Christopher Bell sounds off on coming up short, elimination from NASCAR playoffs at Martinsville

Christopher Bell is taking full responsibility for being eliminated in the NASCAR playoffs at Martinsville. After finishing seventh at the Martinsville race on Sunday, Bell spoke to reporters about not being good enough to be part of the Championship 4.

“Ever since the schedule came out, you’re looking at it, you know it’s going to take everything here at Martinsville, and ultimately we got beat,” Bell said, per Matt Weaver of Motorsport. “I don’t know. We weren’t good enough.”

Bell went on to say that he struggled during the “long-run pace,” and that he “didn’t have the track position mixed with our strength.” He then added that his No. 20 team “practiced in the teens, we qualified in the teens, and kind of raced in the teens. It wasn’t good enough.”

Christopher Bell wants to be ‘more consistent’ in 2026

Entering the Martinsville race, Christopher Bell was 37 points above the cut line. William Byron was 36 points below the cut line but won at Martinsville on Sunday to clinch a spot in the championship race. Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe clinched spots after winning the first two Round of 8 playoff races, and Kyle Larson made it after finishing fifth at Martinsville.

Despite having one more race to compete in this season, Bell knows what he and the No. 20 team need to do to compete in next year’s Championship 4 at Homestead. “We just need to be more consistent,” he said. “We have flashes of greatness, and we just kind of taper off, and you’re just another guy out there. And tonight, we were just another guy out there. Certainly, the consistency has been a problem for years now. We need to do better at that.”

Bell began the season strong, winning three consecutive races after finishing 31st at Daytona. He didn’t win another race until Sept. 13, when he placed first at Bristol in the first round of the playoffs. Bell then finished in the top 10 in the next six races, but the Byron victory prevented him from competing for the title for the second consecutive year.