CHARLOTTE—With the exception of Ross Chastain’s “Hail Melon” move at Martinsville Speedway, no one added as much drama to the 2022 NASCAR Cup Playoffs as Christopher Bell.
The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was clutch in must-win situations during the postseason. In the final races in both the Rounds of 12 and 8, Bell simply refused to lose in his first run to the Championship 4.
From his overtime victory at the Charlotte Roval to his walk-off win at Martinsville three races later, Bell accomplished what some drivers can only aspire to, but few can actually pull off.
“Super impressive,” said Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin. “He needed to win I think twice to advance one round and then get to the final. One certainly came at my expense, but, yeah, it was super impressive, no doubt about it. And certainly, probably built some character for him for these Playoffs that he’s prepared for it now.”
Bell’s introduction to the postseason came in 2021—his first Cup season with Gibbs. He was eliminated in the Round of 8. He finished 12th in the final standings. Last season, an average finish of fourth in the first round of the Playoffs easily enabled Bell to transfer into the Round of 12. However, a DNF at Texas forced his hand at the Roval. Bell battled his way from the points cellar and past Kevin Harvick to score his first Roval win.
Entering the final race of the Round of 8 at Martinsville, Bell was 33 points outside the top four. Joey Logano had locked into a Championship 4 berth with his Las Vegas victory. The previous week, Kyle Larson won at Homestead-Miami but had already been knocked out of the Playoffs. Three spots remained up for grabs. Bell passed Chase Briscoe for the lead with five laps remaining and held off a charging Larson for a .869-second advantage at the line.
“That’s not a reliable playbook for sure,” Bell said of his win strategy. “It starts at Darlington in a couple of days. The Round of 16 went really well for us last year, so hopefully we are able to repeat that and then go to Texas and not have a DNF. That was kind of the downfall of our Playoffs.
“We were able to save it with a couple of wins at Charlotte and Martinsville, but just the DNFs. You can’t have DNFs. You’ve got to get through even if you don’t have a great car but be able to maximize your points. That was something we didn’t do last year and we are focused on this year.”
What made Bell’s feat even more remarkable, according to his teammate and 2017 Cup champion Martin Truex Jr., was his ability to pull off the task during an off-year for JGR where the No. 19 didn’t even advance to the postseason. Kyle Busch, who has since moved on to Richard Childress Racing, was eliminated in the Round of 16 after two of his JGR engines failed in the first three races.
“It was very impressive, clutch moments for him and his career and their season, and I think in a time where I think we were not where we wanted to be as an organization,” said Truex, who is currently tied for the points lead with William Byron.
“They really figured it out at the Roval and then again at Martinsville. We struggled at both of those tracks last year, so to see how they were able to do that was really impressive.”
Bell’s greatest takeaway over the 2022 postseason was the importance of team. Without the support of the No. 20 crew, he had no shot of vying for the title at Phoenix.
“I was really proud of the effort of the team,” Bell said. “I don’t know if I necessarily learned anything else about myself, but just that Chris Sherwood, my car chief, Wes Lap, my mechanic, (Chris) Chase (mechanic), Tyler (Allen, engineer), William (Hartman, engineer), Adam (Stevens, crew chief), everyone that works on this 20 car.
“When we were on the outside looking in, it would have been really easy to say that we are done, we are not going to put our full effort into this car, and they didn’t. Both times that we needed a win, they brought the best piece and a piece capable of doing it. Just very thankful to be able to drive for such a talented group of people.”
While a pall hung over the season finale at Phoenix Raceway following the sudden death of Joe Gibbs Racing principal Coy Gibbs, Bell finished a career-best third in the standings. What must he do to hoist the NASCAR Cup?
“I don’t think anything changes,” Bell said. “Last year, certainly the morale was not good, down and everyone was very sad, but I think our preparation was not affected by that, and ultimately, our race was not affected by that either.
“We were one pit stop away from possibly being a championship holder. Hopefully, I get another shot at it.”
