Bell Falls Short of Championship 4, But Says This One Hurts Less

The somber disappointment was evident as Christopher Bell digested failing to make the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 for the second consecutive season following a seventh-place finish in Sunday's Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. But if there's one positive note, Bell felt that his departure from the Playoffs this time around stung a lot less than last year's controversial Playoff exit.

Heading into the weekend, Bell came in 37 points above the Playoff cutline, a seemingly comfortable margin. But with the possibility of a driver below the cutline winning, Bell knew he would essentially be battling Kyle Larson, who was one point behind him heading into the weekend, for the final Championship 4 spot.

As it turned out, that's what it all came down to as William Byron dominated by leading 304 of 500 laps, and he held off two other Playoff drivers, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott, to win an advance to the Championship 4.

"I'd say it feels a lot better than last year, for sure," Bell said of his elimination from the Playoffs. "I genuinely feel like the four that are going there are very deserving. And, you know, it is what it is. We knew coming in here, we were going to have to outrun [Kyle Larson], and we didn't do it."

After the disappointing result, Bell didn't offer any excuses or try to explain what could have been. The driver simply owned the fact that he and his team weren't good enough when it mattered most to move forward to fight for a championship.

"Well, I mean, I knew how it was going to go. I've been saying this since the schedule came out; you're looking at it, it's going to take everything here at Martinsville. You know, it's, I don't know. We weren't good enough," Bell explained. "That's it."

Bell, who had back-to-back Championship 4 appearances in 2022 and 2023 before a post-race wall-riding penalty from NASCAR, amid a late-race controversy surrounding manipulation between the Chevrolet and Toyota teams in an effort to give an edge to William Byron or Christopher Bell, ended his streak.

Bell came into the 2025 season on a revenge tour of sorts, and the season started with such promise. After crashing out of the season-opening Daytona 500, despite being in contention for the win with five laps to go, Bell would go on to win three consecutive races at Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas, and Phoenix.

Bell's early-season run was so stout that his crew chief, Adam Stevens, drew parallels to his eight-win 2018 season with Kyle Busch in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio following the win at Phoenix Raceway in March.

Ultimately, while Bell would capture a $1 million win in May's NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team would snag only one points-paying win the remainder of the season, which came in the Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Now, Bell and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team will shift focus from chasing a championship to cheering on their teammates Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe, who will each attempt to collect their first career Bill France Cups.

As Bell hopes one of his teammates can bring home the hardware for Joe Gibbs Racing, he and Stevens will attempt to build a foundation of momentum to carry them into the 2026 season, where they will attempt to work their way into contention for a NASCAR Cup Series championship. The early-season magical run in 2025 ultimately wasn't meant to be a springboard to a title.