Christopher Bell has heartbreaking Dover finish

NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell. Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

Double dose of spins leads to heartbreaking Dover finish for Christopher Bell

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Jul 20, 2025 7:50 PM ET

An 18th-place result doesn't begin to show how fast Christopher Bell was at Dover Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Bell led 67 laps and won Stage 2, but spun twice while racing for the lead.

On Lap 260, Bell was on the outside of Chase Elliott in Turn 3 when his No. 20 Toyota snapped around, sending him spinning in front of the pack. Bell's car was unharmed, but he was faced with the difficult task of driving back to the front at a track where it's incredibly hard to pass.

AROUND GOES BELL ON THE RESTART! pic.twitter.com/JJnw18NkPn
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 20, 2025

But Bell's big break came when the field was split on strategies as the weather approached. After the caution flew on Lap 337 for light rain, Bell found himself racing Denny Hamlin, who was on older tires, for the lead.

The battle between @dennyhamlin and @CBellRacing for the lead is heating up. pic.twitter.com/NSFFmQrWdg
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 20, 2025

Bell was unable to wrestle the lead away from Hamlin, but was still in second when the red flag was displayed for rain with 14 laps to go.

After a lengthy delay and eventual restart, Bell was finally side-by-side with Hamlin. His opportunity to win the race had surfaced.

As quickly as it had appeared, any hope of Bell snagging a fourth win in 2025 vanished as he spun on Lap 393 and ended up finishing 18th.

BELL SPINS GOING FOR THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/lPtXpqOHsF
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 20, 2025

It was a disappointing result on a day when the No. 20 team showed so much speed.

"I definitely wasn't going to lift, and I knew he (Hamlin) wasn't going to lift either," Bell told TNT Sports. "We were going to race really hard. (I) just spun out."

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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