Christopher Bell Gives Toyota and JGR the “Bad News” Despite Having Best Cars of His Career

Joe Gibbs Racing star driver Christopher Bell shared his thoughts on his team’s recent form and their chances at Phoenix finale.

Christopher Bell Gives Toyota and JGR the “Bad News” Despite Having Best Cars of His Career

Christopher Bell (Via IMAGO)

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No:20 Toyota driver Christopher Bell completed the Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of 2025 playoffs R-16 with a solid win at Bristol night race. His two championship contending teammates Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin won Darlington and Gateway respectively. But despite the superior form, he didn’t think they are the clear front runners for the Bill France Cup.

On his post-race press conference, Christopher Bell was asked about the pace of the TRD Camry’s, and he admitted that he has solid cars at the moment. He recalled his comments from the Gateway weekend, where he declared that compared to the fast, he has the best cars he has ever seen in the racing career.

It’s just all the Toyotas are super-fast right now. I think I said it last week in my post-race interview that this is the best race cars I’ve had to drive in the Cup Series compared to the competition in my career.

Christopher Bell said via Cup Scene.

It’s not just the JGR cars that has been solid since the start of the playoffs. Other Toyota teams, 23XI Racing and Legacy Motor Club, has been performing on the higher level with the former securing front row finishes in almost all of their races in the last two weeks. This gives major momentum for everyone in the TRD garage, for the R-12.

I think it goes from Joe Gibbs Racing to 23XI; they’ve been really good; even the legacy cars have had an amazing performance the last couple weeks. That’s the good news. But of course, there has to be the not-so-good news, as well.

Christopher Bell added.

In the same conversation Bell gave the bad news they have to keep in their mind. He pointed out that since they are six races away from the season finale at Phoenix, it is not the time to celebrate as they have a lot of work left to do. The No:20 Toyota driver admitted that they won’t be able to perform as dominant as they are now at Phoenix, as it will be a dogfight.

The bad news is we’re not running (the championship and season-ending race at) Phoenix next week and there’s still a long way to go to get there. I can promise you, whenever we get to Phoenix, it’s not going to be a runaway. No matter who’s in that Final Four, it’s always a dogfight. It’s always a good race.

Christopher Bell asserted.

Christopher Bell declares there is no middle for racer at Bristol in terms of race condition

In the same interview, Bell shared his thoughts on the dynamic of the whole race, with the extreme rubber fall of the tire being a major challenge. This unpredictability has always been a huge part of the sport when it comes to the track as Bell pointed out that the track offer either extreme tier wear or nothing, as there is no middle ground.

Christopher Bell
Christopher Bell (Via @CBellRacing/X)

I mean, so going into the week, we knew that there was a tire change that was supposed to induce tire wear. So, we were kind of prepared for, you know, a little bit more tire wear than normal Bristol, but the thing is that you have these total-like extreme circumstances. There’s no middle ground at all. Like, it’s not like it’ll take a little bit of rubber and you have some tire wear. It’s either all or nothing.

Christopher Bell said.

The comments from the Joe Gibbs Racing driver and his admission earlier that luck played a big role in his win, shows the track was pretty challenging for everyone. But he was able to take advantage of the speed advantage they had an keep the JGR momentum going, with six more races left before the championship fight.

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