Christopher Bell wins weather-delayed NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte

Christopher Bell won the weather-shortened NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday night.

The scheduled longest race of the season was stopped by lightning at 8:30 p.m. (CT) on lap 249. It was the seventh caution of the race.

A heavy rain came after the lightning and after NASCAR attempted to dry the track after the rain ended the announcement came about two hours later that the race would not resume and Bell was declared the winner.

Bell, 29, in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota Camry, held on to the lead after the last restart. He led for the most laps in the race, which ended 225 miles short of what was scheduled. Bell had qualified third.

It was Bell's eighth NASCAR Cup win and his second this season. He also won at Phoenix in March. He was third in the Daytona 500.

It was Bell's sixth top-10 finish this season. He was 24th at Charlotte in 2023.

Brad Keselowski, who snapped a three-year, 110-race winless streak at Darlington Raceway on May 12, finished second, William Bryon was third, Tyler Reddick was fourth and Denny Hamlin was fifth.

Ryan Blaney, winner of the 2023 Coca-Cola 600, hit the wall during stage 2, which ended his day.

The weather-shortened race prevented Kyle Larson from pulling off his attempt to race in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.

Larson, in his first Indy 500, finished 18th. A speeding penalty on pit road with 70 laps to go cost Larson any chance of winning the race. He was in contention up to that point, but the penalty put him a lap down.

Larson took a plane about 450 miles from Indianapolis to Charlotte and arrived at about 8:20 p.m.

The Coca-Cola 600 had entered the weather delay shortly before Larson's arrival. He replaced Justin Allgeier in the Hendricks Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet in 13th place. Larson would have had to move to the back of the field, however, if the race had continued per NASCAR rules.

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Charlotte race: Christopher Bell wins rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600