The Battle Before the War—With a Playoff Spot Already Secured, NHMS Pole Sitter Christopher Bell Has Eyes on Another Milestone

Christopher Bell has been in great form this season. He achieved an impressive 3rd-place finish last season and has already qualified for the playoffs this year with a win in Bristol. He has been showing good form all this season in a competitive car.

However, he saw a small dip in results in the last two races at the Chicago Street Course and Atlanta Motor Speedway. Nevertheless, he has already made a strong comeback by getting a pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Having sealed his place in the playoffs with just seven races to go, Bell has his eyes set on the next milestone.

“NHMS is a pivotal race”: Christopher Bell eyes the regular season championship

Christopher Bell is back to one of his favorite circuits on the calendar. It was here that he opened his score last year, and went on to build upon that to reach the Championship 4. Moreover, he will be starting this year’s race from the front of the grid.

The 28-year-old has a very good chance of winning this race and solidifying his run to win the regular season championship. According to him, the Crayon 301 is going to determine whether he stays in the running for the regular season championship or not.

In an interview after the qualifying, Bell said, “We are in a really, really important battle for the regular season championship. There are a lot of guys in the hunt. I have one of the best race cars that I’ve had all year this weekend; we need to capitalize on that.” He further added, “This is a pivotal race for the regular season championship.”

Currently fourth on the leaderboard, Bell has his work cut out for him. It would be interesting to see if a win or stage wins this weekend could push him up the ladder.

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Bell is aware of the biggest challenge he faces: William Byron

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Christopher Bell is currently 37 points behind the points leader William Byron. But in terms of playoff points, he still lags quite a bit, having just 1 race win and 2 stage wins compared to 4 race and 7 stage wins for Byron. However, Bell is determined to pursue the current championship leader, though it will not be easy.

Nevertheless, a win at the NHMS and could be a good start for Bell. Bell certainly has the potential to pose a big threat to Byron. However, there is a steep road in front of him and he needs to capture every opportunity he gets moving forward.

In a recent interview, Bell clarified his thought process, saying, “William [Bryon] has a little bit of a gap on us but all it takes is one bad race and he is back there with us. We have a lot of cars that we are trying to keep up with and outrun him.” 

He added, “My finishes have been atrocious lately and we are still right in the hunt, so that is a good thing for me, so hopefully, if we can start cleaning up our finishes, I will be able to capitalize on that.”

Just like the fight for the remaining playoff spots, the battle for the regular season championship is also heating up with just seven races to go. It might seem that William Byron has a good lead to stay at the top. However, a few bad weekends for him and a few good weekends for others might just end up turning the tables. Nevertheless, one thing that is guaranteed is that this battle before the playoffs will be extremely entertaining.

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