Joe Gibbs Racing has been searching for its next Cup Series championship since Kyle Busch lifted the trophy in 2019, and the wait has grown heavier with every passing season. Christopher Bell often looks like the driver most capable of breaking that drought, blending flashes of dominance with stretches of frustrating inconsistency.

Recent weeks haven’t been smooth for the No. 20 team, as mistakes and missed opportunities have raised questions about Bell’s momentum heading into the playoffs. Yet insiders are adamant the 30-year-old can’t be overlooked, especially given his history at tracks that define title contention.

Why insiders see  Joe Gibbs Racing driver as a title threat?

During a recent playoff preview on The Teardown podcast, prominent NASCAR journalist Jordan Bianchin cut straight to the chase when asked who could be the toughest out this postseason. His answer was simple: if Christopher Bell reaches Phoenix, “I don’t know how you pick against Bell.” To which another veteran NASCAR journalist, Jeff Gluck, surprisingly replied, “Not Blaney?”.

That assertion stands out given Bell’s uneven summer stretch. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has shown flashes of dominance, such as his three consecutive wins earlier this season, including the All-Star Race, but has also faded for weeks at a time, leaving many wondering about his consistency.

Bell’s current stat line underlines that paradox. He ranks 11th in laps led, a number considered modest compared to contenders like Denny Hamlin or Kyle Larson. Yet Bell is second overall in top-10 finishes, underscoring an ability to salvage strong results even on days when the No. 20 Toyota isn’t the fastest car.

Bianchi admitted he initially underestimated just how steady Bell’s season has been. “A week ago I said… I don’t really feel like they’ve had the consistency… and I actually went back and I was wrong,” he explained. “They have ran better lately than we had thought… and especially when you look at some of the finishes, like Dover… they’re running twice as good.”

That reevaluation highlights why insiders remain bullish: Bell may not dominate from flag-to-flag, but he has consistently positioned himself deep into races where a late surge can make the difference. Jeff Gluck voiced the counterpoint.

He pointed out that Bell and his crew still have a tendency to make costly mistakes, pit road slipups, strategic misses, or mid-race errors that undercut promising runs. “They do make a lot of mistakes… they can take themselves out of contention,” Bianchi conceded. Gluck added that periods of invisibility throughout the season fed skepticism: “At the time I said he’s not gonna make the final four… because I just didn’t feel like… I needed to see more.”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s current narrative amplifies the stakes for Bell. The organization hasn’t celebrated a Cup title since Kyle Busch’s 2019 championship, and while teammates like Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs have had flashes, Bell looks like JGR’s most balanced threat in 2025. His wins at Martinsville, Dover, and Phoenix in past seasons emphasize tracks suited to his style, and with two of those venues in the playoff mix, including the Phoenix finale, insiders believe the path is tailor-made for him if execution sharpens.

Christopher Bell faces harsh Daytona reality

Christopher Bell’s 2025 season is defined by tensions between early dominance and the persistent reality of Toyota’s superspeedway struggles. After a trio of victories early in the season, Bell’s campaign has come under heightened scrutiny due to inconsistent results at Daytona and other pack-racing venues where Toyota’s technical disadvantages are pronounced.

Bell did not shy away from addressing the manufacturer gap, frankly stating, “We can blame it on numbers, but I don’t think it’s numbers; the Chevrolets… have beaten us. It seems like they got a hold of this style of racing, more than the Fords and Chevys, and we’re just behind right now.”

Superspeedways showcase the teamwork between Chevy and Ford. At the same time, Toyota’s smaller fleet struggles to form competitive drafting alliances, a shortcoming revealed at Atlanta, where Toyota drivers led just six laps out of 266, compared to Ford’s near-total dominance.

Recent race data illustrates this challenge: Bell finished 31st at the Daytona 500 and 30th at the summer Atlanta event—results driven less by driver error and more by the aerodynamic and strategic limitations of his equipment. Even Bell’s Atlanta win early in the season was seen as a product of rare alignment, not sustained pace. With fewer green-flag pit stops shaping outcomes, Bell and his peers are often forced into pure drafting battles where Chevy and Ford formations control the race tempo.

Yet Bell’s adaptability extends beyond technical fixes. He has embraced off-track opportunities—from community outreach in Boston, where he swapped asphalt for duck boats—to maintaining a focus on maximizing points and positioning during unpredictable playoff battles. Each week, Bell and his team face the uneasy gamble of “seeing where we end up,” knowing their margin for error is slim and that a championship run demands both resilience and strategic evolution.

In sum, Bell’s playoff prospects hinge on overcoming not just superspeedway deficits but also mastering the art of fighting from behind, advancing wherever manufacturer equilibrium is possible, and capitalizing on the tracks and conditions where his skill and adaptability can shine brightest.