Editor’s note: This is the 26th in a series in which we review the top 30 drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in reverse order of the 2025 final standings.
Driver: Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Crew chief: Adam Stevens
Final 2025 ranking: 5th
Key stats: 4 wins, 13 top fives, 22 top 10s, 282 laps led
How 2025 ended: For the second consecutive season, Bell was the first driver on the outside looking in of the Championship 4. His elimination wasn’t quite as dramatic as in 2024, but he needed to essentially outpoint Kyle Larson in the Round of 8 cutoff at Martinsville Speedway to advance. That didn’t happen as Larson ran inside the top five all day, knocking Bell out of the playoffs by seven markers. The No. 20 driver’s 11th-place result in the finale at Phoenix Raceway helped solidify his fourth consecutive season inside the top five of the driver standings.
Best race: Bell dominated the spring event at Phoenix, leading 105 laps and seeming destined for an easy victory. But a late caution set up a two-lap shootout for the win, and Bell held off JGR teammate Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson for his third consecutive triumph, putting an exclamation mark on the first month of the 2025 season. Bell had a Driver Rating of 139.1 over 312 miles, significantly pacing the 37-car field. He earned 57 points on the afternoon, which cut into William Byron’s early Regular Season Championship lead.
RELATED: 2026 Cup Series schedule | Christopher Bell driver page
Other season highlights: Following Bell’s three-race winning streak, the 31-year-old had inconsistencies through the next several months, but earned runner-up finishes at Martinsville, Kansas Speedway, Mexico City and Watkins Glen International leading into the playoffs. After a difficult Southern 500 in which he came home 29th, the Oklahoman went on his best stretch of the season. Beginning at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in September, Bell finished no worse than 11th over the final nine races, also picking up his fourth points-paying victory of the season during the Bristol Night Race. He also became $1 million richer in May, banking his first All-Star Race triumph at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Stat to know: Despite finishing the season in a tie for third most wins, Bell placed just 12th in laps led. Three one-win drivers — Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric, along with winless teammate Ty Gibbs — all turned more laps out front.
Quotable: “I think it was definitely a buildup of frustration and not performing up to our standards, and not getting the results that I think that we should get … Well — not even think; should. We should get better results, and we haven’t been doing that. It was frustration … I want to win. Adam wants to win. All of my team, we all have the same common goal. So I don’t think anybody takes it personal because we all want the same thing. And if I win, it’s good for Adam. If Adam wins, it’s good for me. So I don’t know; it’s professional sports.” — Bell said in September, reflecting on the No. 20 team’s recent stretch a day before winning at Bristol.
MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights
Looking ahead: Bell’s back in the No. 20 Toyota next year for another go-around with JGR, hungry to reach the pinnacle of the sport. Making the Championship 4 in both 2022 and 2023, missing out by one spot each of the last two seasons certainly has to leave a sour taste in the team’s mouth. Bell’s average finish has improved exponentially in each of his six Cup seasons, and that could finally play into his favor in 2026. But as the JGR stable proved during the 2025 playoffs, the organization has at least three championship-contending cars, and for Bell to finally earn a title, the path could run through Huntersville, North Carolina, in one way, shape or form.