It’s not an exaggeration to say there is a sense of déjà vu around Christopher Bell and his Joe Gibbs Racing team this weekend at Martinsville Speedway.
“I guess there is some truth in that,” said Adam Stevens, Bell’s crew chief. “We’ve been in this situation before. We were in a worse situation when we had to win a few years ago, and we were able to do that. Last year, we had a bit of a gap and weren’t able to keep it.”
Bell goes into Sunday’s final elimination race in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with a 37-point advantage on the cutline. It’s a solid position to be in to start the weekend – but not a safe one. Bell, Stevens and the No. 20 Toyota team found that out a year ago.
The gap was 29 points for Bell going into that 2024 race. It went down to the wire between Bell and William Byron, featuring a bit of controversy over how the final laps unfolded with race manipulation. Bell crossed the finish line in a tie with Byron for the final spot in the title race, but a penalty – imposed after NASCAR ruled he rode the wall – saw Byron move on, and Bell eliminated.
A winner from below the cutline on Sunday makes the battle between Bell and Kyle Larson for the final spot this time around.
“It’s not the situation that you would choose,” Stevens said. “It does feel similar. I think it feels a little bit more in our control with the gap that we have, and with the competitive race that we had in the spring, and having a real solid notebook and something to build off of. It feels like it’s ours to capture.”
Joe Gibbs could go into the championship race with three drivers eligible if Bell and Stevens get the job done. Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe both won their way into the finale over the last two weeks at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The last time Bell was in the championship race was his back-to-back appearances in 2022 and 2023.
Aside from not being locked into the finale at this point, the postseason has gone as well for Bell and company as any team could hope. Since finishing 29th in the opener at Darlington Raceway, Bell has been no worse than eighth in the last seven playoff races. And that includes a victory at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The victory came a week after Bell made headlines when he sent an expletive-laden rant toward his team after the checkered flag in St. Louis. At the heart of that was Bell feeling they were not delivering to their potential, and even though Bell now acknowledges he could have handled it differently, he’s proud of how the team responded and of his uptick in performance since then.
“I think it was a turning point on some levels,” Stevens said, “I wouldn’t say it was a turning point in competitiveness. I think there were some communication barriers and things that had maybe lingered unaddressed that pulled the Band-Aid off, which was good. But as far as how we’ve been able to compete, like I said, I feel like the job we do and how we do it, hasn’t really changed since the beginning of the year.
“We’re constantly taking the opportunity to make sure we’re on the same page before the weekend, during, and after the weekend, and that our ambitions are aligned with our short-term goals if they can be, but certainly in line with our long-term goals and just being clear on all of that. [There] was definitely some benefits to it and it made us stronger, something that has probably pushed us to the point we’re at now.”
Bell and Stevens do have a Martinsville Speedway win together. It came in the 2022 elimination race, which the team had to win to advance. In this year’s spring race there, Bell qualified on the pole and finished second.