Christopher Bell had a roller-coaster ride through the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs last year.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver took two trips to victory lane during the postseason — both of which were must-win situations for the No. 20 team. And while the walk-off wins got the job done and advanced Bell on to the Championship Four, it’s not necessarily a pattern he wants to repeat.
“That’s not a reliable playbook for sure,” Bell said. “Just the DNFs…that was kind of the downfall of our playoffs. You can’t have DNFs. You’ve got to get through. Even if you don’t have a great car, be able to maximize your points.”
He logged two DNFs during the 10-race playoff stretch last fall.
This year, Bell has once again been floundering to find consistency. He’s shown speed — claiming three pole positions and leading 259 laps during the regular season — but pit crew missteps and other mistakes have kept Bell from greatness.
He triumphed at the Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway dirt race in April, but the No. 20 hasn’t visited victory lane since.
Still, with an average finish of 13.9, Bell finished the regular season fourth in the standings.
“If you would have told me from February 1, that you are going to finish fourth in the regular season standings, I would be like, ‘Yeah, I’ll take that,’” Bell said. “But after living it, there were so many more opportunities on the table that got left there. That was very disappointing and encouraging at the same time, because I know that we have all of the pieces to not be underrated.”
The 28-year-old has been singing the same tune all season, remaining firm in his belief that the No. 20 team has all the potential they need. The only thing that’s been missing is execution.
“I don’t even know how many top 10s or top fives that I have, but I know that there were many, many more out there that were right in front of us.
“Not only top 10s, but top fives and race wins that were right in front of us, in the palm of our hands that we let slip away,” Bell said.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver continued the unfortunate trend during the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, as he earned the pole, led the first 33 laps and then a few mid-race miscues dropped him to 23rd at the checkered flag.
“I know that we have the speed to do it — we’ve just got to put it all together,” Bell said.
His disappointing Darlington finish also moved him from seventh to 12th in the standings, putting him on the razor-edged cutline for the round of 12. Bell is one point ahead of Bubba Wallace, who is 13th, with two races to go in the round of 16.
“The ups and downs that we went through last year, I don’t want to go through that again,” Bells said. “Consistency has been our Achilles heel for the 20 car and, hopefully, we can do a better job of that and level it out a little more, instead of having these peaks and valleys.”