Christopher Bell 2024 season in review

Editor’s note: This continues the series in which we review each 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs driver in reverse order of championship finish.

Season in review: Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Crew Chief: Adam Stevens
Final 2024 Ranking: 5th
Key stats: Three wins, 15 top fives, 23 top 10s, three poles, 1,145 laps led

How 2024 ended: Entering the postseason, Bell was among the favorites to hoist his first Bill France Cup but his hopes were dashed in the penultimate race of 2024 at Martinsville Speedway. Bell was penalized for a safety violation on the final lap trying to gain enough spots to surpass William Byron for the final transfer spot to the Championship 4. Bell’s lap was disqualified, which gave the fourth spot to Byron. In the finale at Phoenix, Bell led 143 laps and finished fifth to cap a fifth-place finish in the standings.

RELATED: Bell lands dominant victory at Phoenix | Bell sweeps weekend at New Hampshire

Best race: There’s a handful of options to select as the No. 20 driver’s best race of 2024 but New Hampshire stood out from the rest as Bell completed a weekend sweep in the New England region. The Cup race in Loudon was a first for NASCAR as rain tires were used in green-flag conditions to finish the race. Bell proved to be the best in both dry and wet conditions around the flat, 1.058-mile oval as he led 149 of 305 laps en route to his third and final victory of the season.

Other season highlights: Despite not winning the championship, Bell’s second half of 2024 can’t go overlooked. In a 15-race stretch from Indianapolis to the Phoenix finale, Bell scored 12 top 10s, with nine of those coming inside the top five. Bell’s first win came at Phoenix where he was the class of the field in the closing laps, setting a margin of victory record in the Next Gen era at 5.465 seconds. He would also grab his first checkered flag in a Crown Jewel race, winning a rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600.

Stat to Know: Bell’s 1,145 laps led were second most in the Cup Series in 2024, behind Kyle Larson’s whopping 1,700 laps. He led 100 laps or more in six races, highlighted by leading a combined 280 circuits in back-to-back weekends at New Hampshire and Nashville.

Quotable: “It definitely leaves me optimistic and hopeful for what’s to come. I’ve said this same thing, literally for the past two years or three years now, after the season’s over, that we still haven’t performed up to our potential. The 20 team keeps setting new highs and new personal bests, but even this year, we left a ton on the table. It just makes me optimistic and excited about what’s to come, knowing that we can perform better than we did this year.” — Christopher Bell on his 2024 performance

MORE: Bell quells end of 2024; ‘left a lot on the table’ | 2024-25 Silly Season news

Looking ahead: Five Cup Series seasons down and Bell has grown into a bonafide title contender on an annual basis. The next step for Bell is to break through for his first Cup championship, which is much more easier said than done. He’ll have some young competition alongside him at JGR next season as Ty Gibbs enters his third season while Chase Briscoe replaces Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Toyota. Bell also revealed Dec. 10 that he’ll return to the Chili Bowl after JGR lifted restrictions on their drivers competing in dirt-racing events. Bell and Briscoe will be among Cup Series drivers entered in the event.