Christopher Bell nearly spoiled championship party at Phoenix

Christopher Bell had a stellar day at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, leading a race-high 143 laps and bringing home a fifth-place finish in the final race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. 

It was a bittersweet moment for a driver who felt cheated out of a Championship Four appearance following the race manipulation scandal that rocked the NASCAR world a week ago. 

Bell started Sunday's race from the seventh position and climbed his way up to third by the end of Stage One. 

It was in Stage 2 that Bell — who dominated at Phoenix in March — began to flex his muscles, taking the lead for the first time on Lap 72 and proceeding to control the race for much of the stage. 

Bell was passed by Blaney for the Stage 2 win, but it didn't take long for Bell to find his way back to the front, as he re-took the top spot on Lap 188 following a fantastic spot. 

Pit stops would be the focus of the race's final run, as the championship battle between Joey Logano, Blaney and William Byron heated up. Following a caution for Zane Smith, Bell, along with the rest of the championship contenders, came down pit road for the final time. 

Unfortunately for Bell, his race-winning prospects fell to the wayside like that of the rest of the Championship Four, as a blinding restart from Logano on Lap 259 shot the No. 22 to the race lead, which Logano held for the rest of the night. 

Bell was passed by Byron, Kyle Larson and Blaney in the following laps, falling back to fifth where he stayed for the remainder of the race. 

While Bell proved to have one of the fastest cars of the night, he didn't have enough to override Logano's determination to get to the front. 

Bell ends the 2024 season fifth in points after putting together the best season of his Cup Series career. In his fifth season at NASCAR's highest level, Bell won three races, finished inside the top five 15 times, finished inside the top 10 23 times and led 1,145 laps. 

Bell will once more go after his first Cup Series championship in 2025.