Christopher Bell Bemoans Charlotte Photo Finish Loss to Chase Briscoe

The 2026 season so far has been a year if bad luck for Christopher Bell. He secured his eighth P2 finish of this season last Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, marking another win that slipped through his figures. The veteran lost the race to teammate Chase Briscoe, after an aggressive last lap battle.

The duo was separated by 0.029s on the finish line, with them door slamming each other being the highlight of the whole 400 miles and 267 laps race. Talking about the moment post-race, the racer admitted that if he had been a little harder on the final laps, he could’ve won the drag race. On the last moments they were not acting like teammates, they were bitter rivals.

I probably should have just stayed in it harder. I got a little wonky and thought I could out drag race him… We’re not teammates running to the line. I think he would have done the same thing to me. Honestly, caught me by surprise because I didn’t expect to get there.

Christopher Bell said post-race.

Later in the same conversation, Christopher Bell highlighted how tough the 2026 season so far has been for them. Other than the Darlington win, they haven’t had a really positive moment, in his own words promising runs won’t cut it, if there are no wins to back them up.

This sport is about winning and we haven’t won this year…that’s it. it doesn’t show on paper.

Christopher Bell added via motorsport.com.

It was a very special win for Chase Briscoe over Christpher Bell

While the No:20 JGR driver is sulking over the loss, the No:19 garage is celebrating back-to-back wins. It was a special win for Briscoe, as he was able to secure his championship chances before his grandparents who were watching him race live in the stands for the first time since 2019.

Very, very special. I think this is only the second ever time that all of us have been at a win. Super special to be able to experience these types of things with family. It is awesome when you win, but they are on the grind with us and for them to be here and experience this is memories that will be forever for me. Really cool day to get to victory lane with them here, my grandparents are here and I don’t think they have been to a race since 2019.

Chase Briscoe said.

Another special moment about the win was having the families of majority of his No:19 team, as Charlotte is the home race for most of them. Having a strong Toyota Camry played a key role in the duo being in the fight for the wins.

Really cool just to have everyone here. Really cool to be here at home – a lot of our crew guys, their families are here – pit crew guys families are here. There is just a lot of pride winning here, amazing day. Super cool to get Free Bird in victory lane. They’ve only done three races so to get them in victory lane on the third time – I’m pretty thankful. This Camry looked great out there.

Chase Briscoe added.

The comments from the champion driver are on point and shows how some Cup Series wins can be really special and really heartbreaking, depending on the driver. It would be interesting to see how the remaining for races of the season is going to playout for the star driver, as he gets momentum on his side in the chase.

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