Christopher Bell

Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

     When you look at potential favorites to win the championship one would probably guess Kyle Larson or Denny Hamlin off the top of their head. Maybe even Chase Elliot, or even Tyler Reddick. There is one guy who I think is a big threat if they can just have luck go their way. That guy is Christopher Bell.

     For much of this year so fat Bell has either finished towards the front, or bad luck finds his way and he’s finishing at the back. He currently has 3 wins and 6 top 5 finishes but he also has 5 dnfs. He has an average starting spot of 10th with an average finishing spot of 16th. 

        The numbers don’t jump out but that doesn’t tell the full story. This last month alone there were 3 separate races that Bell looked destined to win, rather on ice or strategy but something took him out of contention each time. Bell dominated WWT raceway and looked to be able to win the race but after a battle with Ryan Blaney, he started having engine issues and dropped down to 7th. At Nashville Bell had the dominant car again only this time a pit stop in the second half of the race had him starting back in traffic and he simply lost the handling in turns 1 and 2 and hit the wall, ending his day. Which leads us to yesterday’s street race in Chicago. After pitting for dry tires and getting a few late race cautions to bunch up the field, Bell was in prime position to pass up the cars in front on wet tires, along with being the first driver out on dry tires until contact in turn 2 with teammate Martin Truex Jr sent Bell into the wall, ultimately ending his day in 37th. In all 3 of these races Bell looked to have had the best car until something happened.

      Bell is my dark horse favorite to win the championship this year simply because this team is preforming and has the race pace at just about any type of track. These 3 situations mentioned above all happened recently in the last month and he also has 3 wins to go along with the 5 dnfs with 2 wins coming in the last 7 races. Bell in the races that he has finished has only finished outside the top 10 once since  the month of May with a 13th at Darlington. He has 6 top 10s in the last 10 races so the team is starting to get it together, but I think the potential for a championship run is there again.

     This team had an unfortunate exit to their championship run last year due to a mechanical issue but in the past, Bell has been able to rise up to the occasion and do what’s needed to have a shot. He’s only gotten better and with a little more luck to cut down on the dnfs, he probably could be the point leader right now. I’m predicting that he wins a few more times this year before the playoffs even start and I’m predicting that he wins his first Cup series championship this year. 

     Time will tell if he’s able to cut down on the dnfs and continue to run well and string together more good finishes. He seems to be one of the fastest guys and most underrated in the field, he just doesn’t always make it to the finish line. Next up is Pocono, let’s see what’s in store for Bell and this 20 team.

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