The 'win and you're in' may be gone, but the importance of winning remains critical in the battle to become a NASCAR Cup Series champion. Ryan Preece showed just how valuable a win can be last than a week ago at Daytona International Speedway.
And while there is one point between each position on track, that abruptly jumps to 20 points between the runner-up spot and the race winner. That means the gap between P2 and P22 on the track is identical to first and second.
Unfortunately for Christopher Bell, there is no driver more experienced with second-place in the 2026 season than he is. Seven times he has finished second, and all of them have been under three tenths of a second.
Phoenix Raceway-- 2nd, 0.399s behind
Coca-Cola 600 -- 2nd, under caution
Nashville Superspeedway -- 2nd, 0.115s behind
Chicagoland Speedway -- 2nd, 0.276s behind
EchoPark Speedway -- 2nd, 0.068s behind
Brickyard 400 -- 2nd, 0.287s behind
Iowa Speedway -- 2nd, 0.253s behind
That's 140 points Bell left on the table, but could Bell still become the first winless champion in Cup Series history by consistency alone?
Bell doubts it, saying at Chase Media day: “Can we do this? Can we win a championship? Yes. Without winning, right? Can we win a championship without winning a race? No. That's my answer. I don't believe so."
He then declared that "it does not feel like it's a tall task at all" and is confident that the No. 20 team will reach Victory Lane in the final ten weeks of the year. His last victory came at Bristol Motor Speedway last September, and he is the only Joe Gibbs Racing driver yet to win this year."
As for the seven runner-up finishes that have dominated his 2026 season, Bell said Indianapolis was his 'best' runner-up finish while Nashville and Charlotte are the losses that "definitely hurt the most," before he quickly added Iowa as well. And then he remembered Phoenix as well, lamenting just how many tough defeats he's suffered this year.
"...I completely forgot about Phoenix. Oh, my goodness. We've got a lot of bad ones. Phoenix, I had the race in control all the way until the yellow flag. That was too tough to answer.”
CBell isn't sure about 2026 title chances
Bell has been close to securing championship trophy, making the Championship 4 under the old playoff format twice, and he enters the 2026 postseason with four consecutive years inside the top five in the final standings. But does Bell believe he can truly win the 2026 title?
“I don't know," he said candidly. "I feel really good about where we're at. I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that we're gonna be the champion in 10 weeks, but I think that we're certainly capable of it. I do believe that the champion will be a Toyota. And, I think the champion will come from the top six seeds. I am pretty confident in those statements. So, we'll see if they turn out right or wrong. I am confident in those statements.”
As for the outlook over these final ten weeks, Bell believes the No. 20 team will be strongest right out of the gate, and will need to be if they want a title shot come Homestead.
"I've been kind of making a small joke that if I am going to be the champion, then I better have a points gap on the field going into Talladega, the final three," said Bell. "So, yeah, certainly our strength is the beginning of it. The first seven are all really good tracks for me. So, I think my best hope is that I have a points gap going into the final three.”
More pressure now
The playoff format of old featured multiple resets, elimination and a four-way fight for the title in the finale. It led to wall-rides, brawls, intentional wrecking and various other forms of chaos. And while the current iteration seems far more straightforward, Bell noted that it puts a lot more pressure on being perfect. A single win isn't enough to erase a bad stretch of races anymore...
“100% (this one). Absolutely. Yeah, I think this format is going to be way more pressure.”
