Briscoe edges Bell in Charlotte for second straight playoff win

Chase Briscoe held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell in a photo finish Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, earning his second consecutive NASCAR Cup playoff victory and eighth career win. The drivers exchanged paint on the final lap, with Bell closing rapidly after Briscoe had led much of the race. Briscoe crossed the line ahead, while Bell finished second. Briscoe led 62 laps and also won last weekend at Las Vegas. The back-to-back victories moved him to fourth in the playoff standings, 65 points behind leader Kyle Larson, with four races remaining. The margin was exceptionally close. One race account put Bell 0.029 seconds behind Briscoe, while another described the gap as about half a car length. Bell said he had not expected to catch Briscoe late and reflected on the intensity of racing a teammate to the line. “We’re not teammates running to the line,” he said after the race. Briscoe told the FOX broadcast that his right rear wheel was going down on the final lap. He had held a lead of more than 2.5 seconds at one point with fewer than 30 laps remaining, but Bell mounted a late challenge.