Christopher Bell confident of advancing to the next playoff round after strong NHS showing

Despite Toyota falling short of a top-5 finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell is optimistic about advancing to the NASCAR Round of 8. He believes that the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing team will perform well in the next two races at Kansas Speedway and Charlotte Roval.

Bell led the Toyota camp at The Magic Mile with a sixth-place finish. JGR teammate Chase Briscoe is the only other Toyota driver to score a top-10 finish, while Ford secured a 1-2 with Ryan Blaney and Josh Berry, respectively.

The Oklahoma native argued that the next race at Kansas Speedway is similar to the Round of 16 opener at Darlington Raceway, where the Japanese automaker had six drivers in the top 10, including a 1-2-3-4 finish led by Briscoe. He also pointed out that his team has the potential to deliver strong results on road courses such as the Charlotte Roval, which will host the Round of 12 finale.

In a post-race interview at the 1.058-mile Loudon oval, the #20 JGR driver said (via Speedway Digest):

“I feel good about our performance at the next two, but with that being said, I felt good about our performance coming into here, and it didn't turn out.”

“Kansas is very similar to what we had at Darlington, so hopefully we do good. I think we can. Then surely, the Roval is a road course we're definitely strong at. Optimistic—you never know until you get through them. But today was a good day and off to a good start in the Round of 12,” he added.

Christopher Bell driving the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at NHMS - Source: Imagn

After the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire, Christopher Bell holds a 29-point cushion in fourth in the NASCAR playoff standings. He once again leads the Toyota drivers in this category ahead of Denny Hamlin (+27 in fifth) and Chase Briscoe (+12 in eighth). The other two Toyota drivers currently competing in the postseason are Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, who are both currently at the bottom of the standings, down by 23 and 27 points, respectively.

---

“This is the best racecar I've had to drive”: Christopher Bell on Toyota's dominant performance in the 2025 NASCAR playoffs

After Toyota swept the Round of 16, Christopher Bell applauded the manufacturer, saying his #20 Joe Gibbs Racing car is the most competitive he's driven. He himself delivered one of the wins in the Round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The 30-year-old NASCAR driver sat down with reporters after winning the Bristol night race and said (via Bob Pockrass on X):

“All the Toyotas are super fast right now. And I think I said it last week in my post-race interview, that this is the best race car I've had to drive in the Cup Series compared to the competition in my career.”

Christopher Bell kicked off his Cup Series career in the #95 Toyota at Leavine Family Racing in 2020. He moved to Joe Gibbs Racing the following year and has never missed the playoffs ever since.