Joe Gibbs Racing star Christopher Bell relieved despite “terrible performance” at Watkins Glen

Christopher Bell expressed satisfaction with his P14 finish at Watkins Glen, considering his team’s overall struggles. Despite not securing a top-10 position, the driver highlighted the valuable points earned, especially given the team's “terrible performance.”

Bell, who pilots the No. 20 Toyota Camry at Joe Gibbs Racing, recently secured the top spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings. His impressive 23-point haul at Watkins Glen surpassed Ryan Blaney's previous lead.

While speaking to reporters, the 29-year-old said that he was leaving Watkins Glen happy despite finishing in 14th.

“You can mark this as a race that I left happy, and I even ran 14th,” Bell said.

Bell then responded to the reporter’s question about finishing ahead of several playoff contenders, saying,

“Yeah, I mean, it was a terrible performance for us but we got away with it.”

The Oklahoma native continued by talking about the team strategy.

“The strategy worked out for us to get relative track position compared to the guys who didn’t jump the stages and then obviously catching that yellow and being able to put tires on and make up positions after the, you know, whatever it was those last couple of green white checkered […] was a good day and, you know, we had a good points day. So, bad performance but happy with the points," he stated.

Bell finished fifth in the playoff grid, outperforming top-ranked drivers like Tyler Reddick, William Byron, and Ryan Blaney. Chase Briscoe, the leading playoff contender in sixth place, earned 43 points, securing his spot above the cut line in 11th place, with a comfortable six-point margin.

The drivers currently below the playoff cut line are Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., and Harrison Burton.

Bell will enter the final race of the Round of 16 at Bristol +46 above the cut line. The night race is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 21.

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The Go Bowling at The Glen witnessed the first race without a playoff driver in the top 2 since 2014

Chris Buescher clinched victory at Watkins Glen after retaking the lead from Shane van Gisbergen on the final lap. This meant that the 1-2 finish was shared by two non-playoff drivers, which is the first time this has occurred since the elimination era began in 2014.

NASCAR insiders have observed that in the last decade, the highest-ranked playoff driver in any playoff race has never finished lower than second. However, the recent Watkins Glen race defied this trend. Chase Briscoe, the top-finishing playoff driver, secured only a 6th-place finish, followed by Austin Cindric in 10th and Kyle Larson in 12th.

Martin Truex Jr., starting from the second position, ultimately finished 20th despite winning stage one and earning 27 points for the weekend. Among playoff contenders, Ryan Blaney faced the most unfortunate circumstances. His No. 12 Ford was involved in a multi-car crash on the first lap, resulting in a DNF.

The upcoming race at Bristol will eliminate four drivers from the playoff competition, narrowing the field down to 12 drivers.