Christopher Bell is sitting 50 points behind Kyle Larson in the Chase rankings, and with six races still to go, he believes that the gap has already become too large to realistically erase in a single race.
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So what is the solution, then? As per Bell, closing the deficit before Larson can create even more separation.
“For me, it’s important to close the gap on Kyle,” he said during an interaction with the official NASCAR handle on X. “For Kyle, it’s important to try and get away from the field.”
Under the current scoring system, a driver can score a maximum of 76 points in a race. Larson’s Kansas performance proved exactly how quickly things can change, but Bell’s point is that relying on one enormous comeback is not a sound championship strategy.
“I think 50 is too far out, you know, to be accomplished in one race,” he added.
There is a sense of urgency in Bell’s sentiments, due to the outcome of the race at Kansas. Larson entered the Hollywood Casino 400 with only a one-point advantage over Denny Hamlin, but he collected the first maximum-point haul of the current Chase format by winning two stages, and eventually the race.
As a result, many of the Chase contenders lost valuable ground.
Bell finished sixth at Kansas and now sits third in the standings, 50 points behind Larson. Joey Logano is 67 points back in fourth, meaning Bell is part of a group still separated by relatively small margins behind the leader. But from his perspective, the size of Larson’s advantage has already become a problem.
Bell knows that all of those numbers can change quickly, but he does not believe the field can simply wait for Larson to have a bad day.
“You said we’re… we got four guys within one race. You know, that’s still kind of a… 67, right, is fourth. That’s pretty far out there. So I think any of us that are—myself included, being minus 50, we feel like we’re more than a race out.”
For the drivers behind Larson, they need to pull off something special. Ryan Blaney, who is now 91 points behind Larson, has already admitted that he believes his own championship path may require two wins from the final six races. The Team Penske driver said he needs “big, big points days” in the remaining events while finishing well in the others.
Bell’s situation may be more manageable than Blaney’s, but the principle is similar. A string of solid finishes may keep him near the top of the standings, but Larson’s ability to produce maximum-point days means that the rest of the contenders need to start taking points back.
Kansas also served as an example of how quickly things can go wrong for someone. Chase Briscoe entered the race 87 points behind Larson and eventually passed the No. 5 for the lead with 30 laps remaining. It looked like the exact kind of breakthrough the championship contenders needed.
Instead, Briscoe’s Toyota became quite difficult to handle. He brushed the wall multiple times after taking the lead, had to surrender first place to Larson, falling to fourth in the process. The result left Briscoe 123 points behind Larson with six races remaining, which led him to admit that his championship hopes were probably over.
Thankfully, Bell’s position still gives him a realistic path, but based on his sentiments, simply waiting for Larson to stumble is not going to be enough.
There are also six opportunities remaining for Bell and the rest of the field to change the picture. Las Vegas is next, followed by Charlotte, Phoenix, Talladega, Martinsville, and Homestead. With the championship still far from decided, Bell knows the No. 20 team has time to respond, but you do not want to run out of time in this context.
That may be the simplest description of the championship battle going ahead. Larson has created a solid gap. Now Bell and the rest of the Chase field have to prove they can erase it by grabbing whatever chance they get with both hands, before it’s too late.