“Goal is to make drivers feel like the championship is a big deal”: JGR ace sends a straightforward message to NASCAR about playoffs ‘legitimacy’

NASCAR has been discussing ways to revamp the current playoff format for several months now. JGR driver Christopher Bell is a part of the sport’s playoff committee and just recently, he opened up on what the committee wants out of a revised playoff format.

Last year, Joey Logano became the first NASCAR Cup Series champion to finish as low as 15th in points. Fans weren’t happy about it, especially given that someone like Kyle Larson, who won a series-high six races, didn’t even make the final four.

So NASCAR set out looking for ways to make the playoffs more legitimate, keeping the entertainment factor intact at the same time. Reflecting on the same, Bell said,

“The goal for the whole thing is to help bring more legitimacy to the championship. I think everybody has believed that the champions of the new age are held to - it feels different than like what Jimmie (Johnson) did and the guys back in the day.”

“The whole goal is to make the drivers feel like that championship is a big deal, the biggest deal of our life. So, hopefully we can get a format that provides a lot of entertainment, a lot of excitement and some amazing finishes to the championship race while upping the legitimacy of the NASCAR Cup Series championship,” the Oklahoma native further explained.

Bell won last week at Atlanta, marking his team’s first victory of the season, that too on a superspeedway. As of now, he is the only JGR driver in the playoffs alongside Hendrick Motorsports ace William Byron, who won this year’s running of the annual Daytona 500.

“We didn’t have that one circled”- JGR driver Christopher Bell reflects on unexpected Atlanta outing

Christopher Bell won this year’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway under controversial circumstances. However, post-race inspections crowned him the official winner and took his winning tally to 10.

Bell wasn’t hoping to win at Atlanta, especially after the track got reconfigured in 2021. Nobody in the No. 20 JGR team had expected a superspeedway triumph for that matter, but obviously, winning one of the first two events of the season felt good.

“I don't think anybody on this 20 group expected to win a speedway race this year,” Christopher Bell said. “It's a goal and you want to try and obviously do it, but we didn't have that one circled as a potential win.”

“So, that's good,” he continued. “We're just starting the season out with what we expect to be good race tracks for us. Going into a really good stretch.”

Christopher Bell’s next race is at COTA, scheduled for Sunday, March 2. He will start 19th alongside JGR newcomer Chase Briscoe. Fans can watch the feature on FOX or listen to live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio from 3:30 pm ET.