Being part of NASCAR’s Big Three usually means having a strong chance to contend for the championship. But after several rounds, the odds of Joe Gibbs Racing’s drivers even making the top-16 Chase field seem slim, and it’s not because of a lack of pace.

“I’m worried about Chase Briscoe because of his season so far. They’ve had speed, but, dart without feathers…,” Mike Joy of FOX Sports said on Happy Hour when asked by Kevin Harvick, who might not make the Chase this season. “Maybe Christopher Bell with them, you know.”

It seems rather odd. Both Briscoe and Bell had successfully made it into the playoffs last year. This year, with the pace that Toyota has shown so far, it should be far easier. However, Joy’s pessimistic outlook for those drivers has a strong reason.

“They’ve had speed, but that’s not going to get you to the playoffs. Consistency is going to get you to the playoffs. You can’t afford to have two bad weeks out of 26 races, or you might not be there.”

The Chase format is clearly benefiting the drivers with better consistency. Denny Hamlin currently sits in second place in the table with one race win. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott, with two wins, is below him, which is because Hamlin has been far more consistent. So even though Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell might manage to win races, the inconsistencies they’ve shown are putting them and Joe Gibbs Racing behind the rest of the field.

For Bell, it seems to have been a clear case of misfortune. There were races where he had the pace to win, but incidents in which he was merely a passenger took those opportunities away. At Atlanta, for example, he was battling Bubba Wallace for the win during the overtime restart, but a push from Carson Hocevar sent him into the wall. Something similar happened in Phoenix, where Bell managed to lead 176 laps, but then a late caution paired with better strategy from Ryan Blaney’s team awarded him the race win.

For Chase Briscoe, the story seems similar. He has had his fair share of top 10 finishes, but incidents like the one that happened to him in Phoenix have hampered his runs. He had been reporting some unsteady vibrations in the car since the race started, and soon enough, he crashed into turn 3. He later admitted that the car had a strong pace that day:

“It was another car that was extremely fast, felt like we were certainly going to be in contention for the win, and just another failure for us. Definitely frustrating.”

This is exactly what Mike Joy explained. Simply having the pace will no longer be a guarantee for teams to get into championship contention, as consistency is the key to having a decent shot at the title this year onwards. While it is still somewhat understandable for Chase Briscoe, considering he moved to Joe Gibbs Racing last year following the shutdown of Stewart-Haas Racing, Bell has quite the story to tell. Yet, he still seems determined.

Christopher Bell is far from giving up

“We don’t think that the championship mindset has wavered, and we still think that we still have a shot at it.” Christopher Bell, despite not having won a race in the first twelve rounds of the season, is quite optimistic about the season.

As mentioned, there have been quite a few hurdles he has had to face on the track, despite having the pace.

But he is the same driver who managed to win three consecutive races during the 2025 Cup season, followed by another playoff victory that secured his spot. Bell promises consistency. In fact, he was said to be the driver most likely to make the most of the Chase format after Chase Elliott, considering the consistency he delivers on the track. Although the target that he set for himself, along with the rest of the crew at Joe Gibbs Racing, is now certainly changing, Bell does not put himself outside of contention.

“At the beginning of the year, it’s like, all right, we’re going to win the regular season championship, have the number one seed going into the Chase. And then week 2, 3, 4, Reddick’s, you know, getting a big gap on the field, and it’s like, okay, maybe we’re not going to be able to get that regular season championship, let’s just run, you know, top whatever. And now here we are, 12 races in or however far we are, and we’re outside the top 10 in the regular season standings,” he added.

Out of the 12 point-scoring races so far, the 31-year-old has managed to finish within the top 10 four times, three of which were top-five finishes. Moreover, he is still within the top 16 of the table. Fair to say, he still has a mathematical shot at contending for the title, but realistically? Well, Mike Joy might know best, but still, Bell seems to be quite determined.