Christopher Bell Explains How New Championship Format Will ‘Really Elevate Racers’

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Christopher Bell has shared his thoughts on the much-anticipated championship format change for 2026.

Christopher Bell Explains How New Championship Format Will ‘Really Elevate Racers’

Christopher Bell (Via @LVMotorSpeedway/X)

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The NASCAR community got the perfect compromise with the new championship format as the sport is set to go back to the 16-driver version of the original chase format from the 2026 season. One of the many drivers excited about the change is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, who was one of the few drivers to publicly demanded NASCAR to scrap playoffs for good.

Talking about the format change in his recent interview, Christopher Bell explained why the format change was necessary for NASCAR. Every sport succeeds when the best athletes of the series end up successful. The playoffs format didn’t help this cause as the significance of luck made championship less legitimate. Chase format will end that debate for good.

I think you’ll see more of the same guys continually fighting for the championship, which is the way it should be. Every sport has their has their best guys, and has the guys that aren’t as good.

Christopher Bell said via PRN Live.

Further talking about the point in the same conversation, the No:20 Toyota Camry driver highlighted how the playoffs format never produced real star power. Over the last decade the challenge the format gave wasn’t big enough to elevate drivers and with the change, Bell is hoping that this would change for good.

And with the way our format was, over the last 10 years or so, we haven’t been able to elevate drivers, and the crew has. It rises to the top of a certain extent, but then it just gets flopped around.

Christopher Bell added.

The system will help the community to distinguish between good drivers and great drivers, as only a handful of them will be regularly in the championship conversation. The change might also open more doors for new doors for young drivers, as some of the average veteran racers might not able to perform good enough with the format change to earn contract extensions.  

And now we’re going to really be able to see the cream rise to the top and consistently be at the top, and hopefully generate the next level of superstars.

Christopher Bell asserted.

Christopher Bell shared his thoughts on rivalry with Kyle Larson

In the same conversation earlier, the Truck Series championship winning drivers shared thoughts about his run-ins over the years with reigning champion Kyle Larson. They were having close battles for wins since their dirt racing days and though they have been many controversial incidents involving them, they have huge respect for each other.

Christopher Bell
Christopher Bell (Via @CBellRacing/X)

From my standpoint, I’ve definitely gotten angry with him a couple of times. We’ve had a few run-ins where I felt like he did me wrong, and that frustrated me. But that’s come and gone. I think we’re on pretty good terms now.

Christopher Bell said.

With the new format, the Bell-Larson battles will become more intense as the duo will surely be the championship front-runners. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the duo in the coming years in new era of the sport.

Also Read: Kyle Larson Reveals the Coolest Win of His NASCAR Career