With the NASCAR Cup Series season going past the halfway mark, fans and the community are now starting to make their guesses for their favorite driver to win the title. Earlier in the season, it was a two-way battle between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. However, a recent flurry of pace and speed by Christopher Bell and the #20 team suggests they are now leading the charge as a team to beat.

But despite the impressive speed and streak of good results, Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t sold on the idea that Bell will win the championship. Although he applauded the #20 team for finding something special with their race car, he highlighted the unforgiving realities of NASCAR racing that might bite the JGR driver in the long run.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. backs Denny Hamlin’s theory of not jumping the gun to label Bell as the title favorite

From the rain-shortened win at Charlotte Motor Speedway to his emphatic win at New Hampshire, C. Bell has flipped the switch and found an extra gear. After being inconsistent with his runs, the #20 all of a sudden became the quickest racecar on the track. Had it not been for him wrecking his car into the wall in Nashville, does this make him a title favorite? Not according to Dale Jr.

“It’s early; I know we’re past halfway in the season, but it’s still really, really early in the grand scheme of things, and Denny Hamlin talked about this on the show, which I totally agree with. They were asking if Bell’s the favorite, and he’s like, dude, can we not just do that every single week? Every time somebody goes out and has a great run, can we just not name everybody the favorite each and every week?” Dale Jr. said this on the Dale Jr. Download.

He further explained that it would be hard for Bell and his team to march ahead with the same output in future races. Even if they do so, rival teams will be able to match their speeds eventually. “It’s impossible to do it. So in just about every scenario, a team that finds an advantage is only going to hold that advantage for a 10-race stretch or third of the season before a teammate or another organization understands where this advantage is and adapts it and improves it… It’s just the way the sport has been for decades.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. also talked about the trick most of the race teams had up their sleeves with the old car. And he expects that real title contenders might just put that to use when it actually matters in the playoffs.

Christopher Bell and his team might fall short on updates during the playoffs

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Jr explained that with the old car, teams would find that extra gear—the secret sauce—to make their race car stand out from the competition. But despite putting their winning formula to use on the very next race, they kept it in reserve for big occasions like a crunch playoff race or the finale. Although the circumstances have changed with the Gen-7 car, who knows, teams that have already secured their playoff run might be exercising this tactic.

“We used to call them updates. Even Chase Elliott would be like hey were running good but we got some updates coming for the playoffs. You’d start the playoffs, and all of a sudden, all these teams are running better. How do you explain when you go to the finals and four drivers that are racing for the championship more often than not are running in top 5 every year … So I think Christopher Bell and those guys should enjoy it. Can they sustain it the entire season? Damn, that would be unusual.” Dale Jr. added.

It certainly is too soon to call out or hand-pick a clear favorite. We’ve seen Ford drivers have an average regular-season run and pop off in the playoffs. So, Dale Jr. does have a point about teams reserving their best stuff for the vital races of the season.