Christopher Bell Admits Bristol Race Win “Was a Lottery”

Christopher Bell downplayed his victory at Bristol, claiming that luck played a big role.

Christopher Bell Admits Bristol Race Win “Was a Lottery”

Christopher Bell (Via IMAGO)

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Christopher Bell emerged as one of the favorites in the NASCAR Playoffs after winning the Bristol night race. The JGR star is finally matching his teammates after an underwhelming end to the regular season. However, Bell has now downplayed his victory at ‘The Last Great Coliseum’ ahead of the Round of 12.

Since the start of the 2025 season, the No. 20 driver has been on the backfoot compared to his peers, particularly Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe. Bell led the least number of laps among JGR cars in the regular season at only 239.

Even the Bristol win was not easy as Christopher Bell barely led many laps in the race. The Toyota driver is upfront about his win. Christopher Bell recognized that he didn’t lead laps before his victory in the night race. Though the JGR star insisted that winning the race was plenty enough.

Bell highlighted that the Bristol race had some unique circumstances, that made his win nothing short of a lottery. He asserted that he simply had enough amount of luck to make it to Victory Lane. Though Bell insisted that the race was not a sign of Joe Gibbs Racing being miles ahead of rivals.

Once again, I won a race, but I didn’t lead laps which is OK, I will gladly take that. Last week was just such unique circumstances. We kind of won the lottery last week. Whoever won that race was going to have to have a substantial amount of luck and fortunately it was on our side. It was kind of a unique circumstance that played out. So, I don’t know that it necessarily was a true test of where the teams stack up.

Christopher Bell said, as quoted by Jayski.com.

JGR swept all Round of 16 races this time around. In addition to Bell’s triumph, Briscoe won at Darlington, while Hamlin took the win at Getaway. Things seem to be looking even better for the Toyota team as Round of 12 begins in New Hampshire. New Hampshire is known to be a JGR stronghold.

Christopher Bell excited for next Playoff race

New Hampshire is not only a good track for Joe Gibbs Racing, but even for Christopher Bell. The No. 20 driver has won 2 of his 13 Cup wins at this circuit with similar results in the national touring series. New Hampshire will also debut a new Goodyear tire code this year. Bell had taken part in the Goodyear test for this tire code earlier this year, giving him another slight advantage.

Christopher Bell (via Getty)
Christopher Bell (via Getty)

Christopher Bell admitted that he was looking forward to this race since NASCAR released the 2025 calendar. The Toyota driver pointed out that he has done well at this track over the years, and hopes to continue the momentum this season.

Bell asserted that he would fight for the lead and should be in the running for yet another victory. The JGR star insisted that even if he doesn’t win the race, he should get a decent points haul from New Hampshire.

I was definitely excited whenever the schedule came out and I saw that Loudon was a Playoff race. It made me very optimistic about it and obviously this is a great track for me. You need to start out the rounds with a positive race and certainly this is a place that we should lead laps and should contend for the win. And, if you’re putting yourselves in that position where you are leading laps and you are contending for the win, even if you don’t win, you get enough points

Christopher Bell explained.

Certainly, Christopher Bell is one of the favorites for the New Hampshire race. The JGR star could solidify his footing in the Playoffs by taking another victory. A win would secure Bell’s spot in the Round of 8, and put more pressure on his rivals. However, as is the case in NASCAR, anything can happen on raceday.

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