Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell claimed his seventh runner-up finish last weekend at Iowa Speedway tying him with NASCAR legend Harry Gant (1981) for most ever in a single season. His 11 runner-up finishes since 2025 are more than double that of any other competitor – his JGR teammates Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe each have six.
But as frustrating as the close calls may feel in the moment, the 31-year-old conceded after a little time to reflect, he has to look at the efforts in a positive way. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota certainly love to hoist his first trophy of the year in Saturday night’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway (7 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where he has an impressive seven top-10s in 10 NASCAR Cup Series starts; his best career showing – yes – a second place fun in 2022 and he’s led 230 laps.
He does have three wins here in what is now the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, including a two-race sweep in 2018.
“Certainly, all of the second-place finishes – they’re trying and, in the moment, it really kind of feels like just a kick to the gut, but then whenever Monday, Tuesday rolls around, you’re like, ah, it was a pretty darn good day,’’ conceded Bell, who does have three NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series wins here including a two-race 2018 sweep.
“So, ultimately, the results that we’ve gotten have meant a lot more this year than what they have in my entire Cup career with the format change. So, it’s been nice to stack some good results together and we’re performing really well right now. I certainly feel like we’re in the mix.”
Bell’s work at Iowa moved him up four positions in the championship standings to sixth place and he’s only four points behind his teammate Briscoe in fifth. With the accumulation of points now setting the Chase field instead of a win-and-you’re-in situation of recent seasons, top-fives and top-10s are impactful.
“They mean more today in this year than they have for the previous format, my entire Cup career and NASCAR career for that matter,’’ Bell said. “The point standings and where you’re running at in points is super important, but the entire previous championship format was very much win or bust. I think that mentality
is still engraved in at least my mind and probably most of the industry’s mind, but in all reality, it’s not win or bust anymore.”
Bell rolls off eighth Saturday night.
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