Did Christopher Bell steal the victory last week at Bristol? The race saw dominant performances from several other drivers, including his teammates Ty Gibbs, who led a race-high 201 laps, and Chase Briscoe, who led 127 in the 500-lap race. Notably, Bell didn’t lead that many laps.But he bagged the lead exactly when it mattered the most: immediately after that last restart. He then ran the final four laps as the leader, en route to his fourth win of the 2025 season. Now, the question remains: did Christopher Bell steal the race?The driver answered the question during an interview with motorsports reporter Alan Cavana. He thought the Bristol playoff race was a gamble, and that it just played out for the No. 20 team. Giving a shout out to his crew chief, Adam Stevens, Bell said (via Alan Cavana on X),“Smart strategy calls from Adam Stevens of not putting a set of stickers on in the middle of the third stage to make sure that we had some for late in the race.”“I don't know if "stole" is the right word,” Bell continued. “But certainly there were a couple other guys that were in the same position as me, and I was the one who walked away with it.”With the victory, Bell made the Round of 12. The first round of the playoffs went well for Joe Gibbs Racing. After all, they won all three races in the segment. Notably, Ty Gibbs is the only one from the JGR camp who did not make the playoffs this year.Christopher Bell is the defending champion of next week’s race, the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Scheduled for Sunday, September 21, the 301-lap event will stream live on USA (2 pm ET), with exclusive radio coverage on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.Christopher Bell dedicates his Bristol win to Charlie KirkThe NASCAR Bristol race was held just three days following the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk, one of the country’s most renowned right-wing political activists, in Utah. Several NASCAR personalities paid their respects to Kirk through posts and stories on social media.Even Kelley Earnhardt, sister of Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. and CEO of JR Motorsports, took to Instagram and shared her thoughts on the demise of Kirk. Christopher Bell went as far as dedicating his win to Charlie Kirk.During his interview with USA Network, Bell said,“Most importantly, this week has obviously been a very tough week, and there's a lot on our mind. This one is for Charlie.”Next up for Christopher Bell is New Hampshire, where he has won twice earlier and finished second in a race back in 2021. Currently, the Oklahoma native sits fourth in the championship standings, with a 20-point cushion on the playoffs cutoff line.