CONCORD, N.C. — Christopher Bell is on the cusp of his third consecutive trip to the Championship 4. This feat is one that no other driver in the series can match in the Next Gen era, and it shows just how quickly he has grown behind the wheel.
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Bell has quietly become a perennial championship contender in his five seasons in Cup. He isn't necessarily the most frequently mentioned driver when picking favorites, but no one is surprised when he regularly wins multiple races and punches his ticket to Phoenix.
Adam Stevens, Bell's crew chief for four of these five seasons, has seen this rapid growth. He says isn't due to any big changes behind the scenes. Bell has just paired potential with experience.
"The first thing you've ever seen with Bell is the raw talent and pure speed and ability to make race cars go fast regardless of what the cars are," Stevens told FanBuzz on Thursday.
"What he's grown in is understanding his competitors, understanding how he's treating his tires, understanding what he's doing, and how that's affecting the balance of the car.
"Those are all things that you have to grow and understand with laps and time, and I think that growth rate has been exponential and higher than the majority of the field. But it still takes time to learn those things."
To Stevens's point, Bell showed his talent as he rose through the NASCAR ranks. He won seven Truck Series races and a championship in just over two full seasons with Kyle Busch Motorsports. He then won 16 Xfinity Series races in 74 starts before moving up to the Cup Series.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver showed his talent during his first two seasons in Cup — the final two seasons of the Gen 6 era. He scored seven top-10 finishes with Leavine Family Racing and then he won his first race after moving to JGR.
Since the start of the Next Gen era, Bell has been on a tear. He has won eight races in three seasons and started from the pole position 13 times. He has improved his average finish each season while going from 13.8 to 12.9 to 12.8.
He has set career-best marks this season in top-five finishes (14), top-10s (22), and laps led (1,002). Now Bell has the opportunity to go three-for-three on Championship 4 appearances with a strong performance at Martinsville this weekend.
"Obviously, we went to this Next Gen car a few years ago, and that kind of reset the playing field for everyone," Stevens added. "So we were all learning, starting from ground zero, you know what I mean?
"And think he's proven that he has a fundamental understanding of what it takes to make one of these cars go and what to look for in the balance and how to navigate the races and the weekend."
Stevens is not the only one who sees Bell as a threat to win the Cup title each season. Denny Hamlin compared his JGR teammate to Hall of Famer Matt Kenseth, a quiet driver who just went about his business and won numerous races.
But while Bell has become a perennial playoff driver and a championship contender, that doesn't mean there is no more room for growth. Staying in this position is a constant challenge for driver, crew chief, and the entire team.
Bell and Stevens have to keep in constant communication while pursuing wins. They have to be unrelenting in their pursuit of perfection.
They have to be on the same page when delivering or receiving communication, especially during the race weekend when the slightest adjustment error could lead to an ill-handling car.
"That's where (Kyle Busch) and I were really, really strong, and it's taken some time to figure that out with Bell," Stevens said.
"And part of that is him figuring out what he needs and being able to communicate that to me, and me being able to understand that and manifest that into changes to the race car and the general preparation of the car."
Bell has shown he has the talent to succeed and he has gained the experience he needs to be a more consistent threat to win.
Now the next step is to take care of unfinished business and win the title.
