Bells playoff prospects ring loud: 'Trying to work towards this for three years'

LEBANON, Tenn. — Christopher Bell has reached the Championship 4 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs in the last two seasons.

However, no driver has made their path more difficult to reach the title round than the fifth-year veteran.

Each of the past two campaigns featured single victories for Bell during the regular season, each enough to get the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team into the postseason. What followed were a pair of marches into the Championship 4 courtesy of clutch, round-ending triumphs, propelling Bell toward an opportunity to win the Bill France Cup. Consider an NHL team having to win multiple Game 7s to reach the Stanley Cup Final. Those are the odds Bell overcame in each of the past two playoff runs.

Rousing victories from Bell at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course and Martinsville Speedway two years ago netted his first title berth at Phoenix Raceway, while a 66-minute swing last year at Homestead-Miami Speedway opened the door for the Norman, Oklahoma native to receive a November desert sequel.

Despite coming up short in both opportunities, Bell has responded in 2024 with three wins in the regular season, the first time he’s done so at the Cup level.

It’s this type of season Bell has waited for.

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“Oh my gosh, man, we’ve been trying to work towards this for the last three years,” Bell said. “And it feels very, very rewarding to have playoff points in the bank right now, and we’ve still got a great opportunity to get more, so this is what everybody wants in the regular season is to get out of here with a bunch of playoff points. It feels much different than what we’ve had in the past, that’s for sure.”

Through the first half of the 2024 regular season, it appeared as though Bell was primed for another single victory to carry him into the playoffs, but a rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 and last week’s outclassing of the field have netted Bell 22 playoff points so far, including the seven stage wins.

With a win at Phoenix in March, a mistake-free postseason for the No. 20 crew could lead to a trilogy for Bell that ends with him hoisting that elusive championship trophy.

“It just goes to show that it can happen at any point,” Bell said. “Before Charlotte, I think I had six [playoff points], maybe. And then at Charlotte, I was able to win the race, win a couple stages, and that bumped me up into the teens. So it doesn’t take much to get a big boost in the playoff points. So, hopefully, we can keep stacking them up, and that’s what we’re here for. It feels nice to finally be running how I feel like this 20 car should be running.”