Christopher Bell took command of the NASCAR Cup Series championship with another consistent performance on the West Coast.
The Joe Gibbs Racing team now leads the way in the standings after turning a 20-point deficit into a seven-point lead.
They head to Miami knowing that it’s possible to guarantee their place in the Cup Series championship race if they can place inside the top three.
It’s incredible that despite winning three races to Kyle Larson’s six, they are the ones leading the way at the top.
Christopher Bell couldn’t ‘afford’ time loss in Vegas
Bell has been a consistent performer at the top of the Cup Series for a number of seasons now, finishing inside the top four of the championship in each of the last two seasons.
Now he has a chance to make it a third in a row, and possibly beat his overall best of third if he can successfully go head-to-head with Hendrick Motorsports’ Larson.
Speaking after the race in Vegas, he told Frontstretch’s YouTube channel that his team came on the radio to inform him that he couldn’t lose any time late on.
READ MORE: Kyle Larson admits ‘biggest mess’ potentially cost him a podium during Las Vegas NASCAR race
“They got on me with probably 15 laps to go and said that we can’t afford to have loss of time. I didn’t really feel like I gave up any chunks of time.
“I felt like all the lapped traffic was pretty respectful and I was able to get through there pretty good. You can’t ask for much more. Nothing is guaranteed except a win, and we had a win right at our fingertips.”
Just how good has Bell been in 2024?
Eight top-eight finishes in his last nine races show just what a hot streak Bell is on – delivering the level of consistency associated only with a champion.
It’s why he’s ahead of Larson who has the most pole positions and wins of anyone by a fair distance – but has been caught up in a few silly incidents and poor strategies.
Weirdly, he hasn’t won a race for four months and the itch is starting to get to him with every race that he gets closer to the season finale.
If it wasn’t for some excellent defending from race-winner Joey Logano, he would’ve won in Vegas this past weekend.
However, instead of forcing something, settling for second place may pay dividends by the time the championship comes to its conclusion next month.