Adam Stevens Beginning to Draw Parallels Between 2025 and 2018 Seasons

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

We're only four races into the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, but Christopher Bell and his crew chief Adam Stevens are already in mid-season form. The driver/crew chief combination became the first pairing to ever score three-consecutive NASCAR Cup Series wins in the Next Gen era this past weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

It's been a hot start for the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team, but it's been one that was made possible by tremendous execution in the shop, and at the track.

"You know, we have had a fantastic start to the season," Stevens said in an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday. "We've run four races and we've had chances to win all four of them. So that means that the team, the prep, the execution behind the wheel, calling the race, everything, we're doing everything we need to do."

While Stevens notes that the No. 20 driver and team have put themselves in position to win all four races this season, that he knows circumstances don't usually allow a team to walk away with three consecutive wins because there are so many intangibles in NASCAR racing, especially these days.

However, the crew chief says that things have fallen just right for Bell, and things have worked out, which is a change of pace for the driver and his No. 20 team, which suffered a lot of heartbreak last season.

"You have to kind of back up to last year, and gosh, I would say three quarters of last year, I felt like we were running as good as we're running now," Stevens said. "We were just so far on the other side of the spectrum of things not going our way. You know, we had so many slip through our fingers for a litany of reasons and we just haven't had that this year. You know, we've only had one that we haven't won and we were in position to win that one too. So, you have to keep doing the right things as a team and focus on what is getting you there, which, as a team, I think we're exceptionally good at. And if you keep putting yourself in position often enough, you're gonna win your share."

They've certainly won their fair share through the opening four races of the season, as Bell has already matched his career-high for wins in a season with three. While luck has fallen their way, Stevens also feels an impactful piece of why the No. 20 team is excelling this year has to do with Bell's growth behind the wheel.

"It does feel like there is something a little bit different. And I think what we see or what I see is Bell has just done such an amazing job with what we're giving him to maximize it for the weekend, for the day, for the run, and getting what he can get without putting himself in a bad spot," Stevens explained. "And lo and behold, at the end of the race, there he is. I think that's just a continuation of his progress and understanding our sport, understanding his competitors, understanding his equipment, and being able to communicate with myself and the team to make it better. So, hopefully we can continue it.”

While something feels different within the No. 20 team this season, what Stevens is experiencing is something he feels he has felt before. The crew chief is drawing parallels to his team's performance in the early portion of this season with the performance of the 2018 No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team, which amassed eight victories.

After 3 straight wins, @JoeGibbsRacing's Adam Stevens says the current No. 20 team reminds him of the No. 18 team of old with @KyleBusch when they also won 3 straight (twice).

👀 "It's only up to us and our decision making of how good we can be."

More → https://t.co/MKhd9eLpQA pic.twitter.com/SgBAH3jBAL

— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) March 14, 2025

"Yeah, it just feels like that, where we know if we do our jobs individually, all of us, that's in the shop. That is my mechanics and engineers, my driver, my over the wall crew, and most importantly myself. And then we execute as a team together at the racetrack then it's only up to us and our decision making of how good we can be because we have the equipment, we have the talent behind the wheel, we have all the pieces of the puzzle that we need to go compete and it feels a lot like that 2018 season,” Stevens stated.

In addition to the eight wins, Busch and Stevens also worked their way into the Championship 4 field that season, and much like Bell, the No. 18 team reeled off three-straight wins early in the campaign. Busch won at Texas, Bristol, and Richmond to put an end-cap on a seven-race top-three finishing streak. In the end, Busch came up short of winning the championship that season, but he and Stevens were able to bounce back from the Championship 4 appearance in 2018 by winning the title together in 2019.

Stevens and Bell will hope to re-write the script of how the story ends on what could potentially be a dominant season in 2025.

Now, the task at hand is a potential fourth win in a row, and if last Fall's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is any indication, Bell will be in the mix for a win again this weekend. In last October's South Point 400, Bell led a race-high 155 laps over the course of the 267-lap event, and was without a doubt the car to beat all race long.

"I think we have a strong base setup and a good approach for the weekend and a great idea of how we can be a little bit better than we were last time," Stevens explained. "But you know, it comes down to how those cautions fall, especially inside Stage 3.

"Last year, I felt like we had the best car and we were in position to win that race and, and we got a caution that was eight [to] 10 laps outside of the final fuel window, and we were just burning so much fuel because we were leading the race. And [we] weren't willing to start saving fuel and give up 15 or 20 spots where [Joey Logano] was already 15 spots behind us and was in a position to save fuel. Yeah, you know, we all played the hands we were dealt and it came up roses for the 22 team. So, that's why we run the race. The trophy goes to who gets to the finish line first and you just never know what's gonna happen.”

If the cautions fall just right for Bell and Stevens this time around, expect them to have a car capable to have a chance to pull off something only eight drivers have been able to pull off in the modern era of the NASCAR Cup Series, which is win four consecutive races.

If Bell can snatch another victory in Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas, he'll join Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson as the only drivers to reach four consecutive wins since the 1972 season. He'd also be the first to do so since Johnson pulled off the feat in 2007, 18 years ago.

The NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 is set for Sunday, March 16. FS1 will provide television coverage of the event beginning at 3:30 PM ET.