Christopher Bell’s dramatic win at the Ambetter 400 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway marked his first victory of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, following a controversial overtime finish.
As a result, Bell has secured a coveted spot in the playoffs alongside William Byron who won the Daytona 500.
More News: Christopher Bell Takes Atlanta Victory In Dramatic Last-Lap Overtake
Speaking about his first win of the season, Bell explained, as previously reported by Newsweek Sports:
“I’ll tell you what, that right there is what you dream of, to be able to restart on the first or second row in a green-white-checkered on a speedway.
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“You never know how those things are going to play out, but I’ll be the first to tell you, I love superspeedway.
“This style of racing has just always been a little bit of a struggle for me, and throughout the beginning of the day, we obviously were just stuck way in the back. (Crew chief) Adam (Stevens) and these boys back here, they did an amazing job getting this thing fixed up to where I could just hold my foot down.
“That’s what it’s all about. You have to be able to stay in the throttle, and that last half of the race we were at our best.”
Ryan Blaney leads the current championship standings with 87 points, maintaining a gap over his closest rivals, William Byron and Tyler Reddick, who have 75 and 72 points, respectively. Austin Cindric follows in fourth. 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace rounds out the current top 5.
Further down the leaderboard, Kyle Larson, John Hunter Nemechek, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. sit in sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively, all with 61 points and Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott round out the top 10.
NASCAR now heads to the iconic Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, for the third round of the Cup Series season with the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on March 2.
For the latest NASCAR news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
NASCAR Cup Series: Current Standings
- Ryan Blaney – 87 points
- William Byron – 75 points
- Tyler Reddick – 72 points
- Austin Cindric – 68 points
- Bubba Wallace – 64 points
- Kyle Larson – 61 points
- John H. Nemechek – 61 points
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 61 points
- Alex Bowman – 59 points
- Chase Elliott – 56 points
- Joey Logano – 55 points
- Christopher Bell – 53 points
- Denny Hamlin – 51 points
- Michael McDowell – 51 points
- Carson Hocevar – 48 points
- Chris Buescher – 47 points
- Erik Jones – 46 points
- Riley Herbst – 40 points
- Ty Dillon – 39 points
- Austin Dillon – 39 points
- Ross Chastain – 37 points
- Todd Gilliland – 36 points
- Kyle Busch – 35 points
- Jimmie Johnson – 34 points
- Daniel Suárez – 33 points
- Justin Haley – 31 points
- AJ Allmendinger – 30 points
- Zane Smith – 27 points
- Ty Gibbs – 26 points
- Ryan Preece – 24 points
- Josh Berry – 23 points
- Corey LaJoie – 21 points
- Brad Keselowski – 21 points
- Shane Van Gisbergen – 18 points
- Cole Custer – 17 points
- Noah Gragson – 13 points
- Cody Ware – 4 points
- JJ Yeley – 1 point
- Martin Truex Jr. – 1 point
- Chase Briscoe – (-51) points
NASCAR Cup Series: Current Playoff Standings
1. William Byron – 1 win – 5 points
2. Christopher Bell – 1 win – 5 points
3. Ryan Blaney – 0 wins – +41 points
4. Tyler Reddick – 0 wins – +26 points
5. Austin Cindric – 0 wins – +22 points
6. Bubba Wallace – 0 wins – +18 points
7. Kyle Larson – 0 wins – +15 points
8. John Hunter Nemechek – 0 wins – +15 points
9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 0 wins – +15 points
10. Alex Bowman – 0 wins – +13 points
11. Chase Elliott – 0 wins – +10 points
12. Joey Logano – 0 wins – +9 points
13. Denny Hamlin – 0 wins – +5 points
14. Michael McDowell – 0 wins – +5 points
15. Carson Hocevar – 0 wins – +2 points
16. Chris Buescher – 0 wins – +1 point
17. Erik Jones – 0 wins – -1 point
18. Riley Herbst – 0 wins – -7 points
19. Ty Dillon – 0 wins – -8 points
20. Austin Dillon – 0 wins – -8 points
