"I don't think I've come to terms yet": Christopher Bell heartbroken after dominating Las Vegas race, yet falling short of victory

Christopher Bell saw his hopes for a guaranteed spot in the Championship 4 slip away during the final laps of Sunday's Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas. Despite leading the lap for the 267-lap race, the driver of the #20 finished in second place. In the post-race interview, Bell expressed his disappointment about the same.

The three-time winner this season was chasing down Joey Logano's #22 Team Penske Ford in the closing laps of Sunday's race. The 29-year-old pitted for fresh tires late in the race and tried to make up the ground he lost, while Logano opted to stay out to try and fend off the field on older tires.

In the end, the strategy paid off for the two-time Cup Series champion as he scored the victory and clinched a Championship 4 spot. Bell, meanwhile, was left with a second-place finish.

"I don't think I've come to terms yet," Bell said via NBC Sports. "I don't know. Just a bummer. I think everyone on this team did everything perfect today. This thing was obviously on rails, pit crew did an amazing job, Adam called a great race. Did everything we needed to put this Rheem Camry in Victory Lane, and unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be today."

Bell put on a clinic at the 1.5-mile track as he won both stages after starting from the pole position and led a race-high 155 laps. However, it wasn't enough in the end to catch Logano after losing time with the late-race pit stop.

Next week, the Cup Series will head to the Homestead-Miami Speedway; it's the track where Bell won last year that earned him a spot in the Championship 4. Despite the disappointing results at Las Vegas, Bell has a positive outlook for next week's race:

"This track [Las Vegas] means nothing for next week. Fortunately, we were able to go win and win at Homestead, but nothing is guaranteed. Just because I ran second today doesn't mean I'm going to finish anywhere next week. I think the points look pretty good, which is a positive, but you're never safe in this deal. We needed to win today, and unfortunately, we didn't. We'll go onto the next one."

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Christopher Bell aiming for a third straight Championship 4 appearance

NASCAR: South Point 400 - Source: Imagn

Christopher Bell holds a 42-point margin over the cut-off to advance to the Championship 4 for the third straight season. However, he is still seeking his first championship win after failing to do so in his previous two championship race appearances.

In 2022, Bell won the next-to-last race of the season at Martinsville to advance to the championship race. Ultimately, he finished third among the championship drivers, trailing runner-up Ross Chastain and champion Joey Logano.

Last year, Bell won at Homestead to clinch a spot in the Championship 4. However, he was out of the championship race early the next week after suffering a brake rotor failure.