"The start was critical for our success," Bell said post-race. "We were already up to 9th by lap three because the outside lane was brutal to keep a handle on. Once we got a clean stop and I slingshot by Moses [Osborne], they all started fighting each other for spots and it really helped us."
The win came after Bell scored a career-best runner-up finish at Toronto Lakeshore Speedway just two races prior. As for the playoffs, the drama you'd expect to see at a cut race really wasn't there as McComb's monster result put a huge gap between himself and the two eliminated drivers, Steve Rea and Dalton Wise, who were over 30 points behind when the race ended. "Just disappointed our hopes ended like that," Wise said. "We had a brutal stretch going before the regular season was finished and it just carried on. It's tough that we drew an outside lane start. I think we could've at least put up a fight if the cards were different." The race ran caution-free, the fourth time this season an NTS race didn't see a yellow where cautions were in play and the third time in the last four races. The remaining six NTS Chase competitors will now face two short tracks in the Round of 6, the first two paved short tracks they've seen all season, along with an intermediate course before the season finale at Pennsylvania Mountain Speedway. Comments are closed.
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