DARLINGTON, SC – Christopher Bell snapped a winless streak as he broke through to win the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, a race that has eluded him for years.

Bell’s theme for this season has been to finish second. He has finished runner-up seven times this year. In fact, he hasn’t won a race in nearly a year since winning at Bristol last September. On Sunday, he broke through for his first win of 2026, and it came at a track to where he has come so close at winning before.

“Oh, my gosh, man, this has been a long time coming,” Bell said. “Darlington has been one that I’ve always wanted to win since I got into the sport. This is the ultimate driver’s track. You fans, you guys are the best. That’s why we’re here.”

Bell, who was on fresher tires, chased down Kyle Larson who dominated the night and pulled off the race-winning pass with just 12 laps to go. He then outran Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs and fellow Toyota Racing competitor, Tyler Reddick. The driver of the No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota has closed the gap on point leader Denny Hamlin and now sits only 12 points back from the top spot.

“I knew that we would be able to win it,” Bell said. “No matter what I knew that we would be able to win it. We can win any week. It just has not every hasn’t happened yet. Whenever I was sitting in the care center in Michigan, I thought my season was over, I was out a couple of weeks, I wasn’t going to able to make the chase. We’re still in it, baby, whoo!”

Ty Gibbs finished runner-up in the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, earning his 11^th top-five of the season. In the closing laps, Gibbs was extremely fast, but in the end, he ran out of time to challenge Bell for the win.

“We just missed it a little bit,” Gibbs said. “And kind of had some issues happen the whole day, but appreciate all the effort from everybody on my team that helped us have a great deal, so appreciate it.”

Tyler Reddick finished third, while Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson completed the top-five.

VIDEO: Kyle Larson’s Strong Night At Darlington Ends With A Fifth-Place Finish In Cook Out Southern 500

Chase Briscoe, who was looking for a three-peat in the prestigious race, finished sixth, followed by Josh Berry, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano and last week’s winner, Ryan Preece.

VIDEO: Denny Hamlin Reflects On Rough Day At Darlington Raceway

Reddick won Stage 1, and Bell won Stage 2.

There were 29 lead changes among 12 drivers. Larson led a race high of 99 laps. Reddick led 74 laps.

The caution came out on six occasions for 44 laps. Only three cautions were for accidents.

On Lap 108, Carson Hocevar spun Brad Keselowski on the frontstretch. Keselowski wasn’t happy at all following the accident.

“His day is coming, and it’s coming hard,” Keselowski said. “Watch out, Carson.”

Zane Smith spun on the frontstretch after contact with Michael McDowell to bring out the caution on Lap 284.

The final caution for an accident occurred on Lap 317, when William Byron spun in Turn 3 while running in the ninth position.

The Cook Out Southern 500 was the first race of The Chase. Hamlin now leads The Chase standings, followed by Bell (-12), Blaney (-16), Reddick (-24), Briscoe (-37), Gibbs (-39), Larson (-49), Chase Elliott (-72), Joey Logano (-72), Bubba Wallace (-81), Chris Buescher (-88), Hocevar (-89), Daniel Suarez (-94), Austin Cindric (-102), Preece (-104) and Byron (-114).

Up next on the schedule for the NASCAR Cup Series is the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday, Sept. 13. Live coverage will broadcast on the USA Network at 3 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Hunter Thomas/TheFourthTurn.com