NASCAR Through the Gears: Denny Hamlin latest to not beat Christopher Bell. And a CW fumble

The old railbirds might call him a rabbit — the one who leaves the gate like a bolt while all others are still lumbering up to speed.

Be wary of the rabbit, for like the hare of fable fame, he may have peaked too soon and, who knows, might take his dominance for granted.

But then again, it’s hard to win 27 out of 36 races if you don’t win three of every four, right? Right! That right there is some math.

And no matter how you add it up, three wins in the first four races is quite an impressive start to 2025 for Christopher Bell, who just might be the fastest Oklahoman since Mickey Mantle dropped down a bunt and sped out of Commerce.

MEET CARSON KVAPIL Second-generation NASCAR racer, Xfinity Series rookie for JR Motorsports

Only three other drivers in NASCAR’s big-league history have won three of the first four, and quite shockingly, none of them was named Richard Petty. Who were they, and were they merely rabbits or were they signaling a season of superb substance?

You’ll have to go through the gears to find out.

First Gear: Keeping it clean off Turn 4

Sometimes those late-race cautions save the day. And they’re not always mysterious or stupefying.

With eight laps remaining Sunday at Phoenix, Bell was leading and had put several car lengths between his rear bumper and Denny Hamlin’s “Virginia is for Lovers” front license plate. Figuratively speaking.

Bell’s lead seemed bigger than it was, largely because it appeared Hamlin was about to get a fight for second from Kyle Larson.

That’s when something detonated in Ty Gibbs’ car, tossing debris here and there as he broadsided the outside wall. That brought out a caution and set up an eventual two-lap sprint, which became a great side-by-side dash between Bell and Hamlin, who also happen to be teammates in Joe Gibbs’ shop — they basically treat each other as teammates, for better or worse.

But the teammate angle made things quite interesting, since it’s easy for things to get physical coming off Turn 4 at Phoenix, as those able to watch Saturday’s Xfinity race could tell you. And no, not all were able, which leads us to a taller gear.

Second Gear: For some, CW stands for “Can’t Watch”

The Saturday Xfinity races have become must-watch TV through the first month of this season. Saturday at Phoenix was the best yet, as Aric Almirola went all “Days of Thunder” on Alex Bowman as the checkers began waving.

If this had been the finish of a Sunday Cup race, the Boys in Marketing would’ve been up all night concocting a five-point strategy to leverage that gift. Just imagine how much better it would’ve been if you’d been able to see it!

Well, that’s not really fair. Maybe you did see it. A lot of people did. Maybe even most, or perhaps the vast majority of those who wanted to watch it actually did see it.

But not everybody, and that’s an ongoing concern with NASCAR’s first full season of the CW broadcasting all Xfinity programming. CW is made up of many local affiliates, and those affiliates are given enough independence to, say, cut away to other scheduled programming, such as “World’s Funniest Animals” or “Gilmore Girls.”

As the final lap unfolded, CW’s Atlanta affiliate went to commercial and never returned to Phoenix. The parent network issued an apology, said it wouldn’t happen again, and also said this:

“We appreciate that our affiliates are still learning the power of our new programming and the implications that has for serving our collective viewers.”

Which translates to: Please stop jamming our phone line and sending ALL CAPS emails. We get it.

Third Gear: Does a fast start equal a championship finish?

On to the promised answer to some Christopher Bell trivia.

The previous three Cup racers who won three of the season’s first four races:

Herb Thomas in 1954, driving the Fabulous Hudson Hornet prepared by Smokey Yunick at Daytona Beach’s “Best Damn Garage in Town.”

Bill Elliott in 1992, driving a Ford for Junior Johnson. Bill actually won four of the first five that year.

Kevin Harvick in 2018, driving a Ford for Stewart-Haas.

(Psst … don’t tell Christopher Bell, but none of those guys went on to win that year’s championship.)

Fourth Gear: Some other fast Oklahomans

Let’s revisit our earlier reference to Oklahoma, Bell’s home state. Yes, he’s easily the most decorated NASCAR driver born in the nation’s 46th state (apologies to Tanner Berryhill).

But is he the all-time best racer when you include other forms of racing? It’s far from automatic when you consider these other Oklahoma natives.

∎ Troy Ruttman, winner of the 1952 Indy 500.

∎ Ivan “Ironman” Stewart, off-road legend with a truckload of championships.

∎ Shane Stewart, two-time sprint-car champ.

Yes, we’re overlooking Hartwell Wilburn “Stubby” Stubblefield, whose promising open-wheel career ended when he was killed in a crash while practicing for the 1935 Indy 500.

Stubby’s ride-along mechanic was also killed, and while we’d hate to court such horrible possibilities, consider how much fun racing could be if we brought back ride-along mechanics.

— Email Ken Willis at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR news: Will Christopher Bell’s streak matter? CW learns lesson