Two races into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, things looked bleak for Christopher Bell in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. 

After finishing 29th at Darlington in the Round of 16 opener, while teammate Chase Briscoe took the checkered flag, Bell went on to cross the line in seventh at World Wide Technology Raceway a week later, as JGR’s Denny Hamlin claimed victory. Bell’s frustrating afternoon in Illinois saw his temper boil over after the checkered flag fell, launching into an expletive-laden rant over the team radio, which swiftly went viral on social media.

“We just f—— ran seventh with the best car on the track. Every f—— week it’s the same s—. We’re the last car to pit road. I’m over it!” the 30-year-old said.

Almost a week later, ahead of the Bristol night race, Bell explained that he was confident none of his comments had been taken personally by his team, adding that his anger was at least somewhat fueled by the success of his teammates.

“If your teammates are out there winning races and leading laps, that shows that the cars are capable, we have the equipment, and I haven’t been leading laps and I haven’t been winning races,” Bell said, via Bob Pockrass. “So, there’s obviously something going on that’s keeping us from doing that.”

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However, Bell’s luck has since turned a corner, with the No. 20 taking the lead late in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday en route to victory lane for the first time since March, when he won three of the opening four races of the season.

Fast forward to Monday, and Bell was quizzed on ‘The Day After’ podcast about his earlier rant, admitting that he wished it hadn’t gone viral.

“It’s walking such a fine line…no other professional sport has microphones inside the helmet,” he said. “And, I bet you NFL wide receivers and NBA players, they probably have very similar discards of emotion, I’m going to call it that, like we do. I feel bad that it went viral. I didn’t intend for it to go viral.”

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However, Bell felt that some positives did come from his now infamous rant, as it forced him and his team into discourse. “The positive that comes out of it is we all get together, we all have a powwow meeting, and understand that we all want to do better,” he said.

“And Adam Stevens, my crew chief, he wants to win just as bad as I do. My engineers want to win just as bad as I do. Like we’re all on the same team. And at times it can get to be where it feels like it’s you competing against your crew chief. 

“And that is, that’s the enemy. That’s not what you want. You want to make sure it’s you and your crew chief racing for a common goal.”

Having now made it to the Round of 12, Bell’s focus will turn first to New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the USA Today 301, which he has won twice in the last three seasons. The Cup Series then heads to Kansas Speedway and Charlotte’s Roval before the Playoff field is trimmed to the final eight.