Hamlin had powered to the lead with five of 60 laps to go but Bell had made his way to second at the start of the final lap.
As the duo entered Turns 3 and 4, Bell first dove low, then high to get around Hamlin and held off Austin Cindric by 0.113 seconds for the win.
“It feels good,” said Bell. “These (superspeedway) races, I don’t know what to make of them. I’ve always said these races are 100 percent luck and I know that’s not true. But it seems like we’ve struggled to get to the end of it and I’ve been a common denominator in a lot of wrecks.
“It feels good to do everything right today.”
Hamlin ended up third, John Hunter Nemechek was fourth and Harrison Burton rounded out the top five.
Kaz Grala, driving a third entry for Front Row Motorsports, rallied on the final lap to pass B.J. McLeod and claim the final spot in the field for Sunday’s 500.
Completing the top-10 were Zane Smith, who recovered from a pit road speeding penalty, Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Chase Briscoe and Justin Haley.
Byron grabbed control of the race after 10 laps and a brief battle with Riley Herbst for the lead.
Bubba Wallace moved into the lead for the first time on lap 21 but was followed closely by Herbst and Bell.
Halfway through the 60-lap race, Wallace maintained a small advantage over Bell as Smith moved to third.
With 18 laps remaining, a group of Chevrolets hit pit road to kick off a round of green flag pit stops, including Byron and Bell.
Most of the field followed on the next lap. Smith had to serve a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road.
Once the cycle of stops was completed, McDowell led the way with 15 laps to go.
On Lap 46, as the field traveled through the tri-oval, Keselowski got into the back of Kyle Busch, who tapped the rear of the Byron, who then turned into Ryan Blaney to trigger a wild accident.
Huge crash in Duel #2! Reigning champ @Blaney hard into the outside wall with several others involved. 💥 #NASCAR
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) February 16, 2024
🎥 @NASCARONFOX pic.twitter.com/LUFgezd5e4
Blaney’s No. 12 Ford briefly erupted in flames from the damage as NASCAR displayed a caution and then red-flagged the race for nearly nine minutes to clean the debris.
In all, 11 cars were involved, and several drivers will have to use backup cars for Sunday’s Daytona 500, which will require them to start the race from the rear of the field.
The race returned to green with eight laps remaining and McDowell out front followed by Hamlin and Cindric.
