Christopher Bell’s angry radio message comes to light after Joey Logano beat him to score a sneaky win at Las Vegas 

Christopher Bell radioed his frustrations after losing to Joey Logano in what looked like a race for the taking. When Bell crossed the line behind Logano by 0.662 seconds at the South Point 400, he could be heard swearing in disbelief on the radio.

Bell is a 29-year-old Oklahoma native who drives the No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is one of the eight drivers to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 along with teammate Denny Hamlin.

The opening race of the Round of 8 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway saw Bell finish second after leading the field for 155 laps. He lost to the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang of Joey Logano, who gambled with a fuel mileage strategy. The strategy paid off and took the win away from Bell.

When the race concluded, the No. 20 driver said:

“You’ve got to be f*cking kidding me.”

The team reassured the driver for his efforts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, saying:

“Good job, buddy. That sucks, buddy. That sucks real bad but wasn’t meant to be. We did all we could do. Great car, fellas. Great job on pit road.”

With Bell failing to bring home the win, he would have to score a good number of points in the next two races of the Round of 8 to qualify for the Championship 4. However, Bell is in a good position to advance to the next round as he currently sits comfortably in P2 in the playoff standings and +42 points above the cutline.

Christopher Bell's No.20 car at the South Point 400 (Source: Imagn)

The 29-year-old driver previously won at Homestead-Miami Speedway in last year's Round of 8, which followed a schedule similar to this year's playoffs. The third race will be held at Martinsville Speedway, leading up to the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway.

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Christopher Bell reflected on what went down at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Christopher Bell shared his thoughts on the Las Vegas race where he lost the win to Joey Logano. He was surprised by the Next Gen car’s fuel-saving capabilities, which rewarded Logano the win and punched his ticket to the Championship 4.

Per FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass, Bell said:

“I couldn't believe it. You know, everybody went green. Adam told me that we're four or five(laps) short and nobody topped off. So I didn't think that there was a chance anyone could make it at that point whenever no one topped off, and then he keyed up and said 'a couple of them are trying to stretch it'. And I'm like, 'Well, surely they're going to run out, right?' And they did not run out.”

Aside from the fuel mileage gamble, Bell also pointed out that the No. 12 car of Ryan Blaney, Logano’s teammate, helped the No. 22 secure the victory.

“The #12 car was with Joey, you know, trying to play defense for him. So it was going to take the right move to get by him. We had, was it 30 almost 40 lap newer tires than him and clearly a lot more pace than what he had at that time. So yes, I didn't get there in 267 laps," he said.

After the South Point 400, the drivers on the bubble are Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, and William Byron. Meanwhile, the drivers below the cutline are Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott.