The consistency is already there. Now, Adam Stevens wants more. Christopher Bell finally ended his 33-race winless streak at Darlington, while Denny Hamlin entered as JGR’s championship leader after a dominant 2026 run. But with Stevens demanding his team chase wins instead of settling for second or third, the message is clear.

“We didn’t work our whole careers and leave our families and do everything that we do, for the hope to try to run 2nd in the points,” Crew Chief Adam Stevens told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “That’s not why we do this. We have everything we need to win races and win the championship, here at Joe Gibbs Racing, and that’s what we’re tasked with. So if we’re going to miss it, we’re going to err on the side of trying to be great.”

Toyota may need more than steady finishes to lift the championship trophy. With Bell already starting the playoffs with a win, JGR has shown it can strike

“I’m thankful that we were able to make up that big ground, going into this weekend. It’s going to take more days like that, to compete for the championship, I believe,” he further added in his comments on X. “I do feel like the points total that’s out there, that is going to win this championship, is beyond running 2nd and 3rd and scoring some stage points every week. It’s going to take multiple wins, I believe. I think the teams that we’re racing, are all capable of rising to the occasion. We’re going to have to rise a bit more than them if we want to win this thing.”

It is safe to say that the motivation in the #20 garage is very high. For Bell, the win was better late than never, and this is the perfect time to get his campaign on track. While Denny Hamlin is firmly in the driving seat, Christopher Bell’s win has brought him closer to his teammate.

Now that they are in the hunt, the #20 crew has insisted that they are not about to slack off. Since 2022, he has not finished outside the Top 5 in the championship, and that was during the Playoff era. Now with the Chase format, he and the team know that consistency will be rewarded, so that is their goal.

However, crew chief Adam Stevens also confessed that it would take multiple wins in these next few races, to really be a title favorite. He isn’t about to underestimate the three other Joe Gibbs Racing cars. Even more than that, he will also be wary of many of their rivals who are in title contention, like Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske and 23XI Racing.

Christopher Bell is keen to battle his teammates for the title

While Bell sits third in the playoffs table with 2,159 points, his teammate is leading the table with 2,168 points. In light of this, Bell is certainly ready to challenge his fellow JGR driver.

“It certainly does (get complicated), yeah, and we’ve had many conversations, and we know that all four of us are going to have a great opportunity at this championship this year,” Bell said.

With one race down, the competition is really starting to heat up. Christopher Bell is well-known for his consistency. As mentioned before, his four seasons in the Top 6, including two consecutive years in the Championship 4, is enough proof.

Even a wrist injury sustained at Michigan was not enough to hamper his chances of making the Chase. This season, Bell has recorded seven runner-up finishes and four Top 5 finishes. All of this came before he bagged his first win of the 2026 season. So it was little wonder that he easily made it into the Top 16. So the big question is, can Bell win the title, or will it be someone else?