MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin are both mathematically in contention for the Cup Series championship, but neither driver has much confidence heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway next week.
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They both know that chasing down points leader Kyle Larson is nearly impossible, especially after nine weeks of trials and tribulations.
Larson only needs nine points to clinch his third title. Bell needs to erase a 67-point deficit while Hamlin needs to erase a 70-point deficit.
"It's just tough day, but it was kind of a microcosm of what we've had in the last nine weeks," Hamlin said after a sixth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway.
Bell echoed this sentiment on pit road after a 10th-place finish. At one point in the race, he had significantly cut into Larson's lead. Yet, a self-inflicted mistake — speeding on pit road — and a spin sparked by Joey Logano dropped him back to reality.
A spin by @CarsonHocevar brings out the yellow.@CBellRacing receives a penalty for being too fast while entering pit road. pic.twitter.com/mJINXYkcll
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 1, 2026
He may be mathematically in contention, but he doesn't see a path to his first Cup Series championship.
"I think I have some optimism for sure, but I don't know," Bell said. "(I'm) realistic about it, I guess. It's another opportunity to win a race, and that's what we have to do.
"So, you know, I said it in the media center that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and that'll be the same thing in Homestead."
Bell can point to the myriad setbacks he encountered during the Chase, which all followed his Southern 500 win kicking off the postseason.
He was collected in a crash at Gateway while running in sixth place. He lost power steering at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He spun at the entrance of pit road at Talladega Superspeedway and damaged his car. This led to multiple trips down pit road and multiple flat tires.
"Today we had a lot of positives, a lot of negatives, and it probably shook out where we should have," Bell said. "We didn't lose the championship by any means today. We lost the championship a couple of races earlier.
"Talladega was a big one. Gateway was a big one. The steering issue at Vegas was a big one. So yeah, just, we didn't lose it today. We lost it earlier in the Chase."
Hamlin entered the weekend needing a "clutch" run to eliminate a 73-point deficit and give himself a chance to win his first championship.
He started on the right note. He won the pole at the track where he has six wins, and he led 40 laps in the opening stage.
However, Hamlin's fortunes changed when the team decided to complete stage 1 without making a pit stop. This strategy failed as the drivers with fresher tires passed him in the closing laps. He, along with Larson, fell outside of the top 15 and missed out on stage points.
Hamlin switched to the one-stop strategy for the second stage, but this also backfired. Carson Hocevar spun and brought out the caution seven laps after Hamlin had made his pit stop. He had to take the wave around to get back on the lead lap and start at the rear of the field.
Another setback occurred on Lap 216. Logano hit Bell, who then hit Hamlin. Both Joe Gibbs Racing drivers spun as the caution flew. Their cars sustained damage, but both drivers continued in the race.
LOGANO INTO BELL, BELL INTO HAMLIN 🤯
📺 : NBC pic.twitter.com/VsxKzlUf5H
— NASCAR on USA (@NASCARonUSA) November 1, 2026
This marked the sixth Chase race in which Hamlin encountered a setback. He also had issues at Darlington, Gateway, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Phoenix, and Talladega.
Other drivers accounted for some of these incidents, such as contact from Michael McDowell that wrecked Hamlin at Darlington. His pit crew accounted for other issues in multiple races. Hamlin also made mistakes while spinning at Charlotte and speeding at Phoenix.
This latest string of incidents at Martinsville Speedway essentially sealed Hamlin's fate. He knows that he will be able to contend for the win at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but a win is unlikely to propel him to his first championship.
"For us, this weekend, it was about everything to gain, nothing to lose," Hamlin said. "We just didn't gain enough to make it realistic."
