Off to a strong start, Christopher Bell is poised for a breakout season

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If you‘re looking for a subtitle for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, try "Christopher Bell Unbound."

Freed from the embargo that prevented him from racing on dirt for three years, Bell is competing with joy this season—and with performance to match.

On a windy, temperate Sunday at the auspiciously shortened road course at Circuit of the Americas, Bell won his second straight race in NASCAR‘s premier division and indicated, without boast, that there likely are more victories to come.

"I‘m ready to keep adding to it," Bell said after the race.

That prospect isn‘t far-fetched. In fact, given the speed in his No. 20 Toyota and the flawless execution by his team, it‘s not inconceivable that Bell could extend his winning streak to three or four races.

He‘s the defending winner of this Sunday‘s Shriners Children‘s 500 at Phoenix Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM). In last year‘s season finale at the same one-mile flat track, Bell led a race-high 143 laps before finishing fifth.

In two of the last three races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the Cup Series will race on Mar. 16, Bell has finished second after winning the pole. In the 2024 Playoff event at the 1.5-mile track, Bell led a race-high 155-laps but finished second to Joey Logano by 0.662 second.

If any race was emblematic of Bell‘s performance in 2024, it was that close call at Las Vegas. The No. 20 car often had winning speed, but Bell and his team all too often failed to deliver the coup de grace.

This season seems vastly different. A dirt-track Prometheus unchained from team owner Joe Gibbs‘ prohibition against extracurricular racing, Bell entered 2025 with renewed confidence, steeled determination and, yes, unbridled joy.

Before turning a lap in a NASCAR Cup car, the 30-year-old from Norman, Oklahoma, won the 55-lap Non-Wing Outlaw feature at the Tulsa Shootout in a photo finish over 2021 NASCAR champion Kyle Larson.

On Jan. 13, he dominated the Chili Bowl Race of Champions against world-class midget race car drivers. On February 6, after finishing 12th in the Cook Out Clash for Cup cars at Bowman Gray Stadium, Bell won his first World of Outlaws winged sprint car feature event since 2019.

Success on dirt no doubt has contributed to Bell‘s sanguine posture entering the Cup Series regular season. But why would Gibbs relax his long-standing ban on moonlighting in other forms of racing?

"I think as much as anything, we have three of our guys (Bell, new hire Chase Briscoe and grandson Ty Gibbs) heavily involved in dirt stuff," Gibbs said. "I felt like that the thing that I probably made the decision on, they’re really focused just on racing.

"They love it, and they talked about the offseason, being able to get a chance to race some dirt stuff would help fill their time and get them excited about things. We’ll kind of see where he leads, but I made that decision, and we’ll kind of see what happens with it."

So far, so good.

After victories at Atlanta and COTA, Bell will try for three straight at Phoenix, a feat no Cup driver has accomplished since NASCAR introduced its Next Gen Cup car in 2022. Larson is the last driver to have won three consecutive Cup races, which he did twice during his 10-victory season in 2021.

Bell knows it won‘t be easy, given the way the Next Gen car has leveled the competition.

"Back in the day, I remember it was the big three," Bell said. "Everyone had the big three. It was Kyle (Busch), Martin (Truex Jr.) and (Kevin) Harvick there for a little bit, and different guys would come and go. It seemed like those teams had a little bit extra.

"Now, with the Next Gen car, you can’t really get that advantage. Winning has certainly become harder. More guys are capable of it. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing is debatable, but it’s the sport that we live in and compete in right now."

This year, Bell does seem to have something extra, but it comes from within. He appears more resolute, with higher expectations.

"It‘s time to start putting it all together,” he said. "I‘m sitting here 30 years old and (have) the opportunity of a lifetime in front of me. I‘ve had this team for a long time, and I haven‘t been performing to the standards that I hold myself and this team holds everybody.

"So, we need to start today, and we‘re off to a good start this year."

Another win at Phoenix certainly isn‘t out of the question. Neither is a victory at Las Vegas, though winning four straight is a long shot for any competitor.

In NASCAR‘s modern era (from 1972 to present), only eight drivers—Cale Yarborough (1976), Darrell Waltrip (1981), Dale Earnhardt Sr. (1987), Harry Gant (1991), Bill Elliott (1992), Mark Martin (1993), Jeff Gordon (1998) and Jimmie Johnson (2007)—have won four straight races.

Five of those drivers—Yarborough, Waltrip, Earnhardt, Gordon and Johnson—won championships in the years they established the streaks.

Bell could be next in both categories, if the last two races are any indication.

"I think it‘s a testament to this team," Bell said. "They have no weaknesses. We can win at any race track at any time… I feel like we may have a ride. I don‘t want to speak too early, but doing good so far."

— NASCAR Wire Service —