Kevin Harvick Exposes Christopher Bell’s “Weakness” After Dover Disappointment

Ex-champion Kevin Harvick shared his thoughts on the weakness that Christopher Bell the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 win.

Kevin Harvick Exposes Christopher Bell’s “Weakness” After Dover Disappointment

Christopher Bell and Kevin Harvick (Via @CBellRacing/X and @Rackley_WAR/X)

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Joe Gibbs Racing star driver Christopher Bell started the 2025 season strong, with three impressive race wins before experiencing a performance slump which he is yet to properly get out off. He was close to ending the winless streak this Sunday at Dover, but spun-out himself while his teammate Denny Hamlin won. Now, Kevin Harvick made a solid observation about Bell after the race.

In the recent episode of the Happy Hour podcast, Kevin Harvick compared how Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell raced in the final laps of the race. The No:11 Toyota was calculated with space and risk taking, while the No:20 Toyota was driving on the edge. It’s the dirt racing mentality Bell shares with the likes of Kyle Larson and few handful others.

Hamlin being a veteran doesn’t take too many 50-50 chances, and that yielded him consistency and wins. The lack of this factor is a major weakness of Bell according to Harvick, as finishing P2 is better than making risky moves and not capitalize on the situation he worked hard get in in the race. If he stops stepping over the edge, he can get back to contending for the title.

I think in these scenarios, this is still one of Bell’s weaknesses, in my opinion. …When you’re racing for the win, you’ve got to be able to capitalize on if you don’t win, finish second and being able to do that, not step over the edge. That’s just one of the things that Bell needs to get better at, in my opinion, of not stepping over the edge.

Kevin Harvick said via Happy Hour podcast.

Dover wasn’t the first time Christopher Bell has found himself in such duels and stepped over the live, running his own race. This pressure that the TRD driver has put on his shoulders about winning races and never finish P2, often leads to mistake that cost him championship. At the same time, Bell is like any other athlete that knows finishing second hurts more than anything.

We’ve seen it happen a number of times, and it puts him in a bad spot. I think that makes it harder to win a championship, because you’re going to make those mistakes in pressure moments of not finishing second.

Kevin Harvick added.

Christopher Bell admits they No:20 is struggling to gain momentum  

In the first 14 races of the season, Bell had the momentum on his side that earned him the three back-to-back wins, and seven more top-10 finishes. But in the last seven races, he has secured just two top-10s, with rest of the finishes being outside the top-15.

Christopher Bell
Christopher Bell (Via IMAGO)

Bell addressed his Dover run and the drop in performance after the race. He admitted that he would have been at P2 instead of his teammate Chase Briscoe, if the execution was better towards the end of the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400.

We probably could have easily ran second where the #19 (Chase Briscoe) did if we executed the day a little bit better.

Christopher Bell said.

Further talking about the point, Christopher Bell admitted that his team is struggling to find momentum at the moment, mostly due to them being sloppy with execution. Despite the Dover disappointment, he is hoping the run till the wreck and P5 finish enough for him to get better results.

We’re just struggling to get a little bit of momentum right now.  It’s just being really sloppy on all accounts. And yeah, to walk out here with a fifth place finish hopefully gives us a little bit of momentum and we can keep it going, build on it.

Christopher Bell added.

The comments from Bell shows he understands more than anyone that he messed up big time at the 1.5-mile track, just like Kevin Harvick explained. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout, for the No:20 team in the remaining five races of the regular season, before the playoffs starts.

Also Read: Kevin Harvick Urges Chase Elliott to “Qualify Better” After Dover Redemption