Who is the most versatile race car driver from the NASCAR Cup Series garage? The obvious answer would be Kyle Larson. Right from his affiliation and passion for Sprint Car Racing, to recently competing in the Indianapolis 500 and, at the same time, managing to stay ahead of the competition in Stock car racing. It’s hard to see anyone go up against Larson in a battle of versatility, but Christopher Bell just might have something to say about it.

It has to be noted that Joe Gibbs Racing, unlike its rivals, Hendrick Motorsports, doesn’t allow its drivers to run races in other disciplines apart from NASCAR. However, if given the opportunity, Christopher Bell feels that he can match Larson’s recent success. And given his track record of competing in different events, he might have a point.

What Larson does, Bell can certainly match, but only if he is allowed by his team

Well before the JGR star made his entry into the NASCAR scene, he was a well-known name in the USAC National Midget Series. Interestingly, in 2013, he joined Keith Kunz Motorsports, replacing Larson. Later that year, in October, he jumped ship to CH Motorsports and bagged the title of USAC National Midget Champion. That’s not it!

Bell also continued his dominance in the Superbowl of Midget Racing at the Chili Bowl Nationals, winning it three times, making him the only driver to achieve this feat. In comparison, Larson has two Chili Bowl wins to his name. So, based on the statistics and facts, it is hard to argue that Bell won’t be as successful as his rival if allowed to run non-NASCAR races.

Although the driver isn’t too bothered by the comparisons made about him in the media, he did make his stance clear that he would be successful like Larson if allowed to compete by his team. “It goes back to Question No. 2 of how much media I intake of the sport, and I definitely stay out of it. I stay away from the media coverage. And then I also believe in myself, and I know if I got or had the opportunity to run other stuff, I would be successful. So I don’t really follow it,” he said this in an interview with Jeff Gluck via Athletic.

It certainly would be a delightful sight for race fans to see both Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson go head-to-head at the Chili Bowl Nationals. But in order to stage such an event, the JGR driver might have to switch his current racing teams or move to HMS. This again would be a far-fetched thought, given his allegiance to JGR and Toyota.

Moreover, Bell also touched upon the recent disappointments of the 2024 season and how he deals with them.

The Coca-Cola 600 win balanced out the Gateway mishap

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As the season now progresses towards the playoffs, it is clear that the championship race is more than just a two-horse race. The Ford drivers are certainly back in the game, with Blaney bagging his first win of the season at Iowa Speedway and Brad Keselowski keeping up with the rest of the competition. However, Bell is also making a surge to claim the top spot or has been among the contenders in recent times.

The driver of the #20 car is on a streak of four consecutive top-10 results. And had it not been for his engine troubles at Gateway Park, he could’ve had back-to-back wins, which none of the drivers have been able to pull off so far.

Sharing his thought process for dealing with disappointing results, Bell stated, “The only way to move on is just by getting behind the wheel again. Unfortunately, in our sport, it only happens once a week. But because of that, it makes every win a bigger deal, too. So there are positives and negatives out of it … At Charlotte, I was on the other side of it and I won the race. But Gateway, I lost.”

With yet another promising performance at Iowa last weekend, despite running in a backup car, Bell certainly has been on the rise in recent weeks. If he manages to keep up this consistent run, he will turn out to be a formidable force in the playoffs.