Cleaning it up: Bell and Larson go head-to-head in Cup cars

F99Mf_cbEAAastJ — (Greg Engle, CupScene.com)

Those who have been following the respective careers of Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson have been waiting for this moment since both drivers graduated to the NASCAR Cup Series.

For years, Bell and Larson fought for Midget racing supremacy at the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Okla., with Bell winning three straight titles from 2017-2019 and Larson claiming the next two.

They have dueled in 410 Sprint Cars. They have raced against each other and as teammates in international competition on the dirt tracks of New Zealand.

For the first on NASCAR’s biggest stage, they will go head-to head on pavement with a title on the line in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway.

Yes, there are two other drivers who can claim the series trophy—William Byron and Ryan Blaney—but Larson and Bell are the only two who have been there before—just not at the same time.

Larson won the Cup championship in his first attempt in 2021, his debut year with Hendrick Motorsports. Bell qualified for last year’s title race with a dramatic victory at Martinsville and finished third in the final standings, but Larson didn’t make the final four.

This year, they’re in it together.

“I hope we’re able to do this for many years into the future,” Bell said. “I hope that we’re able to do this many more times, and it’s certainly not the first.”

Don’t expect the rivalry to turn bitter, though. The four drivers in the Championship 4 are unusually compatible for Playoff contenders.

“We definitely have a good, respectful group that I guess doesn’t have any history of having wrecks or anything like that,” Bells said. “So that’s good. But I honestly think it’s a great final four. It’s definitely Next Gen and probably a final four you wouldn’t have seen five years ago.”