Christopher Bell would be a strong competitor for Kyle Larson had there been a “Unluckiest Driver Award” that NASCAR gave out. Despite a spectacular run throughout the season, he failed to make it to the Championship 4 due to the intricacies of the playoff format. And the pain of missing out has caused him to strongly change his opinions about the system in a mere number of days.
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The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver had spoken to the press before the final Round of 8 race in Martinsville and voiced himself as a strong advocate for the format. He said, “Honestly, this Round of 8 has been absolutely incredible and I think it is exactly what this format is designed for. Literally, every race that we’ve been to feels like a must-win.”
He put special emphasis on how well the tracks were chosen for the final round and applauded NASCAR much to the dismay of fans. And then the Xfinity 500 happened.
A chaotic outing filled with race manipulation and illegal moves resulted in him being eliminated from the round. He was denied a spot in the Championship 4 and William Byron progressed in his place.
A week later, he met the press once again before the finale in Phoenix. His words took a strong turn this time as he criticized the format for stimulating acts like race manipulation. He said, “I think there are a lot of changes that can happen format-wise to help the way the races play out. I think all of them need to be looked at and changes need to be made.”
Bell details his newfound issues with the playoff format
To no one’s surprise, it was the selection of the Championship 4 drivers that Bell took issue with. He continued, “I feel like the wins are – I don’t know – the fact that we had three bottom tier winners in the Round of 8 that led to the Championship 4 that we have today. I don’t know what the answer is, but I think a lot of thought needs to be put into it, but I do feel like changes need to be made.”
In his defense, he does have every right to be mad. His average finish rate of 7.33 in the playoffs is the highest in the field. To leave a driver like him out of the final battle is not something that makes sense to a large section of the fandom as well and complaints against NASCAR and the format are at an all-time high.
Bell almost sought a slight bit of redemption by being in a strong position to win the finale. He led a race-high 143 laps and finished fifth, nearly spoiling the party as Ross Chastain did last season. The cycle begins again for him in 2025.
