By David Morgan, Associate Editor
CONCORD, N.C. – Christopher Bell didn’t mince words about how he felt the first half of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase has gone for himself and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team.
After starting the postseason with a win in the Southern 500 at Darlington, Bell jumped to within 12 points of the championship points lead, but since that time has fallen to third in the standings – 50 points behind.
In addition to his Darlington win, Bell has finishes of fourth and sixth at Bristol and Kansas, but also has a 19th place finish at Gateway and a 23rd place finish a week ago at Las Vegas that has brought down his average.
Bell admitted that he and his team have had the speed to be the driver atop the standings, but things just haven’t fallen his way thus far.
“I think we’ve been good. We just haven’t been great. And arguably we’ve been second best, maybe third best, but Denny [Hamlin] had the big points lead. He’s kind of come back to us,” said Bell.
“Joey [Logano] won Bristol, but I feel like I’ve been second best probably and [Kyle] Larson’s just been amazing. And we had the opportunity to do what he did and it just didn’t work out.
“I thought a couple things could have gone differently and that would’ve been me at the top of the standings and it hasn’t worked out that way, but we’re halfway, so we’ve still got a long way to go.”
When it comes to tracks in the Chase, Bell noted that the first half of the postseason certainly set up better than the first, but he isn’t giving up hope that he and his team can capitalize down the stretch with races this weekend at Charlotte, followed by Phoenix, Talladega, Martinsville, and Homestead.
“Certainly not as good as the first half. I think the first half was our strength with Darlington, Gateway, Bristol, the couple intermediates,” said Bell.
“I’ve got two more good ones and then three more that are kind of up in the air. So, if we’re going to pull this off, we’re going to have to perform really well at all of these racetracks and some of them have been tough for me.”
After qualifying was washed out at Charlotte, Bell will have to start from mid-pack in 17th, but is optimistic that they will be able to kick off the second half of the Chase on a high note. Bell has a previous win on the 1.5-mile oval in 2024 and finished as the runner-up there earlier this season.
“I mean, I feel really good about what we have,” Bell said of his outlook for Sunday. “Kansas was disappointing from a performance aspect, but Vegas was right where we needed to be. So, I think Charlotte’s going to be a good one and we need to make the most of it for sure at this point.
“It’s about winning, so I think we’re kind of coming in here with the win or bust mentality.”
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