CHARLOTTE, N.C. — What is Playoff mode?
According to NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell “it is being the best when it matters the most.”
Bell will be among 16 drivers attempting to exactly that when the Cup Series Playoffs kick off with Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
It will be Bell’s fifth consecutive year in the Playoffs driving the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Unfortunately, Bell, who won three races in a row earlier this season, has gone 22 races without a victory. He believes his Adam Stevens-led team just needs to keep chipping away.
“I don’t think we need to do anything different. Just keep plugging away. I’ve actually asked Adam (Stevens, crew chief) that because I was a little bit concerned about that a couple of weeks ago, and he said we are not doing anything different than we were when we won three races in a row to start the season,” Bell said. “So, we’ve got a great team, a great process and we are going to keep after it, and we are going to great race tracks for us. I think we have all of the tools to go out there and execute and win races, and hopefully we can do that.”
Bell, 30, believes experience will also be on his side during the 10-week Playoff stretch.
“We definitely haven’t led laps or had that stage performance that we want throughout the 2025 season, but I will say now, I’m far more seasoned,” Bell acknowledged. “Every year that goes by, you have more experience and understand the name of the game a little bit more and how to play it.
“We haven’t led laps, and we haven’t got the stage points that we did in years past, but we know – it is still the same crew chief, same driver, same pit crew – everything is still the same, we just have to go out there and do it. We are going to have a little bit more pressure now, and I’m excited about the opportunity.”
Bell enters the Playoffs fifth in the standings.
“We’ve been close. Darlington has been one that we’ve been really close at and haven’t won,” he said. “The Playoffs are just littered with tracks like that – like Darlington, Kansas, Vegas, Gateway, now. All of those places, we’ve been super strong at – just haven’t quite won at. It could happen this week; it could happen next week.”
