With just 15 laps to go, Kyle Busch had fended off Christopher Bell and Williams Byron for most of stage three.

Busch, in his 21st season in the NASCAR Cup Series, was looking to return to victory lane for the first time since June of 2023. While Bell and Byron, both relatively new additions, wanted to score their second win of the season.

Bell said after the race he wanted to pass Busch cleanly, which meant the last 14 laps were a slug fest with Bell diving, swerving and searching for any chance to get by the desperate veteran.

Bell’s pressure on Busch slowed both of them up and let Byron get close, and it remained this way for seven stress-filled laps. With seven laps to go though, Bell got to the bumper of Busch and underneath him heading into turn 6A.

The pass for the lead stacked the three cars up with a new challenger, Tyler Reddick, entering the fray. As the three emerging stars battled it out, it became clear quickly Busch didn’t have anything left, fading and eventually finishing 5th.

Despite pressure from Reddick and Bryon, Bell held them off to win his second race in as many weeks.

The start of the race was more of a typical COTA start with Chase Elliot getting turned by Ross Chastain in the opening corner. Elliot would bounce back to finish 4th in the race, thanks to some timely strategy.

Shane Van Gisbergen and Busch battled back and forth for the majority of stage one, which eventually went to Bubba Wallace as the field flipped the stage for new tires and fuel.

Busch and SVG’s intense battle continued throughout stage two with fellow road course ringer AJ Allmendinger making an appearance as a threat. Both ringers didn’t quite have to today however as SVG finished 6th and Allmendinger in 30th.

It was mostly clean racing today in Austin, beside a Daniel Suarez self-induced spin that took out his Trackhouse teammate and rising star Connor Zilisch.

Zilisch had a tough start to his day receiving heavy damage from the incident on lap one, but claimed his way back through the field and into the top 15 before his day met an end.

With Busch and Bell battling with 20 to go, Denny Hamling brought out the final caution for cause after nuking Austin Dillon into the gravel. Dillon had to be removed, which brought out the yellow which stacked the field up and set the stage for the final stint of racing.

Bell taking home his second win in two weeks only further exemplifies the new era of NASCAR, where drivers can do it all. The age of road course ringers isn’t dead, but it’s old news.

This race also capped off another heartbreaking day for Busch, who despite finally getting some speed from Richard Childress Racing, caught the untimely caution which held him back from winning once again.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns at Phoenix Raceway on FS1 at 12:30 p.m. PST.

Takeaways:

Jack: I am crushed yet again, another golden opportunity for Busch falls away because of bad luck. I’m sick to be honest, but it’s hard to feel defeated after such an amazing race.

Seriously go back and watch the final 15 or so laps of this one, it proves not only why stock car racing is peak, but why it deserves to be on road courses. Hats off to the drivers involved cause it was one heck of a show.

I also enjoyed the pacing of the new COTA layout and hope it returns in the future. It looks like Toyota’s top teams (JGR and 23XI) alongside Hendrick Motorsports will be the teams to beat again this season. Bell’s era of dominance might be starting as well (sorry Cam), but a traditional oval in Phoenix will make this muddy picture a lot clearer.

Cam: As someone who’s love of motorsports started in games like Forza and Gran Turismo, seeing the Cup cars take a road course absolutely rocks and this was no different. I loved the passing zones drivers utilized in the new layout, and it was plenty interesting seeing the tire falloff in the later stages.

It’s crushing for Busch to miss on another opportunity. I was very convinced that once SVG was swallowed by the pack that Kyle was home free. It’ll happen for that team sooner rather than later, but you hate continuing to wait.

I’m excited to see the field take Phoenix next week for a smaller sized oval. Like Jack said, it’ll be a great litmus test for this year’s true contenders. I feel as if it’s only a matter of time until Bell wins a championship as well.