As the NASCAR playoffs heads into the Round of Eight, it is easy to notice the dominance of Kyle Larson.
The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver took victory in commanding fashion at the Charlotte Roval. The win marks the sixth win of the season for Larson; the most of any other driver in NASCAR this year, with the closest driver to him having half that tally with three.
Heading into the next round of the playoffs, Larson holds a 20-point lead having accumulated 52 bonus points after the points reset. 20 points is also the gap between Christopher Bell in second and Joey Logano in eighth.
Larson’s dominance is hard to ignore and is getting all the attention heading into the next race in Las Vegas. But for Kevin Harvick, there is one driver that deserves more headlines for his performances.
Kevin Harvick stresses people need to take Christopher Bell more seriously in the playoffs
The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver of Christopher Bell has enjoyed a great season thus far, collecting three wins – the second highest behind Larson – in 2024 at Phoenix, Charlotte and New Hampshire.
Bell has finished in the top 10 20 times this year and has finished in the top 10 in all but one race in the playoffs thus far; that being at Watkins Glen when he finished 14th.
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The JGR driver came home to finish second behind Larson at the Roval to put him second in the standings going into the Round of Eight. Speaking on his Happy Hour Podcast, Harvick believes people need to take Bell more seriously as the broadcast continues to not talk about him.
“Let’s not forget who finished second,” he said. “Because it’s Christopher Bell and I watched the broadcast, I watched the race live and it’s typical Christopher Bell not being talked about, not being shown and he comes home second.
“In the playoffs he’s had a little over a sixth place average finish in these races and at some point, you have to be able to take him seriously from where everybody else is.
“When you look at Bell, in Las Vegas I believe they’ll have the speed to win there, obviously winning the race last year at Homestead. With everything that he’s been able to accomplish at those race tracks, I think those two race tracks will be strong for him and we obviously know that he could be strong at Phoenix if he makes it that far.
“But it blows me away that he continuously just gets overlooked and he knows it. I guess sometimes that might be a good thing because of the limited amount of pressure that goes with that type of situation.”
How are things looking for Christopher Bell heading into the final eight?
Heading into the next round of races, Bell finds himself in a good position given his previous performances at these tracks.
The No. 20 driver has proven his speed at Las Vegas and Homestead last year by finishing fifth in the regular season at the former and then second there in the playoffs, before winning the latter the following weekend.
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Martinsville has also previously been a solid track for Bell, as he finished seventh there last year, and if he can make it to the championship four, the 29-year-old will have speed at Phoenix given that he won one of his three victories there in this year’s regular season.
While the margins are incredibly tight heading into Las Vegas, Bell’s form puts him in good stead to carry on the momentum and challenge for a spot in the final four.