Christopher Bell’s playoff journey is a wild ride of epic highs and gut-wrenching lows. Back in 2022, he was the king of clutch, pulling off “walk-off” wins at the Charlotte Roval and Martinsville to storm into the Championship 4, proving he thrives when the pressure’s on. But 2024 flipped the script. His Martinsville run, which seemed like a ticket to the title race, got derailed by a controversial penalty that left him crushed, calling it the lowest moment of his career.

Tracks like Talladega have been a constant playoff nightmare, with crashes and bad breaks, though he salvaged a 6th in 2024’s fall race. Yet, venues like New Hampshire, where he won in 2022, and Gateway’s new playoff slot play to his short-track strengths and Toyota’s speed. As Bell heads into the 2025 Round of 12 opener at the “Magic Mile,” he’s opening up about his fears and that Martinsville heartbreak, ready to channel both into a title push.

Bell’s playoff fears and Martinsville scars

In a pre-race presser before New Hampshire, Christopher Bell got real about his playoff demons. “Surviving Talladega, that’s been the hardest part every year. I don’t know if it’s fortunately or unfortunately now it’s moved a little bit later on in the schedule. So fortunately I don’t have to deal with it now, unfortunately and hopefully I have to deal with it later.”

Talladega’s 2.66-mile chaos, with its pack racing and “Big One” wrecks, has burned Bell before, like in 2022, when a speeding penalty and late spin left him 17th, bleeding playoff points. Even his 2024 6th-place run was a grind, dodging the superspeedway’s unpredictability that could tank a title run in seconds.

He’s pumped about the 2025 schedule, though, “We had Atlanta in there so you know certainly this year the additions of Gateway and Loudon into the playoffs were something that I was super excited about.” New Hampshire, where he dominated in 2022, and Gateway, where Toyota’s been strong, are right in his wheelhouse. But Talladega’s later slot raises the stakes; one wrong move could end his season.

Then came the gut punch, “Martinsville 2024 was the bottom of how I’ve ever felt in my professional career. And yeah Martinsville 2022 was probably the highest I’ve ever felt.” In 2024, a last-lap safety infraction call at Martinsville robbed him of a Championship 4 spot, leaving him shattered. Contrast that with 2022, when his Martinsville win, despite Ross Chastain’s wild “Hail Melon” stealing headlines, catapulted him to the title race.

Bell’s learned from both extremes, “The more that you do it, the more experience you have with it, it becomes more natural … hopefully I have the ends covered from winning and advancement in 2022 and then the being in and not advancing in 2024.” Those swings, heroics to heartbreak, have toughened him, prepping him for the playoff gauntlet where tracks like New Hampshire offer a shot to reclaim his clutch mojo.

Christopher Bell’s not just wrestling with Talladega fears; he’s zeroed in on a glaring weakness that could make or break his title chase.

Qualifying: Bell’s mission-critical fix

“What we have to do better, is we’ve got to start qualifying better. That is mission critical. Oh, my goodness.” His 13.5 average starting spot in 2025 is his worst since joining Joe Gibbs Racing, a far cry from 2024’s 11.2.

Compared to teammates Chase Briscoe (10.5 average, nine front-row starts) and Denny Hamlin (13.2, four front-row starts), Bell’s one pole and six top-10 starts in the first 18 races are lackluster. “If the team cars are qualifying well, then you should be qualifying well too,” he said, frustrated by falling short of JGR’s bar.

The stakes are high, “Whenever you get deeper into the Playoffs, you have to be scoring stage points, and a lot of the stage points are dictated by your qualifying effort,” Bell explained. Poor starts mean fewer laps led, 239 in 2025 versus 1,145 in 2024, and missed stage points, digging a hole for race day.

Like his Talladega fears and Martinsville scars, qualifying woes test Bell’s resilience. But with New Hampshire’s short-track layout favoring his skills and Toyota’s speed, he’s got a shot to fix Saturday’s setup, rack up stage points, and shake off 2024’s heartbreak to chase a Championship 4 spot.