Christopher Bell Declares the 2026 Championship Fight is “Going to be Batlle” After Phoenix Race

The NASCAR Cup Series race last Sunday at Phoenix changed the whole championship dynamic. Kyle Larson came to the weekend with a comfortable 49 points lead and left with just a five points gap to Christopher Bell at P2, with all of the top-6 drivers in position where one race win might place them at P1.  

One DNF ruined all the momentum Kyle Larson had so far in the chase and with three more races left, with one of the being Talladega, he is in a really tough spot. For Bell, the HMS drivers P34 finish was the break he desperately needed to get back in the title contention. He is hopeful that his No:20 Toyota team would be able thrive in the battle ahead.

It’s going to be a battle, that’s for sure, but we’re right there in it. I’m really proud of our team; they’ve been doing a really good job of bringing fast race cars, executing races, we’ve been able to qualify well, run up front in the stages, and yeah.

Christopher Bell said post-race at Phoenix.

Further talking about the point, Christopher Bell highlighted how having a fast car and the right strategy helped the team to maximize on points earned lasts Sunday, while TRD teammate Tyler Reddick won the race. With the season final just two weeks ahead, he is in the hunt and that’s all he wanted this year.

I felt like our performance probably tapered off a little bit as the day went on, but we had the right strategy to put tires on at the end and had good restarts to get some track position… We’re in the hunt. That’s all you can ask for.

Christopher Bell added via RACER.com.

Joey Logano also has similar feelings as Christopher Bell

Another driver who had a strong day like Bell at Phoenix was Joey Logano. The three times champion earned the second most points on the day by dominating the stages and was able to cut down the point deficit to Larson to just 44 points. A fourth title is no longer a long shot for the No:22 team.

I felt like we were a long shot before this, but still could do it. don’t feel like so much of a long shot anymore… We had a good car and led a bunch of laps, [had] a couple of stage wins, and we cut the gap. I think we’re 44 points out now. So, if you looked at that coming into the day, you’d probably say we’d take it and move on. But we had an opportunity to win…But overall, a solid day, and we’re much more in the hunt than we were coming into it.

Joey Logano said.

Though the Team Penske driver is disappointed with not winning, he is hopeful about the races ahead especially next week at Talladega, a track where the Ford crew has solid history. His plan at the moment is to maximize on points and be in the position to win the title in the finale at Homestead Miami.

We have good tracks coming up. Talladega is great – it can go either way, though. We’ve seen that go either way. Martinsville has been a great track as well. We have the opportunity to score a bunch of points here and close that gap even more. The goal is just to be in the hunt when you get to Miami, and if we can be somewhat close and keep the pressure on them…

Joey Logano asserted.

The plan to put most of the pressure on the front-runners by positioning himself close to the top-3 by the final is spot on from the No:22 team. Considering the Penske driver has made it a habit to win the titles in even years in the Next-Gen era makes the chase pretty special.

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