Christopher Bell crashed the NASCAR playoffs — and tightened the pressure on the remaining winless drivers — winning Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to become the 14th Cup Series winner this season.

Bell mastered the track where he won Xfinity Series races in 2018, 2019 and 2021 and was second in the Cup race last year, holding off Chase Elliott — last week’s winner at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Bell is the 14th driver to earn a spot in the 16-driver playoff field. With six races left in the regular season, it leaves open the possibility that more than 16 drivers could win a race and the final playoff spot or spots would be decided on points.

Bell chased down Elliott late and led the final 42 lap for Joe Gibbs Racing. His only other Cup win came in the second race of the 2021 season in the Daytona road course race.

Elliott finished second for Hendrick Motorsports and Bubba Wallace was third for 23XI Racing. Martin Truex Jr. dominated early and finished fourth and Kevin Harvick completed the top five.

Elliott, who had led 13 laps overall when he was caught by Bell, finished first or second for the fourth straight race.

Bell led JGR to its fourth win this season and 12th at New Hampshire.

Bell was one of those drivers who would have had to worry about his playoff chances during the rest of the summer stretch. He entered the race in 16th place in the points standings — 19 above the cutline. Bell reeled off five straight top-10 finishes over May and June before he ran into a recent hiccup with only one finish better than 18th over his last four.

Truex won the first two stages and led 172 laps before he faded after a poor pit stop and finished fourth. Truex dominated early from the pole and seemed poised to snap a season-long winless drought. Without a win, Truex is on the playoff bubble. Ryan Blaney is third in the points standings and Truex fourth, yet both could possibly miss the playoffs without a win. This is the third time in the last 20 years (2002, 2003, 2011) there have been 14 winners in the first 20 races.

Brad Keselowski and Austin Dillon used their cars as battering rams under a caution midway through the race. Dillon hit Keselowski in the door on the backstretch. Keselowski retaliated and smacked Dillon on the passenger’s side of the car and ran him off the track.

NASCAR’s Cup Series heads to Pocono Raceway for its only stop of the year. The track long held two Cup races each year and Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch won the races in a doubleheader weekend last year.