A lack of contentment makes for a championship mindset. Across the 2024 season, Christopher Bell has stuck to his typically reticent personality, silently progressing without the media spotlight. He picked up 3 wins and comfortably ensconced himself in a bed of points – with 23 top-tens and 15 top-fives. Now he tops the playoff drivers yet to enter Championship 4. Yet the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is worried.

Last year, Homestead had been Christopher Bell’s breakthrough point. He led the final 16 laps and beat Ryan Blaney by 1.651 seconds. However, as we witnessed the 2024 race, Tyler Reddick put up a thrilling finish at the end. Bell was close behind and watched Reddick butchering both Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney’s paces. So the JGR driver is worried about the desperate drivers around him.

Christopher Bell allows himself no peace

After all, the Las Vegas spectacle was a heartbreak for the No. 20 Toyota driver. Christopher Bell led a race-high 156 laps at Sin City, being well in contention to win his season’s 4th race. However, Team Penske’s Joey Logano bested him with a flawless fuel mileage strategy, snatching the victory after Bell had to pit for gas. So Bell came loaded with expectations for the Homestead race. Yet he started 3rd and could only finish 4th as his contenders put up a strong fight ahead. Despite his remarkable streak of 6 consecutive top-ten finishes since Bristol and a 29-point advantage over the cutline, Bell is not satisfied.

In a recent interview with NASCAR journalist Peter Stratta, Christopher Bell stressed how people do not understand the jittery situation. “I totally expect that 29 points to the cut line is a false positive. That’s one thing I don’t think the general public understands about the points format. Like I got some criticism about being disappointed of not winning at Las Vegas. They’re like, ‘Oh, you’re still 42 points to the cutline, you’re fine!'” Bell countered this commonly held notion about having the points advantage. “Well, not really. You look at Homestead…the likeliness of a playoff winner at Homestead was high, and sure enough it happened. And the same can be said about Martinsville. The contenders who are going to race for the win in Martinsville are all beneath me in points…That cutline is likely to move up.” 

Christopher Bell only allowed himself some comfort in one fact – he has the upper hand over William Byron. The Hendrick Motorsports rival also owns 3 wins this year, which includes a victory in Martinsville. So Byron can easily surprise people at the upcoming race. Bell heaved a sigh of relief at the points difference: “The good news is that I am 22 points up on William. And I think that we are racing for that last point spot.” The other playoff drivers can also be big threats. Denny Hamlin owns five career wins at the Paperclip – although those date before 2015, last year he led a race-high 156 laps and finished third. Then Ryan Blaney is the defending race winner, and he used the Martinsville victory to ultimately grab the championship.

Yet one factor draws a line among playoff drivers, as Christopher Bell emphasized.

The timing matters

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When NASCAR pulled Joey Logano back inside the playoffs after Alex Bowman’s suspension, the plot twisted. Brad Keselowski’s spotter, TJ Majors, labeled Joey Logano as ‘dangerous‘. Sure enough, Logano did prove himself to be a solid threat as he went on to win at Las Vegas. His victory is even more significant for the championship run in Phoenix due to one thing – more time. His rivals are desperately battling with strategies and techniques to clinch the Championship 4 berth. Meanwhile, both he and Tyler Reddick are relaxed. Well, relaxed and absolutely focused on their journey to the Bill France cup.

That is another thing that bothers Christopher Bell. Last year, He was in a comfortable position after winning Homestead – but this time he does not have that luxury. “The Phoenix car is a special car and if you’re in the final four, it deserves to have more time and effort put into it,” explained Bell, who has only ever made the final four by winning Round of 8 races. “So, winning that first race is huge and yeah, it’s an advantage. And I noticed that from winning Homestead last year, having that extra week to prepare.” Even Logano admitted to this: “We earned an advantage by being able to focus on Phoenix before anybody else, and we need to take advantage of that opportunity.”

Evidently, Christopher Bell is justified in feeling jittery about Martinsville. We can only wait and see which two drivers come through to clinch the final two championship spots.