DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Christopher Bell passed Kyle Larson with 18 laps to go and held on to win the Chase-opening Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday night. Bell had seven second-place finishes this season and had not won since last September at Bristol, a stretch of 33 races. But the Joe Gibbs Racing driver opened a lead of nearly a second on his teammate Ty Gibbs to win for the first time on the track "Too Tough To Tame."

"Oh, my gosh, man," Bell said. "This has been a long time coming." Gibbs finished second, and Tyler Reddick, a five-time winner this season, was third. Chase drivers accounted for nine of the top 10. Ryan Blaney was fourth, followed by Larson, Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano and Ryan Preece.

Larson gambled during the sixth and final caution, staying on the track while other competitors, including Bell, went into the pits for fresh tires. Bell eventually did, moving low on the track to put Larson in his rearview mirror. Briscoe was looking to make a bit of history with his third straight Southern 500 -- only Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon had ever won more with four in a row from 1995 to 1998 -- but he could not keep pace with Bell at the end.

Denny Hamlin, the top seed in NASCAR's Chase, had started the final stage in the top five when he got hit from behind on Lap 237 by Michael Mc Dowell, and Hamlin's car struck the wall in Turn 4. Hamlin finished 18th. The Chase continues next at World Wide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis.