Christopher Bell quells end to 2024 season; 'left a ton on the table'

Five years down in the NASCAR Cup Series, Christopher Bell continues to rise as a superstar in the sport.

He matched a career-best in wins with three during the 2024 campaign and set new highs in top fives (15) and top 10s (23) while making the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.

Despite having his best Cup season to date, Bell missed out on a third straight chance at the Bill France Cup in Phoenix after being eliminated at Martinsville Speedway on the final lap due to a safety violation. While Bell was left frustrated in the moment, he took the time to reflect on some of his high points from a successful year.

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“Honestly, [Las] Vegas [fall] was one of our all-around best days,” Bell said on Nov. 22 ahead of the NASCAR Awards. “We didn’t get the win. But as a team, the pit crew, [crew chief] Adam’s [Stevens] strategy, myself driving, like we executed that day almost perfectly. I would say Vegas is one of our best races that we had all year. Charlotte was shaping up to be. It’s a shame that it got shortened because I would have loved to see it go the distance. But I felt like Charlotte had that potential of [being] similar to how Vegas turned out. I think that those two races stand out. Phoenix [spring] was awesome. Gateway was awesome. There’s a lot of highs for sure.”

That Las Vegas playoff race in October was the ultimate deciding factor of Bell’s season. He led 155 laps, which was his most in a race in 2024 to highlight a total of 1,145 circuits out front during the year, but a strategy gamble from Joey Logano paid out for the No. 22 Team Penske team as they had enough fuel to get to the checkered flag while Bell settled for second. A win would’ve guaranteed Bell’s berth to Phoenix, which would’ve eliminated the events of Martinsville just two weeks later.

Vegas defined 2024 as a whole for the JGR organization. From Bell to Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr., all four cars and teams had race-winning capabilities on a weekly basis but the final win of the season for JGR came in … June at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Bell was blunt in the frustrations of the organization not winning in the last five months of the year.

“That’s sad,” Bell said. “Looking back at Nashville, Nashville was a potential win. Chicago was a potential win. Vegas was a potential win. Like there’s so many races that happened in between our last win and the end of the year that we let slip away. We need to clean it up and if we keep bringing the same car potential back to the racetrack, I think that, hopefully, I will be able to do my job and close the races out.”

To turn those shortcomings into victories, JGR made organizational changes as Chris Gabehart, Hamlin’s crew chief for the past six seasons, will now serve as competition director for JGR while Chris Gayle moves from Gibbs to atop the pit box for Hamlin and the No. 11 team.

MORE: JGR makes organizational changes for 2025 | Hamlin ‘shocked’ Gabehart won’t crew chief No. 11 in 2025

“I think it has potential to help out all the teams,” Bell said of the changes. “Gabehart is a incredibly smart person. He was a huge asset to the 11 car and I think moving him to oversee the crew chiefs and be able to provide input and knowledge and just kind of keep all of the teams in line is a solid move. I think it has potential to increase the performance of all the teams.”

With JGR lifting restrictions on dirt racing, it opens the door for Bell and incoming driver Chase Briscoe to keep competing before The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium arrives in February.

Bell said he’ll ‘definitely’ be racing at some point but doesn’t have anything set in stone just yet.

“One thing that I typically do whenever it comes to dirt racing is I don’t really like to make a schedule,” Bell added. “I really just kind of go week by week, and if my week turns out to be quiet, I’ll look for opportunities to go race, and then a matter of who has a car available, what car I can get in and stuff like that. So I’m definitely not gonna make a schedule, so to say, but I’ll just kind of take it week by week. It’s nice to know that it is in my hands, and our competition staff’s hands. I’m excited about it and I’m certainly looking forward to reconnecting with my dirt fans.”

As of now, Bell said he doesn’t have plans to compete at the Chili Bowl but will be, at least, in attendance at the Tulsa Shootout in his home state of Oklahoma.

Both Bell and 2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson are multi-time winners of the Chili Bowl and with Bell allowed to race on dirt once again, anticipation builds for the two NASCAR heavyweights to do battle in the discipline.

“He’s [Larson] gonna have the upper hand for a little bit,” Belt admitted. “He’s got a two-year head start on me, so I’m gonna have to get my dirt shoes underneath me again and get back up to speed. But I hope, at some point, I can get back up to speed. That’s gonna be the tough part is just being out of the car for so long. Hopefully, it’s like riding a bike. I guess we’re about to find out.”

A return to roots and some time away from the stock car will allow for Bell to get his mind off the pressure of winning in the Cup Series. But once the No. 20 hauler heads down to Daytona to open the season, the expectations will be through the roof for Bell to ascend the mountain following a monster 2024 season.

“It definitely leaves me optimistic and hopeful for what’s to come,” Bell said on his 2024 performance. “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.”