original debut was announced on May 23, joining a long list of marquee part-time drivers behind the wheel of JGR’s No. 19 car.

Supercars Stars in NASCAR

Perkins is a veteran of the Australian Supercars. Over the past few seasons, NASCAR fans have seen several Supercars drivers make the transition to NASCAR.

Though names like Marcos Ambrose had successfully made the transition in the past, the first in recent seasons was Shane van Gisbergen, who made his NASCAR debut in the inaugural Chicago Street Circuit Cup Series race in 2023 with Trackhouse Racing.

Since that race, in which van Gisbergen walked away with an impressive win, the former Supercars champion has made the full-time switch. Fellow Supercars stars Brodie Kostecki, Will Brown, and Cam Waters made their NASCAR debuts in 2023 and 2024 shortly after van Gisbergen’s win.

This year, Brown is slated to race in the Chicago Street Circuit Cup Series race with Kaulig Racing, while Cam Waters is making a one-off start this weekend with Thorsport Racing at Lime Rock Park.

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