Christopher Bell scored his third victory of the 2024 Cup Series season at New Hampshire last Sunday. The win sent out a strong message that he continues to be a strong challenger for the championship title amongst the likes of Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin. But it did more than just that. It also helped prove the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s impressive prowess in the NextGen car.
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Bell became the first driver in the NextGen era to secure 50 top-10 finishes with his win at New Hampshire. By achieving this feat, he joined a list of legendary drivers who’ve each been the first to secure 50 top-10s behind the cars of their respective eras. Jimmie Johnson was the first driver to do this in the sixth generation Cup Series car which was in use between 2013 and 2021.
Not only did Christopher Bell win on Sunday, he also became the first driver to score 50 top 10s with the NextGen car
Heres a list of the first driver to 50 top 10s with each generation of Cup car pic.twitter.com/7t7aT7aKVk
— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) June 26, 2024
Prior to that, Jeff Gordon achieved the feat behind the fifth generation car which was used between 2007 and 2012. The fourth generation car that was used to race between 1992 and 2007 had the honor of carrying the iconic Dale Earnhardt Sr. to fifty top-10 finishes before it did any other driver. Also on the list for older gen cars are Bobby Allison, Richard Petty, and Lee Petty.
Christopher Bell is overjoyed at his performance in 2024
Bell has reached the Championship 4 in each of the previous two seasons. But perhaps no driver had a tougher path in doing so. He secured a single victory in the 2022 and 2023 regular seasons and barely coasted through the playoff rounds to reach the ultimate showdown in Phoenix. While he ended up coming up short in the finale, he does seem to be getting a break finally in 2024.
The Joe Gibbs Racing star has secured three victories already this regular season, a first in his career. “Oh my gosh, man, we’ve been trying to work towards this for the last three years,” Bell said to NASCAR.com. “And it feels very, very rewarding to have playoff points in the bank right now, and we’ve still got a great opportunity to get more.”
“So, this is what everybody wants in the regular season is to get out of here with a bunch of playoff points. It feels much different than what we’ve had in the past, that’s for sure.”
His bid for the championship is a lot different from what it was in the last two years. With the winds in his favor a little bit this time, he should be able to guide the #20 Toyota Camry XSE to a Cup Series championship.
