Christopher Bell speaks after his win in a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)

The Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas — Christopher Bell is making the most of his late-race chances to seize victories.

Bell passed Kyle Busch with five laps to go, then held off Daytona 500 winner William Byron to win NASCAR’s first road course race of the season Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas.

The late-race drama produced his second consecutive victory after his overtime win in Atlanta a week earlier.

Once Bell cleared Busch, the Oklahoma driver had to make a desperate bid to keep his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in front of the hard-charging Byron in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and the Toyota of 2023 race winner Tyler Reddick of 23X1 Racing.

Bell raced to his 11th career victory and is a multiple race winner for the fourth consecutive season. Busch, who led 43 of 95 laps in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, faded to fifth as his winless streak stretched to 60 races dating to 2023.

“These road courses races are just so much fun,” Bell said. “(Busch) was doing such a good job running his race. He bobbled and allowed me to get out front. When he did, I just said, ‘Don’t beat yourself.'”

The furious nip-and-tuck finish could have ended in a crash that ruined someone’s race and jumbled the field with a late caution flag. Busch and Bell have a heated history of collisions in Austin, notably last year when Busch confronted the younger driver over contact in a race where Bell finished second.

This time, everyone kept it clean all the way to the end.

“Amazing to have such respectful clean, hard racing. It was a beautiful way to end a race,” Bell said.

That didn’t mean Byron wasn’t pushing him hard. And Byron had his own battle with Reddick, who was looking for an opening to attack the front.

“I couldn’t never get beside (Bell). We’ve always raced well together, I didn’t want to move him blatantly,” Byron said.

Even Busch complimented Bell’s driving.

“I’ll give Christopher credit,” Busch said. “He ran me really hard.”

Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, said the consecutive wins on a superspeedway oval and a road course show the team can fight for wins every week, starting with the next two races in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

“We don’t think there’s a track that we go to that we don’t have a a chance to win,” Stevens said. “We have everything we need to win every single weekend.”

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, started third and quickly dropped to the back, but fought his way back to fourth.

No radio

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Scott Dixon ran the entire IndyCar season-opening race without radio communication in a miscue that probably cost him his first career victory on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg.

The six-time IndyCar champion finished second to winner Alex Palou in a 1-2 finish for Chip Ganassi Racing on Sunday. Team owner Ganassi said if the radio had not malfunctioned “he would have won — it was simple.”

Dixon instead was runner-up at St. Pete for the fifth time in 21 starts on the street course. He has eight career podiums but has never reached the top spot.

“I’m pretty pissed off. We had a good race going and we didn’t get it done, so it doesn’t feel good, that’s for sure,” fumed the New Zealander.