Christopher Bell 'stalled out' in attempt to win at COTA

Christopher Bell had fresher tires than leaders Tyler Reddick and Shane van Gisbergen in the closing laps of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas, but that advantage was quickly nullified. 

As Bell made his way up to third, the slight tire advantage he had over Reddick and van Gisbergen began to even out, leaving Bell with little hope of catching either of his opponents ahead. 

He settled for a third-place finish that vaults him to 24th in the Cup Series standings through three races. Crashes at Daytona and Atlanta to open the 2026 campaign had put the No. 20 team in a deep points hole.

Christopher Bell comments on solid day at COTA

"I got that great restart on new tires, and I'm like, 'I'm in position here, baby, we're going to go do this,'" Bell told Fox Sports. "Then [I] just stalled out. All race long, whenever I was on equal tires with guys I was going backwards. Strategy worked out, super thankful that Adam Stevens called a really good race."

Bell is nine points out of the provisional Chase field as the circuit heads to Phoenix Raceway on March 8. Bell is the two-time defending Phoenix spring race winner.