For the third year in a row, the playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway ended in bitter disappointment for Christopher Bell.
In 2022, he got collected in an altercation between Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson and was knocked out of the race through no fault of his own. Last year, Bell was chasing down Larson for the lead in the closing laps but could not get past the No. 5 by the time the checkered flag flew.
Sunday’s (Oct. 20) race had more in common with last year’s, and it may have been Bell’s most brutal Las Vegas loss. He had the dominant car and was running away with the race for most of the day. However, with fuel mileage questionable for all the frontrunners, Bell made a final pit stop with around 40 laps to go. A handful of other drivers, including Joey Logano, opted to stay on track and try to stretch their fuel to the end. Bell’s goal thus became making up all the time that was lost by the pit stop.
The alternate strategies produced a nail-biting finish. At first, Bell was faster than Logano and leader Daniel Suarez by more than one second per lap. But as the run went on and Bell’s fresher tires lost their advantage, his pace slowed down. Logano also got a helping hand from teammate Ryan Blaney, who was out of contention after an earlier accident but still drafted with Logano as the laps ticked away. Bell ultimately came up short to Logano, who held the lead and became the first playoff driver to lock into the championship race.
Had the race been one or two laps longer, Bell almost assuredly would have won.
“I don’t know and I don’t think I’ve come to terms (with it) yet,” Bell said. “Just a bummer. I think everyone on this team did everything perfect today. This thing was obviously on rails, pit crew did an amazing job, Adam (Stevens) called a great race. Did everything we needed to put this Rheem Camry in victory lane, and unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be today.”
The good news for Bell is that he is not in unfamiliar territory. The No. 20 team’s missed opportunities at Las Vegas the past two years only put them in a hole temporarily. When given another chance during the Round of 8, Bell and his team scored wins and advanced to the Championship 4 both times.
Two years ago, Bell advanced with a win in the final Round of 8 race at Martinsville Speedway. He entered that event 33 points below the cut line. It was not a mathematical must-win situation, but it was a lot of ground to make up in just one race. After starting mid-pack, Bell steadily worked his way forward and emerged as the driver to beat in the second half of the race. When the event’s final yellow flag came out with 33 laps to go, Bell and his team opted to pit for fresh tires.
This forced the No. 20 to restart sixth, but he moved forward and took the lead back with five laps to go. The crash at Las Vegas ended up being a moot point and Bell advanced to the championship race.
Last season, Bell did not even need to wait until Martinsville. After the close loss to Larson at Las Vegas, he won the next race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Early in that event, it looked like Larson was poised to score back-to-back wins until he hit the sand barrels at the end of the exterior pit road wall. Larson’s incident set up a frantic ending to the race that saw Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., drop out with a crash and blown engine. But Bell survived the chaos and passed William Byron for the lead with 15 laps to go, driving off into the Florida sunset and taking the victory. The No. 20 team went to the championship round for the second year in a row.
For Bell, the biggest question now is if he can win a championship if given another opportunity. He is 42 points above the cut line and in good shape to make the championship round a third time, so you have to wonder how much the No. 20 team could be looking toward the NASCAR Cup Series title, which Bell has never won. In 2022, he was unable to keep up with Logano’s pace in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway. Bell went back to Phoenix as a title contender in 2023, but a brake rotor exploded while the No. 20 was sailing down the backstretch during the second stage. Bell slammed the wall in turn 3 and his day was over.
If history repeats itself and Bell makes his third consecutive championship round appearance, he could be JGR’s last hope to win the title in 2024. Truex and Ty Gibbs were eliminated during the first round. Hamlin is still standing but finds himself 27 points below the cutoff after a Las Vegas race full of mistakes. Also buried in points is fellow Toyota driver Tyler Reddick at 30 below the cut line. The regular season champ was fast at Las Vegas but got caught up in a wild crash on lap 90 that saw his No. 45 barrel roll down the frontstretch. If Bell advances and Hamlin and Reddick do not, he will be the lone Toyota driver against a contingent of rivals from Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports.
Losing at Las Vegas is going to sting Bell and the No. 20 team, but they must follow the path they have taken the past two years and put the disappointment behind them. Bell has demonstrated the capability to win in the third round of the postseason with his back to the wall. The real test would be a showdown with Logano and two other title contenders at Phoenix. We will see if the third time is the charm for Bell.
About the author
Bryan began writing for Frontstretch in 2016. He has penned Up to Speed for the past seven years. A lifelong student of auto racing, Bryan is a published author and automotive historian. He is a native of Columbus, Ohio and currently resides in Southern Kentucky.
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