Christopher Bell currently sits in ninth place with 551 points, and he is driving with a broken wrist. Even with the injury, he has a huge chance to move up. There are only five races left before the regular season ends. When NASCAR brought back the Chase format for 2026, fans and drivers were not completely happy and had many worries. But the new rules give the Joe Gibbs Racing driver a unique chance.

A single perfect weekend can now give a driver 76 points. Even with a painful injury, one great race can totally change his season. Because a driver can earn so many points now, Bell believes many teams still have a real chance to climb the standings.

“It’s really changed,” Bell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I bet if you asked all the teams and drivers in the industry. That scale has changed a lot. Just seeing how many points we can make up now with the added bonus to winning races. Before the season started, I think we’re all thinking we needed to be Top 3, Top 5 to have a shot. Watching Denny take large chunks out of that, whatever it was, 150-point lead. Ryan Blaney had an amazing night last night. It looks like he’s kind of in the hunt for the regular season title now. I think that door just keeps getting opened up wider and wider to maybe it is top 7 or top 10 in the regular season standings.”

Finishing in the top 10 is very important. While 16 drivers make the playoffs, the top 10 drivers get huge bonus points. These bonus points help them a lot during the Chase. If Bell drops out of the top 10, he will start the playoffs at a big disadvantage. He is trying to keep his spot while dealing with a broken wrist from a crash at Michigan. The injury makes it very hard and painful to turn the steering wheel, especially on short tracks.

But Bell is famous for making big comebacks. In both 2022 and 2023, he won crucial races when he absolutely had to win to stay alive in the playoffs. He knows how to perform when his season is on the line. The new rules make this season hard to predict. Tyler Reddick got a huge lead early in the year. Then, Denny Hamlin made up 150 points to take first place. Now, Ryan Blaney and the Hendrick cars are catching up fast.

To catch them, Bell must run well at North Wilkesboro Speedway this weekend.

What are the chances for the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver?

This weekend, the community makes landfall at the North Wilkesboro Speedway. This will be the first time the race track has hosted a points race since 1996, nearly 30 years ago. After Dale Earnhardt Jr helped restore it a few years ago, it found its way back on the Cup calendar in 2023, but as an All-Star race. Now in 2026, it will host its first points race in nearly three decades, and Christopher Bell is looking forward to it.

What works in Bell’s favour is that he is the defending race winner at the North Wilkesboro Speedway. Given how strong the Toyotas have been in 2026, no one can put it past him to give it a good shot at trying to win. However, Kyle Larson and Joey Logano are also former winners here, so they could also be in contention.

On the other end of the spectrum, the race format for the last three North Wilkesboro races have been a lot different. All drivers had been vying for a million-dollar cash prize, and they all raced each other differently. Now that the race track is playing host to a point-scoring race, the format will be different, and the drivers will race differently. Additionally, everything depends on who qualifies where to start the race, as qualifying is usually half the battle won.