Christopher Bell Breaks Silence on Crushing NASCAR Four-Peat Failure After Heartbreaking Race

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Alex Harrington is a contributing sports writer located in the West Midlands, England. His focus is on F1, NASCAR, and the technology behind the sport. Alex joined Newsweek in March, 2024, having previously written for DriveTribe, Men’s Journal, and Sports Illustrated. He is a graduate of the Open University with a BA (Hons) degree in Business. You can get in touch with Alex by emailing,  a.harrington@newsweek.com. You can find him on X @AlexOnRacing.

Alex Harrington

Sports Contributing Writer

Christopher Bell’s attempt at joining an elite group of NASCAR legends ended in disappointment at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last Sunday. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver finished 12th at the Pennzoil 400, falling short of a fourth consecutive Cup Series win after a brilliant start to the season.

What began as a promising weekend for the driver quickly turned upside down at his team discovered an issue with the throttle body of his No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE after Saturday’s qualifying.

Originally qualifying 13th, the repairs meant he would forfeit his start, beginning at the rear of the 36-car field.

Despite this, he was able to push through the pack, ending Stage 1 in 10th. Stage 2 saw him climb to 2nd.

Unfortunately, an issue on pit road derailed his efforts as a wheel wasn’t secured properly during a yellow flag. This resulted in a penalty as he stopped outside his assigned pit box for the repairs. This put him to the back of the field, finished in 12th place.

If Bell had succeeded and won this race, too, he would be up there with some of the greats of the sport. Only eight drivers have achieved this in the modern era:

• Cale Yarborough – 1976
• Darrell Waltrip – 1981
• Dale Earnhardt – 1987
• Harry Gant – 1991
• Bill Elliott – 1992
• Mark Martin – 1993
• Jeff Gordon – 1998
• Jimmie Johnson – (2007)

“It was a grind today for sure,” Bell said following the race. “I don’t really know how I feel yet, but we certainly didn’t do what we did the last couple of weeks and that was just to have a nice clean race.

“I think the Interstate Camry was definitely capable of competing for the win when we were at our best, but just going to the back and to the front and to the back and to the front, we just didn’t get a handle on the balance, because it changes so much from being back there.”

Bell therefore joins a small group who came tantalizingly close to the four-peat. Kyle Busch is there, after he ran out of fuel on the final lap at Pocono while leading. Kevin Harvick also won three straight races before crashing at Auto Club Speedway. Most recently, Kyle Larson won three straight races in 2021 but suffered a tire failure while leading the final lap.

Instead, Josh Berry won the race – his first Cup Series win.

Homestead-Miami Speedway is up next and Bell will be sure to push himself for the win. He last won there in 2023, securing his place in the Championship 4.

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