Christopher Bell Confident: “This Is My Best Chance to Win a NASCAR Cup Title”
Christopher Bell enters the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with a renewed sense of optimism, confidence, and determination. Driving the No. 20 car for Joe Gibbs Racing, Bell believes that this year presents his strongest opportunity yet to finally secure a championship.
The Oklahoma native had a strong start to the regular season, winning three straight races in February and March at Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas, and Phoenix. Those victories cemented his spot in the postseason and gave him a high playoff seed, but the wins also came early. Since then, Bell and his team have relied more on consistency and competitive speed rather than trips to Victory Lane.
That pattern raised a natural question in Bell’s mind: should he and his crew be concerned about their inability to close the deal over the summer stretch? As he revealed during Playoff Media Day in Charlotte, he even went so far as to ask his crew chief, Adam Stevens, if the lack of recent wins was a red flag.
“I’ve actually asked Adam that because I got a little bit concerned about it a couple weeks ago,” Bell admitted. “He said, ‘look, we are not doing anything different than when we won three races in a row earlier in the season.’”
That reassurance has helped Bell keep things in perspective. After all, he knows that racing often comes down to timing, execution, and a little bit of luck. His early-season wins, he concedes, came in situations where circumstances worked in his favor. At Atlanta, he only led a single lap, and at COTA, just eight. Yet in both races, he and his team were positioned to capitalize when it mattered most.
“It went our way and we were able to capitalize on it,” Bell explained. “It comes and goes in this sport, and it’s been tough sledding here through the summer months, but I’m excited for what comes ahead of us.”
Excitement is something Bell has good reason to feel. The playoff schedule itself seems tailor-made for him. Tracks like Darlington, Kansas, Las Vegas, and Gateway are all venues where Bell has shown race-winning speed but has yet to seal the deal. He sees these opportunities as the perfect chance to make a statement run.
“We’ve been really close at Darlington but haven’t won yet,” he said. “The playoffs are littered with tracks like that. All these places where we’ve been super strong but just haven’t won. It could happen this week, it could happen next week.”
Confidence is also rooted in history. Since NASCAR introduced the NextGen car, Bell has proven to be a reliable championship contender. He reached the Championship 4 in both 2022 and 2023, and narrowly missed making it three straight appearances after NASCAR penalized him last year for what officials considered an illegal wall-ride maneuver. Those near misses have only fueled his belief that this season, things could finally fall into place.
Perhaps most importantly, Bell knows he has the right people in his corner. His crew chief, Adam Stevens, is one of the most respected minds in the garage, and Bell consistently praises the preparation and processes of his Joe Gibbs Racing team.
“We have a great team, a great process, and we’re going to keep after it,” Bell said. “I think we have all the tools we need to go out there, execute, and win races.”
For Bell, the journey over the next 10 weeks is not just about chasing victories, but about chasing the one prize that has eluded him so far: the Cup Series championship. And he is more certain than ever that this is his moment.
“This year is my best year for a championship,” Bell declared. “I know that. Adam knows that. I’m ready to take it to him.”
With confidence brimming and the playoff schedule stacked with favorable tracks, Christopher Bell believes the stars are aligning. Whether that translates into hoisting the Bill France Cup in November remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: Bell isn’t just showing up to compete he’s showing up to win.