Christopher Bell pushes back on direction of tire wear after Bristol win: ‘It is so much luck’

Christopher Bell prevailed over the NASCAR Cup Series field this past weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. He survived immense tire wear for his fourth win of the 2025 season.

Afterwards, he spoke with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download. Yes, Bell was victorious in Tennessee — but he’s wondering if Goodyear didn’t go too far in the wrong direction with the tire wear at the short track.

“I’ll start by saying I want the best teams and the best drivers to be able to win races like that. That’s what I want to happen. But with the way this race played out, with the high tire wear, it’s so much luck, Dale,” Bell told Earnhardt Jr. “It is so much luck.

“If you had more tires, it would probably make it a little less lucky, because you’d be able to put tires on whenever the yellow flag comes out, and you’d be less at risk. But the way that third stage played out, with all those yellows, you can’t put tires on all the time. If you don’t, and it runs green, you’re going to get buried, you’re going to lose track position, and it becomes so difficult.

“Even in Stage 1, the guys who tried the one-stop strategy paid the price because the yellow came out at the wrong time for them. It benefitted the guys who pitted early and went with the two-stop strategy. We have that problem at other tracks, too, but the difference is you don’t go so many laps down when the green-flag cycle happens.

“I just don’t like that so much luck plays into the outcome. And on top of that, it’s on totally different ends of the spectrum — you either have zero wear or the most wear we see all year.”

When the winner of the race is calling his win a bit lucky, that’s never a positive for NASCAR. Still, fans and analysts alike were satisfied with the racing at Bristol, even if Bell and some other drivers are worried about the future of tire wear at the track.

Moving forward, Bell will be looking to continue stacking wins, and keep his foot on the gas all the way to his first career NASCAR Cup Series title. He’s come close in the past, but whether or not he can finish the job in the Championship 4 is the question. New Hampshire, one of his best tracks, is up next.