PHOENIX — Typically, Christopher Bell is calm, cool and collected. But the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series postseason has tested him in ways he never experienced before.
“I have never in my life experienced anything like that,” Bell said at Thursday’s Championship 4 media day. “Just the absolute lowest of lows to the highest of highs, in – at Charlotte road course – a matter of minutes, from thinking the race is over til the yellow flag coming out and winning the race.
“It was definitely an extreme high at the Charlotte road course and definitely an extreme low at Vegas when we crashed out.”
Bell kicked the playoffs off with three consecutive top-five finishes in the opening round. Many industry folks were surprised when the No. 20 team was the first team to lock into the Round of 12, as Bell scored the most points in the first round.
Then, Texas came. Bell was a proverbial favorite for the race win, only to blow two tires and finish 34th.
In the middle race of the Round of 12, Bell needed a good performance at Talladega. Easier said than done at the superspeedway. With a 17th-place finish and scoring no stage points, he was in must-win mode in the cutoff race at the Charlotte Roval.
With Toyota’s struggles on road courses in the Next Gen era, Bell was given a slim-to-none shot of winning. But like the team has been all season, the No. 20 car was the best of the Toyota bunch. Should something occur late in the race, it was possible he’d capitalize.
And when the caution flew for a sign laying in the middle of the track, two-time championship winning crew chief Adam Stevens called him to pit road. On fresh rubber, it was game over for the field. Bell rocketed from 12th to second in one lap, and a caution flew to give him the distinct advantage over race leader Kevin Harvick.
Entering Charlotte, Bell was 33 points below. That was before he scored the biggest walk-off win in playoff history.
“I think that really says a lot about our team because it would have been very easy to give up going into the Roval, which we knew was not going to be a great race for us,” he said. “As it turned out, it was not a great race. We were a back half of the top 10 car. The yellow flag came out, and we were able to perform how we needed to perform to win.”
By advancing to the Round of 8, Bell was thought to be a near shoe-in to the Championship 4 due to Toyota’s dominance on intermediates in 2022. That was laid to rest shortly after the second stage began when Bubba Wallace intentionally wrecked Kyle Larson, who clipped Bell. The No. 20 team again finished 34th.
The series went to Homestead and aside from Martin Truex Jr., Toyota struggled as a whole. Bell was a nonfactor throughout and placed 11th. Once again, he had to win the Championship 4 cutoff race at Martinsville.
Despite qualifying 20th at Martinsville, Bell was confident he could charge through the field. That he did, as the No. 20 car cracked the top 10 in the opening 100 laps. After Denny Hamlin lost control of the race, it was Bell’s for the taking, leading a career-high 150 laps. When a late caution flew, Stevens called him down pit road. In the final 24 laps, Bell would have to go from sixth to the lead on four fresh tires.
With less than five laps remaining, Bell took the lead and hung on for the victory. Another walk-off win.
“I never questioned him,” Bell said. “That’s his job. I think that’s one thing we really do well: he lets me do my job, and I let him do his job.”
Bell secured a spot into the Championship 4 for the first time. Immediately, he thanked his parents during his frontstretch interview, who have been his biggest supporters through the highs and lows of 2022.
“The emotions stemmed from the fact that they believed in me after Vegas,” Bell said. “They believed in me after Homestead when I didn’t believe in myself. I thought it was over. They kept telling me, ‘You’re going to do it, you’re going to do it.’”
The Oklahoma family will make the journey out to Phoenix for championship weekend. They only make it to a few races per season.
Bell is the first driver in NASCAR history to make the Championship 4 in all three series. He picked up the 2017 Camping World Truck Series title, but he didn’t capture either the 2018 or 2019 Xfinity Series championships.
Bell enters Phoenix as the arguable frontrunner to win the championship on Sunday. He’s performed well at tracks similar to Phoenix this season, including winning at New Hampshire in July. Had the Richmond race in August been one lap longer, he would have evidently passed Kevin Harvick for the win.
But don’t expect Bell to falter this weekend, regardless. He’s going to remain his calm self, despite the pressure of battling for a Cup title.
“I love it. I eat it up. I thrive on pressure,” Bell stated. “The more pressure that you can put on a situation, it seems like the better I perform.”
And before cars get on track Friday, Bell believes he might be the favorite, too.
“I think I’m in the best position to win the championship because our cars have been extremely fast week in and week out,” Bell noted. “I feel like I’ve got the best team out of the four.”
In five Cup starts at Phoenix, Bell has a pair of ninth-place finishes.