Being fortunate hasn’t exactly been a forte for Christopher Bell in the playoffs. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has shown great pace on Saturdays, pushing him to lead the field as the green flags waved at Darlington and Kansas. But after the second NASCAR race today of the Cup Series playoffs concluded, Bell was left wanting more from the race again.

Bell has been a strong performer this season. However, the #20 team has not been able to support him to the maximum extent of their abilities. Bell hasn’t been able to capitalize on the huge chances in front of him in successive weeks.

Christopher Bell fails to make the most of starting on the pole again

Having inherited one of the best pit crews in the tourney from the #54 team, mistakes are something that one would least expect from them. Christopher Bell blazed through the track in the qualifying session at Darlington. Having landed the pole for the NASCAR race today at Kansas Speedway, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver would have imagined a reality where he could have contended for a win.

But a mechanical issue with the car’s jack turned his race into a nightmare. With so many green-flag pit stops ruining their momentum, he lost track of positions one after another, falling down the pecking order. The first pit stop was essential to recuperate and strategize while mending the issue with the jack. But he got his hopes dashed pretty early as he hit the outside wall on turn 2, hurting the front end of his car.

Speaking to media personnel in a post-race interview at Kansas, Bell revealed his emotions after letting another opportunity from the pole get out of his hands. He said, “To walk out of here with an eighth is probably about what we had coming, so whenever you have green-white checkers like that you can get a pretty bad finish out of it easily.”

“So I’m happy that it shook out the way it did. Ultimately, I was hoping to be a little bit more competitive today and thought we would be after qualifying in practice but good point to say you got some stage points, and we’ll move on to Bristol, and it’s going to be a dramatic one, that’s for sure.”

On being asked about what could be a possible solution to their pit road issues that could help them to capitalize on their pole wins, he added, “I don’t know there’s been plenty of races where we’ve had backside speed and not front side speed so it is what it is. We haven’t put it all together yet but we’re still in the hunt so I’m thankful for that.”

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Bell and his bad luck with poles continues

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Bell finished the first stage in P3 at Kansas. That is definitely a good place to be in if one is trying to contend for the win. With two stages left till completion, there was some room to spare for improvement and strategy as well. However, if we look at the pattern of results every time Bell lands a pole, it tells us a different story.

Even though one would expect a driver of Bell’s talent to deliver the goods from P1, it has been the opposite instead. In his Cup career, Bell has started from P1 seven times. On these occasions, he has an average finish of 17, which is pretty bad for him.

This season, the 28-year-old has won four qualifying races, but the results on NASCAR race today have been dismal, to say the least. An average finishing position of 21.67 means he had higher chances of finishing outside the top 20 than in the podium positions. A truly concerning situation for Joe Gibbs.

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But this can’t go on for too long, and Christopher Bell understands that. The gravity of a playoff race is different from that of one in the regular season. Blunders like the one in Darlington will undoubtedly become a huge hindrance for him.