Christopher Bell thinks he is in 'best position to win (NASCAR Cup) championship'
PHOENIX – There may not be a clear favorite to win the NASCAR Cup Series championship, but there’s one on the outer limits of many peoples’ radar who just might be the man to beat.
In the world of former champions Joey Logano and Chase Elliott, plus sentimental favorite Ross Chastain after his risky buzzer-beater move in the last race, there’s a fourth guy who might be saying, “Hello! Over here! I’m in this race too!”
Christopher Bell, a 27-year-old with the face of kid who’s 14, goes into Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway in the shadows of Logano, Elliott and Chastain. But there’s one thing you can’t discount.
Bell is the hottest of the four who have a chance to win the championship.
He converted two must-win drives in this year’s playoffs, winning October 9 at the Charlotte Roval to advance to the Round of 8, then this past Sunday at Martinsville to clinch a spot in the final four. Finish any lower in either race and he’d be watching someone else drive for the title.
Instead, Bell is in a prime position to win it all with Joe Gibbs Racing even though most eyeballs seem to be focused on Team Penske’s Logano, Hendrick Motorsports’ Elliott and new fan favorite Chastain with Trackhouse Racing.
Bell is cool with the other guys getting more attention. In his mind, he’s the favorite.
“I think I’m in the best position to win the championship because our cars have been extremely fast week in and week out,” Bell said. “I feel like I’ve got the best team out of the four. I definitely like our chances.”
Bell has one victory and five top-10 finishes with the Gibbs team in 10 races in the Cup and Xfinity Series at Phoenix. He finished ninth in both Cup races on the one-mile track in 2021 and won the fall Xfinity race in 2018.
Gibbs cars have won seven Cup races at Phoenix, including five since 2017.
“I don’t know if there’s another team that’s been more successful here than Joe Gibbs Racing,” Bell said. “That’s a great, great feather in my cap, I think. I got the right people behind me.”
Among them is another who isn’t grabbing the headlines that he probably should, crew chief Adam Stevens. He won two Cup championships with Kyle Busch, in 2015 and 2019, before moving over to Bell’s car, producing three victories this season with four pole positions, 12 top-five finishes and 19 top-10s.
“Adam, he’s a genius,” Bell said. “He’s the reason why we’re here, for sure. I believe that we have the best team, and that stems from Adam.”
Bell says he might be the reason for Stevens’ relative obscurity.
“Nobody really realizes I drive race cars for a living, I think for the most part. I embrace that role,” Bell said. “I guess I don’t do anything else to advocate myself or something like that. So any time it seems like people are teamed up with me, they’re off the radar.”
Bell is just fine with the spotlight shining elsewhere. He’s an in-the-moment guy who, despite his confidence, saying he hasn’t put much thought into what it would be like to win on Sunday.
“I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet that the opportunity is in front of me,” he said. “We’ve just got to go out there and do our jobs. I have not thought about winning; just trying to focus on being the best out of the four this weekend.”
A Cup title would peel a big layer of obscurity from Bell, although he wouldn’t care if nothing changed -- with the exception of the championship ring on his finger.
“Maybe I’ll be the least-famous Cup champion someday,” he said.