While Joey Logano celebrated a stunning win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a frustrated Christopher Bell stood on pit road. History had just repeated itself.
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Bell's weekend began with him winning the pole at Las Vegas. He went out and led a race-high 155 laps while scoring 19 stage points. He had the best car in the field, but he could not secure the win that would put him in the Championship 4.
Once again, he had to settle for second place. Although he moved to 42 points above the Championship 4 cutline.
"I don't think I've come to terms yet," Bell said about the loss during his post-race interview. "I don't know. Just a bummer.
"I think everyone on this team did everything perfect today, this (car) was obviously on rails, pit crew did an amazing job, Adam (Stevens, crew chief) called a great race. Did everything we needed to put this Rheem Camry in victory lane and, unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be today."
This weekend played out similarly to last season's playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which also featured Bell winning the pole.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver didn't have the dominant car last season, but he led 61 laps and scored 18 stage points. He then erased a deficit of more than two seconds in the final run to the checkered flag, which helped him get within reach of leader Kyle Larson.
Bell was on Larson's bumper on the final lap, but he couldn't make the race-winning pass. Larson pulled a big block that stopped his fellow driver's run and then he won the drag race to the checkered flag after Bell pulled to the inside.
Bell said after the loss that he felt the Las Vegas race was "his moment" to make the Championship 4 and that he didn't capture it.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver went out the following week and won at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a track that he did not particularly enjoy.
Just like last season, Cup Series teams head to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the second race of the Round of 8. Does this mean that history will repeat itself and Bell will win his way back to the Championship 4?
"The track means nothing for next week. Fortunately, we were able to go and win in Homestead. But nothing's guaranteed. Just because I ran second today doesn't mean I'm going to finish anywhere next week.
"Yeah, I think the points look pretty good, which is a positive. You're never safe in this deal. We needed to win today. Unfortunately, we didn't. We'll go on to the next one."
