"He has to be the favorite": Bubba Wallace's crew chief snubs Kyle Larson over JGR underdog in Round of 8 favorites talk

Following the recent playoff race at the ROVAL, Kyle Larson extended his wins lead over his rivals. After Larson won last Sunday's race, he took his win tally to six, which is double that of any other driver in 2024.

His win at the ROVAL was also his second of the playoffs this year, as he heads into Las Vegas, a racetrack he won at earlier this year. But despite everything pointing towards Larson, including journalist Bob Pockrass' predictions, Freddie Kraft and Leigh Diffey had another name as their favorite.

During a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, the panel of NASCAR insiders was asked for their favorites in the Round of 8.

While Bob Pockrass pointed towards Kyle Larson, a 6x race winner this year, the other guest on the show, analyst Leigh Diffey, named an old rival of Larson's from the dirt world, Christopher Bell.

"I don't think enough people give credit to Christopher Bell. I think he's to me that quiet achiever. I love the fact that how honest he was at Kansas where he made that mistake at the end of stage 1 and stage 2 when he hit the wall. He said that was totally on me, I just think he's the only guy who has made the championship 4 in the last 2 years in succession and I just think the time is now for him," Diffey said.

Diffey's opinion on the Joe Gibbs Racing underdog was further echoed by the podcast's co-host, Freddie Kraft.

The spotter of Bubba Wallace highlighted a big strength of the #20 driver that could come into play in the season's remaining four races.

"As fast as he's been in this flat mile ovals, if he gets to Phoenix he has to be the favorite in my opinion. These flat mile ovals, him and Ryan Blaney have been the two guys to beat, and he's been a little bit better than Blaney. Going into the Round of 8, if he can get there, still gotta get there, but if he gets there, he's going to be hard to beat," Kraft claimed.

Kyle Larson's rival Denny Hamlin earlier backed Bell as 'a threat' to other drivers

Speaking on Actions Detrimental, earlier this year, Denny Hamlin, the veteran teammate of Christopher Bell, made a big statement for the #20 driver. Hamlin claimed that if Bell makes it to Phoenix, into the final 4, which would be his third appearance in that regard in as many years, he would be 'a threat.'

"He was really strong there last year when he made it to the final 4. He just blew a brake rotor. So I think certainly they've got a balance or something that he likes that is working well," Hamlin said of Bell.

So far this season, Bell has only won three races, which is half of Larson's win tally. However, he has put on a quietly stellar run of results in the last two months.

Since his 35th-place finish at Michigan, Christopher Bell finished three races in a row in the top 5. And in the next five races, he has had a couple of top 5 and top 10 finishes to his name.