Christopher Bell didn’t need a shortened NASCAR race to secure a victory.

Less than a month removed from his win at a truncated Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, N.C., lighting and rain threatened New Hampshire Motor Speedway throughout the weekend. Qualifying for the Cup Series race was wiped out, and the start time on Sunday got bumped up.

Bell, fresh off a win in the Xfinity Series on Saturday afternoon, ran well early and won the first stage on Sunday. He continued running around the Top 10, and the racing was particularly aggressive with weather potentially ending the race early.

The USA Today 301 was official after 151 laps, and NASCAR threw the red flag for severe weather after 220 laps. The race returned on wet-weather tires after a delay that lasted for 2 hours, 14 minutes.

“I personally love adverse conditions because you’re always trying to think outside the box,” Bell said. He turned to the crowd at the end of the first answer of his NBC Sports interview.

“Hey guys! This one didn’t get shortened.”

Before the rain came

Chase Elliott started from the pole after the lineup was determined via metric. Bell passed him midway through a caution-free Stage 1 and won his seventh stage of the season.

The 1.058-mile oval in Loudon, N.H., dubbed the “Magic Mile,” is a wider race track that sees particularly hectic restarts. That was often the case throughout the race.

Bell kept dominating before the first of eight natural cautions before the rain came (there were 14 total). He was passed by Martin Truex Jr., and Denny Hamlin held off the pack and won Stage 2 after staying out on the final pit cycle.

Tyler Reddick didn’t head down pit road in between stages and led the field back to green. He benefited greatly from the increased cautions and was able to maintain his lead.

An eventful finish on a damp track

At around 4:30 p.m., roughly two-and-a-half hours after the race began, NASCAR brought out the red flag. There were 220 of 301 laps completed, and the race had been official since Lap 151.

The area was under both tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm warning. Lightning struck and rain poured over the next two hours, but NASCAR was hopeful to resume the race on wet-weather tires.

And it did.

NASCAR had teams put on wet-weather tires once the rain stopped, and they were ready to re-fire engines and eventually get back to racing as soon as the skies cleared up.

It was still a frantic final 82 laps that ended up being mostly run under caution. Kyle Busch wrecked during the pace laps under the initial caution from the red flag being lifted, slamming the wall while running straight on the wet track. There was a bigger wreck involving the cars of Bubba Wallace, Noah Gragson and Austin Dillon, among others.

A weekend sweep for Bell

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver also tamed the “Magic Mile” on Saturday, using a late pass to hold off Sheldon Creed in overtime.

It marked the 10th runner-up finish of the season for Creed, a mark that ties the record for most second-place finishes before a driver’s first victory.

The victory preceded another strong showing on Sunday at New Hampshire, where Bell has won seven races in 11 national series starts.

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