A second-place finish is a good result. You score solid points and move up the standings. But for Christopher Bell, it has become a strange pattern, especially with how often it’s happening. Seven times this season, he has come close to Victory Lane, only to watch someone else take the trophy.
That has left the Joe Gibbs Racing driver with one of the oddest stat lines in NASCAR right now. He has championship-level speed, but not a single win to show for it. It could’ve been bad luck once or twice, but it’s about time the conversation shifts. So it did, after Iowa.
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Former Cup Series driver Kyle Petty summed up Bell’s run of P2 finishes in three words: “That’s Bell underperforming,” the veteran said on Inside the Race.
He pointed out that Bell has been beaten by Ryan Blaney twice, Daniel Suárez once, and even his own Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. What really stamped his point was how Bell attacks late in races.
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“When’s he gonna pass the leader?” Petty asked in the same segment. “He duplicated the shot he had before. He didn’t try anything different. If you go back to the well and it’s dry, don’t go back to that same move.”
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That criticism cuts right to the heart of Bell’s season. At Iowa, Phoenix, Nashville, and Atlanta, he had a car capable of winning. Iowa was especially painful. Bell led 108 laps, won Stage 2, and looked like the driver to beat before a late pit strategy split left him 0.253 seconds short. Petty clarified that this was not about speed.
“How many times can Adam [Stevens] put him in a place to win races or get them in a place strategy-wise to win races, and you leave the win on the table?” he asked.
The uncomfortable part is that Petty might be talking about the strongest winless season in NASCAR.
Bell is not struggling the usual winless driver way. He’s near the top of the Cup standings, has led 363 laps in six of those seven runner-up races, and has been one of the fastest Toyotas in the field.
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But right now, Bell stands out among the top drivers. By finishing second so often, he is missing out on the 55-point bonus that comes with a win. In NASCAR’s Chase format, those extra points could be crucial as he looks to secure the top seed and build an advantage before the 10-race postseason.
Plus, there’s a pattern. He has lost to Blaney, Suárez, Ty Gibbs, Corey Heim, and other drivers in completely different situations. Some came down to strategy, some to timing, and some to Bell’s own admission that he made mistakes.
Not everyone agreed with Petty. Analyst Bozi Tatarevic on Inside the Race countered that seven runner-up finishes could just as easily be seen as proof that Bell and crew chief Adam Stevens have built a team capable of contending for a championship every single week.
And considering Bell’s second-place finish at the Iowa Corn 350 moved him up four spots to sixth in the standings, Tatarevic may have had a point.
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But Petty saw it differently. To him, the No. 20 team is still looking for that final move, decision, or pass that turns second place into a win. Until they find it, Bell’s season will continue to feel like the same missed opportunity repeating itself.
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