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Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin recently shed light on why his teammate Christopher Bell feels he is overlooked by fans, despite achieving significant success in recent years and provided insights into the reasons behind it.
Bell joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2021 and has since won seven races. He is the only driver to reach the final four in the past couple of seasons. Despite outperforming his experienced teammates in the drivers' standings and making it to the season finale, the #20 JGR driver admits that he feels ignored.
Denny Hamlin recently explained that Kevin Harvick sat down with the JGR drivers and asked Bell why he feels overlooked compared to his teammates Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Christopher Bell responded that despite consistently running upfront, he doesn't lead laps, which he believes contributes to him feeling unheeded by fans.
In the latest episode of Actions Detrimental, Hamlin narrated:
"They asked Christopher Bell - 'Why do you feel like you're overlooked at times?' and he says, 'Because I don't lead laps like my teammates, while I do win races, I do run upfront.'" [56:30]
"What people talk about is who's controlling the race, who's showing that they're the best... its style points. He's like 'I think it's somewhat warranted because we're not upfront as much as Martin or Denny is.' I think that plays a role in it, you cannot argue about Christopher Bell's results, he gets results."
Christopher Bell's sentiments are backed by statistics for the ongoing season. He has led only 120 laps, despite securing a race win. In contrast, Denny Hamlin has led 395 laps, and Martin Truex Jr. has led 352 laps. Even Ty Gibbs has led more laps, being up front for 200 laps in the first nine rounds of the season.
Denny Hamlin believes that Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron is also overlooked because he doesn't secure dominant victories. For comparison, Byron has led only 149 laps despite securing three victories, while his teammate Kyle Larson has led 531 laps with only a single victory.
Christopher Bell relieved after making the playoffs
The #20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver has already secured a spot in the playoffs with his victory at Phoenix Raceway in the fourth round of the season.
Christopher Bell is relieved that the worry about making the playoffs no longer hangs over the team. However, he is bothered that he still trails the rest of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates in the drivers' standings.
In a recent interview with Fox Sports, Bell said:
"My season feels like it's going well, but my hauler is still fourth out of the [four] JGR haulers. I feel a lot better about it now that I've won a race at Phoenix and we're locked into the playoffs, so we can solely focus on the task at hand and not have to worry about what's hanging over our head of making the playoffs."
After nine rounds, Bell currently sits in 10th place in the drivers' standings, while Martin Truex Jr. is classified second, Denny Hamlin third, and Ty Gibbs sixth.
