So Joe Gibbs Racing simply swept your entire first spherical of the NASCAR playoffs, and Christopher Bell is already throwing chilly water on the celebration. Speak about being a buzzkill at your individual victory get together. However actually? The man is perhaps onto one thing right here, even when it’s not what Toyota followers wish to hear proper now.
After his Bristol triumph accomplished JGR’s good trifecta (alongside Chase Briscoe’s Darlington win and Denny Hamlin’s Gateway victory), Bell dropped some critical actuality on everybody’s parade. Regardless of admitting he’s driving the perfect vehicles of his profession, the 20 Toyota pilot isn’t shopping for into the hype that they’ve received this championship factor locked up.
The Good Information That Isn’t Really That Good
Bell didn’t mince phrases when speaking about Toyota‘s present kind. “It’s simply all of the Toyotas are super-fast proper now,” he mentioned, most likely whereas his PR workforce frantically took notes about staying humble. “That is the perfect race vehicles I’ve needed to drive within the Cup Collection in comparison with the competitors in my profession.”
And he’s not improper. The Toyota Camry TRDs have been completely demolishing the competitors currently. It’s not simply JGR both – 23XI Racing has been securing front-row finishes like they’re gathering Pokemon playing cards, and even Legacy Motor Membership is immediately trying respectable. When your producer is firing on all cylinders like this, you’d suppose it’s champagne time, proper?
Unsuitable. As a result of Bell needed to go and be all logical about it.
The Actuality Verify That No person Requested For
Right here comes the half the place Bell turns into the voice of cause that completely no person needed to listen to. “The dangerous information is we’re not working Phoenix subsequent week and there’s nonetheless an extended strategy to go to get there,” he defined, apparently forgetting that confidence is meant to be a driver’s finest pal.
However wait, there’s extra pessimism the place that got here from. “I can promise you, at any time when we get to Phoenix, it’s not going to be a runaway. Regardless of who’s in that Ultimate 4, it’s all the time a dogfight.”
Why Bell’s Pessimism May Really Be Genius
Look, as a lot because it pains me to confess it, Bell’s cautious optimism (or is it optimistic pessimism?) is perhaps the neatest factor any JGR driver has mentioned all season. The man’s mainly saying, “Hey, we’re quick now, however Phoenix is a distinct beast completely.”
And he’s completely proper. Phoenix Raceway has this annoying behavior of creating the common season look utterly irrelevant. Simply ask any driver who dominated all 12 months solely to get their championship goals crushed within the desert.
The Historic Actuality That Backs Up Bell’s Considerations
Right here’s the place issues get actually attention-grabbing (and barely miserable for JGR followers). Since NASCAR carried out this present playoff format in 2014, solely two drivers have had the perfect general ending common within the 10-race playoffs and really received the championship. Two! Out of 11 seasons!
Martin Truex Jr. pulled it off in 2017, and Joey Logano managed it in 2018. That’s it. Everybody else who dominated the playoffs? They received to look at another person hoist the trophy whereas most likely questioning their life decisions.
