Despite Kyle Larson’s domination of the first half of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1, both Joey Logano and Christopher Bell see a path to the championship.
Both drivers are convinced that winning races—probably multiple races—is the key to title, and there’s no better time to start than in Sunday’s Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
For the first time since 2017, Cup Series drivers will race on the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval in the fall, a position on the schedule occupied by the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (ROVAL) for the past eight seasons.
“We know exactly what a win is worth,” said Logano, who is fourth in the Chase standings, 71 points behind Larson. “We know if you score stage points in the top two or three in each stage and win a race, you cut into that deficit quite a bit. You can gain 30 points on the whole field.
“Even if the guy finishes second, you still are going to gain 25 or so points at least. If you can string a couple of those together, yeah, you’re right there. I think in our case, we have to win one of them at least to be able to say we’re going to go up there and beat them.
“We’re going have to win one, if not two, and if we don’t win two, then we’re going to have to… not that you hope for bad things to happen to people, but you’ve got to hope for some misfortune a little bit from the competitors.”
Logano’s only victory on the Charlotte oval came in the fall race of 2015. On Sunday, the three-time series champion will make his 500th start in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford and his 647th overall.
In each of his three victories this season—at North Wilkesboro, Richmond and Bristol—Logano has scored 73 points, three short of the maximum possible.
Bell claimed his only Charlotte oval win in the rain-shortened 2024 Coca-Cola 600. He arrives at Sunday’s race third in the Chase standings, 55 points behind Larson.
“I don’t think you’re going to make up that 50-point deficit without that win bonus that is applied now,” Bell said of the 20-point difference between first and second place. “It feels a little bit like the (previous) Playoff format. I believe that it’s going to take wins for me to become the champion.
“The 11 (second-place Denny Hamlin, trailing Larson by 40 points), I think I’m within striking distance where I can pass him without winning, but the 5 car (Larson) being out so far, I think it’s going to take wins, and, yeah, just need to put our best foot forward to go out there and win.”
Bell lost ground to Larson last Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he lost power steering. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver wouldn’t mind seeing Larson, his long-time dirt-track rival, go through the same experience.
“I hope it happens to him, so he can talk about it,” Bell said.
Larson, however, shows no sign of faltering. His 2.2 average finish through five Chase races is the best since NASCAR introduced its first postseason playoff format in 2004.
Interestingly, no Chase driver in the field for Sunday’s race has posted more than one victory on the Charlotte oval. Hamlin has the most starts there (35) and picked up his only win at the track in the 2022 Coke 600.
— NASCAR News Wire —