Christopher Bell Brands His 2026 Season as “Disappointing”

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season so far hasn’t been kind to Christopher Bell. After two tough races, the No:20 Toyota driver found his groove and produced three consecutive top-5 runs. But since then, it been an uphill battle for the team. He has finished inside the top-20 just once in the last five weeks, with the best finish being a P17 finish at Talladega.

The star racer shared his thoughts on his struggles this season in a latest interview and admitted that it’s been a disappointment. He highlighted how he is dissatisfied over his race result, not the speed or performance of his Toyota. They had fast cars and have been contenders only to get involved in unlucky incidents that ruined their momentum.  

It’s been disappointing for sure, not from a speed or performance standpoint, but from a results standpoint. It’s been extremely disappointing. I look back at the races, we’re 11 races in, got zero wins.

Christopher Bell said about his struggle.

The TRD driver could have scored multiple wins this season, just like his teammates Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs. He just like his fourth teammate Chase Briscoe have been victims of bad luck and mistakes in 2026. Christopher Bell also recalled This Bristol race where a speeding penalty cost him a win, as they had one of the fastest cars of the day.

But I very easily could have had three or four wins by now. It didn’t work out; some of it is bad luck, I’ve made a couple mistakes…I look back at Bristol Motor Speedway. We had one of our best cars all year, and I got a speeding penalty that took us out of it.

Christopher Bell added via On3.com.

Furthermore, he also highlighted the disappointing day he has two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway. He spun out from the lead after getting collected by Todd Gilliland and that cost him the win. The races at Kansas and Atalanta were similar stories for the former NASCAR Truck Series champion.

Going back to Texas last week, I drove all the way to the lead, leading the race, and got caught up in a spinning car, wrecked out of it. And then at Kansas, a couple of weeks before that, Atlanta, the list goes on and on and on about races we’ve could have won.

Christopher Bell asserted.

Chrostopher Bell isn’t the only big-name driver struggling in 2026

The 2026 season so far has been challenging for not just Bell, but many of the front runners. The first on the list is the defending champion, Kyle Larson. He hasn’t secured a single win in over a year, while his teammate Chase Elliott already won twice this year. The two times champion finished outside the top 20 in five of the 11 races so far.

The second on the list the three times Cup winner Joey Logano, who is having the worst year of his career while teammate Ryan Blaney has already won and is in the championship contention. The veteran finished outside the top 30 in six races so far this season, with four of them coming the last four weeks.

Next on the list in the No:24 chevy driver of Hendrick Motorsports, William Byron. The star driver has had a better season compared to the rest but is still struggling. He finished outside the top 20 four times this season, with the last five races being his most inconsistent streak of the year. It would be interesting to see how it would take for these elite drivers to make a comeback.

Also Read: Denny Hamlin Declares Joey Logano “is Capable” of Making into 2026 Chase Despite Massive Struggles