“We’re in a little bit of an identity crisis”: Christopher Bell differentiates NASCAR’s racing and entertainment

Christopher Bell believes NASCAR is “in a little bit of an identity crisis” at the moment. He isn’t certain whether the American stock car racing league wants to promote “pure” racing or entertainment that usually draws a lot of casual fans during race weekends.

During the NASCAR Playoff Media Day, the Joe Gibbs Racing No.20 Toyota driver sat down with The Teardown hosts Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck to discuss the sport’s current state. He said that the league was dealing with an identity crisis, although he wouldn't take credit for that narrative.

“It just feels like we are in a little bit of an identity crisis, and I can’t, I didn’t… someone else in our industry use that term and I loved it, and I’m like 'That is so true,'" Bell said.

The 29-year-old continued with bold questions regarding the sport:

“Are we a racing league and do we want to promote the best teams, the best drivers? Or do we want to be in the entertainment industry and have the most entertaining races?”

Gluck responded:

“It’s hard to have it both ways.”

Bell agreed to this and commented:

“If you ask different people on what a good race is, you’re going to get different answers, and you have true motorsports people that understand what a good race is and how the best win race or whatever how a race should be. And then you ask other fans who aren’t as educated in the sport and their view of it is going to be much different. So yeah, we’re in a weird spot right now.”

Christopher Bell also touched on NASCAR’s 2025 Cup schedule, particularly the playoffs, where Talladega is listed as one of the three races in the round of 8.

“It’s just going to get weirder next year with Talladega in the round of 8.”

When Bianchi asked the Toyota driver if that schedule makes him cringe, he replied,

“It does, it does.”

Christopher Bell shared later in the interview:

“We’re getting further and further away from traditional racing.”

Christopher Bell is finding success in the current NASCAR Cup Series system

Despite having a few words against the current racing system, JGR driver Christopher Bell is finding success week in and week out. In the last two NASCAR Cup Series seasons, Bell qualified in the Championship 4. Although, he has yet to secure his first championship title.

This year, the Toyota driver enters the playoffs strong by finishing secnd in the standings just behind Kyle Larson. So far, he scored three race wins, 10 stage wins, nine top-5s, and 15 top-10s.

The postseason will kick off with the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart, which will take place at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 8.