With a late charge from fifth place to the front in the final four laps of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell kept Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota unbeaten in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, sealing a clean sweep of the opening round.
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By joining JGR teammates Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin as winners in the Round of 16, Bell booked his ticket to the Round of 12. Yet Kyle Petty cautioned JGR fans not to count their chickens too soon, pointing to Kyle Busch’s unusual 2015 title run as proof that early dominance doesn’t always guarantee the crown.
In 2015, Busch captured the championship with five wins, including the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, despite missing the first eleven races, among them the Daytona 500, after breaking his right leg and left foot in a Feb. 21 crash at Daytona International Speedway.
NASCAR granted him a waiver to remain eligible for the Chase for the Sprint Cup despite rules requiring drivers to compete in every event. And by winning four races in the regular season, Busch sealed his spot in the playoffs.
Petty noted another bit from that season. “That’s the only time a single round has been one by one owner and one manufacturer. But it was also with one driver: Joey Logano! He swept around in the playoffs… The problem is… He didn’t go on to win the championship. Kyle Busch won the championship with JGR and Toyota.”
Drawing parallels, Petty said, “JGR! First round. Pure dominance when we look at laps lead, when we look at passes, when we look at anything that could happen, any stat NASCAR keeps.” Still, he posed the question: “Will these guys make it forward? Will they move into the final round? Will we have three of those cars there? I doubt!”
He added that he doesn’t expect all three, Briscoe, Hamlin, and Bell, to reach the Championship 4. In his words, somebody is bound to fall by the wayside. “Dominance now is good, but dominance in Phoenix is a lot better.”
So Petty urged fans not to hand JGR and Toyota the trophy just yet, reminding them that, as 2015 had proven, in racing and in the seven playoff races still to come, anything could happen.
