After Christopher Bell’s electric start to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season that’s seen him take three straight trips to victory lane, some are wondering if this year’s champion has already been decided.
However, it’s a long season and fans have been duped by a hot start before, but does this feel different? Is Bell just that much better than the field, or is he just that much better than the field right now? Luckily, two Frontstretch writers both think they know the answer this week.
Pump The Brakes On Crowning a Favorite
There’s no denying Bell has had a scorching-hot start to the 2025 season, with three wins in the first four races. He very well could have four in a row, if not for a crash from the lead in the Daytona 500.
However, we’ve just now gotten to the middle of March, which is why I think it’s way too soon to crown Bell as the championship favorite, even after a win at the very place the title race is held.
First and foremost, we’re only four races into a 36-race season, meaning there’s plenty of time for plenty of other contenders to hit their stride. We’ve seen plenty of drivers start their season off hot, just to flame out when it counts.
The variety of tracks at which Bell has found this success on is bizarre, for lack of better explanation. One drafting track, one oddball road course and probably the weirdest short-oval racetrack on the circuit.
Yes, we crown a champion at Phoenix, but that doesn’t mean success there will translate to the rest of the season. Likewise, just about anyone can be successful at a superspeedway, and the new Circuit of the Americas layout was as much of a wildcard as a road course can be.
What I’m saying is, success at three abnormal racetracks to start the year doesn’t necessarily translate to the rest of the season. We’ve seen plenty of drivers start out hot but fizzle out when it mattered most.
The most recent example of this was Martin Truex Jr. just a few years ago. Truex was dominant through the spring and summer of 2023, winning the regular-season championship and standing as one of the favorites heading into the playoffs. What followed was the biggest collapse of the Next Gen era. Truex scored six straight finishes outside the top 15 to start the playoffs, and his title hopes were dashed.
This isn’t the only example of this, as we’ve seen others, like Kyle Busch in 2008 or Jimmie Johnson in 2017, suffer a similar fate when it mattered most.
As much evidence as there is to support peaking too early being harmful to a championship chase, there is just as much evidence to show that peaking at the right time can mean more later in the season.
Look no further than the past two Cup Series champions.
Joey Logano was winless and outside the playoff cutline heading to Nashville Superspeedway last summer. However, Logano turned it up in the final 10 weeks of the season and was there when it mattered to capture his third Cup Series championship.
Just one year prior, Ryan Blaney used the exact same formula, performing best at season’s end, and it won him a championship. It that isn’t enough, allow us to introduce you to Johnson, also known as the man who built an untouchable resume in this sport by peaking at the right time (see 2007 and 2008).
So yes, Bell is on a heater right now, there’s no doubt about it, and he could very well win a fourth straight this weekend at Las Vegas. However, it’s hard to ignore the past, and history shows that firing out of the gate at your best isn’t always a championship formula.
We’ve got almost eight months until we crown a champion. Let’s pump the brakes on picking a favorite to win it. – Chase Folsom
Bell’s Run May Be The Real Deal
“I feel cheated.”
Those words uttered by Bell last year made him my championship pick before the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season even ended.
Bell made that statement, along with several other sentiments in the same vein, in an audacious press conference prior to the 2024 season finale at Phoenix Raceway, a week after experiencing one of the biggest heartbreaks of his career at Martinsville Speedway.
Despite being in a position to advance to the Championship Four, Bell threw his car into turns 3 and 4 on the final lap, ultimately sliding into the wall. Bell then throttled up to get to the checkered flag, albeit while he was trying to steer his car off the wall. He was into the championship race when he crossed the line. But NASCAR rescinded it by penalizing him for violating safety protocols by “riding the wall.”
The spot was given to William Byron, who benefited from what NASCAR deemed race manipulation by several other teams.
Since then, the often quiet and reserved Bell has been roaring loudly, not by voice, but rather by virtue of his racing performance. In his return to Phoenix, Bell won the spring race for the second consecutive season, and he was a contender throughout the day last fall.
By winning three races in a row, Bell is just the fourth driver in history to win three of the first four races of the Cup season, and he’s the first to win three in a row since Kyle Larson did it twice in 2021. Oh, and should I mention that Larson won the title that year?
Overlooked at Joe Gibbs Racing for years, it still feels like Bell has not been given his flowers. Denny Hamlin is still the headliner at JGR, competitive and outspoken as ever — and more outspoken than ever at that. Ty Gibbs is the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, and despite struggling to find victory lane still, many peg him as a future superstar. Even Chase Briscoe has stolen some attention away from Bell as the heir to the No. 19, left by former Cup champion Martin Truex Jr.
Yet Bell is the winningest driver at the team in the Next Gen era, winning 11 races and accounting for all of the organization’s Championship 4 appearances in that span, which included some ice-cold victories in the playoffs. His 11 wins are second only to Larson in the Next Gen era, as well. Ready or not, the “Bell” is ringing for the 30-year-old to be considered Toyota’s top driver, and one of the most talented drivers in the garage.
While still quiet, Bell has shown much more willingness to voice his opinion when necessary, as well as put the world on notice when he’s dominating. In an era where NASCAR is searching for flavored personalities other than vanilla, which is owed more to the sport’s own marketing, Bell’s increased vocal presence is one he should continue to craft while remaining true to who he is as a driver.
Bell’s hot streak is a far cry from the organization’s dry spell to end 2024, as the team went the final 18 races without a win. Still, Bell was just as fast as ever, validated by the fact that he was an officiating call away from making the Championship 4 for a third consecutive season.
The Norman, Okla. native is looking to become just the ninth driver to win four races in a row, as well as the first since Johnson in 2007. Out of the seven drivers who accomplished that feat, five of them won the title the year they conquered that mark.
This No. 20 team might just be the most well-rounded team in the garage, with no glaring weaknesses. Bell is capable of winning anywhere, especially considering that his wins have come on three distinct track types. Crew chief Adam Stevens is one of the sharpest guys atop the pit box, and the cars are fast on a weekly basis.
If there’s anything to pick on, it’s Bell’s inability to close out races he dominated at times. Last season, Bell led over 100 laps on six separate occasions, yet, he only won in one of those instances. However, he has already shown signs of fixing that problem this season, winning a Phoenix race in which he led 105 circuits.
What further proof is needed that Bell is already the championship favorite. A team and driver have one of two ways to respond to the disappointment that Bell and the No. 20 crew faced at Martinsville: hunker down and pop the balloon, or use it as fuel for the next season. It’s clear that Bell does not want to be in that situation again, and he’s not sugarcoating in his pursuit of that goal.
Buckle up, this ride might just be on the incline. – Luken Glover
Tanner Marlar is a staff writer for Sports Illustrated’s OnSI Network, a contributor for TopSpeed.com, an AP Wire reporter, an award-winning sports columnist and talk show host and master's student at Mississippi State University. Soon, Tanner will be pursuing a PhD. in Mass Media Studies. Tanner began working with Frontstretch as an Xfinity Series columnist in 2022.