Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas were the class of the field when the Chase started. Although Denny Hamlin lost his momentum, Christopher Bell found a breakthrough at Darlington Raceway. After seven runner-up finishes, he finally found himself in victory lane. It looked like the No. 20 team had turned hot at the right time, but at Bristol, he felt he didn’t have enough to contend for a race win.

“It was a good night, not a great night. Overall, we need to be a little better. If I was at my absolute best, I’d hang on to the front runners. In the springtime, I was able to pass everybody and I just didn’t have that tonight. I couldn’t pass. I was just the product of where you place me. If you place me in the top 5, I can run in the top 5. But once I got in the traffic, I couldn’t pass,” Bell said after the race.

Bell came into the race as the defending race winner at Thunder Valley. Last year, he led 12 laps and had the ability to pass through traffic, something he lacked during Saturday’s night race. He started the race in 12th and finished fourth behind Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, and Carson Hocevar.

He did get an opportunity to contend for the race win after the crash between Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney. He lined up third on the restart after the crash but couldn’t pass the lead cars. With 18 to go, he had a fresh set of Goodyear tires, and all he had to do was pass the No. 5 of Kyle Larson. But he couldn’t find his groove in traffic and had to settle for a top-five run.

To put it simply, Bell wanted to have the track position that he didn’t have all day. And even if he had gotten the lead, the JGR driver wasn’t confident he could hold onto it.

“I was just the product of my track position. Whenever I have been at my best here. I have been able to pass guys and take the lead and lead laps and tonight if I got the lead I probably couldn’t have led. When I got back in the traffic, I couldn’t pass anybody, just didn’t have that magic to be able to overcome the traffic,” Bell added.

The good news for the No. 20 team is that they are still in the hunt for the championship. While Joey Logano leapfrogged Bell to take third place in the points standings, the JGR driver sits in fourth, just 17 points shy of the top spot. The top five drivers are extremely close to each other, and one race could change the title race picture.

Bell understands that the driver with more wins in the 10-race Chase is likely to win the championship. “I mean we’re right there in the hunt. You’re gonna have to be great. Whoever the champion is going to be great. We are very much alive. Just the day like today is going to keep us in it, not going to win it for us.”

Surprisingly, Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 team were also off at Bristol. Starting the race in third place, Hamlin wasn’t able to hold his spot and looked particularly weak on the restarts. He had to settle for a P8, and with this, he lost the points lead for the first time in the Chase. Kyle Larson sits at the top with a single-point advantage, but this streak of only decent runs has allowed Logano to catch up.

It’s not that Joe Gibbs Racing is running badly. Ty Gibbs had a real shot at victory, but late-race chaos got the better of him. The real concern for them is that Team Penske and HMS are now starting to flex their muscle, and so far, JGR hasn’t been able to respond with a strong result.