Christopher Bell a narrow 2nd in Charlotte again. ‘I’m just in shock right now’
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With the scrum around him on pit road, Christopher Bell couldn’t quite put his disappointment into words.
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“I think I’m just in shock right now,” he said. “I didn’t think it was going to end like that.”
Bell and his No. 20 Toyota came in second behind Chase Briscoe, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, at the 2026 Bank of America 400 on Sunday. The deficit was 0.029 seconds, the second-closest finish in Charlotte Motor Speedway history.
The finish turned out to be a drag race after Bell took the inside on the final turn and briefly bumped into Briscoe.
“I thought I stalled him, and then I kind of got out of shape,” Bell said. “I guess I should’ve stayed into him a little bit harder and tried to nose him to the line.”
At the end, it came down to the two drivers pressing down the gas pedal.
“I thought that I could out-drag race him, and I didn’t,” Bell said.
It has been a frustrating last two races at Charlotte for Bell, who also placed second back in May at the Coca-Cola 600, when Daniel Suárez beat him.
For Joe Gibbs,, watching two of his four racers duke it out to the checkered flag was exciting and stressful.
“That’s always when I’m the most nervous,” he said, “when a couple of our cars are up front. Because I know how bad Christopher wants to win, how bad Chase wants to win.”
But Bell ultimately kept it respectful. Briscoe, who said he met Bell racing online when he was 12 or 13 and “instantly became really good buddies,” expected nothing less.
“Out of all the people that I could have raced against there at the line, Christopher is the most respectable guy in the garage,” Briscoe said. “I knew he wasn’t going to do anything to me to wreck me — where other guys may have done that.”
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Although Briscoe came out on top, he said he had always looked up to Bell. The driver of the No. 20 car has been a role model for him before either of them were Cup Series winners.
“Christopher, for me, was always truthfully the bar,” Briscoe said. “I just always based myself off of him because I knew that I had grown up with him and kind of knew his background was the exact same as mine.”
When Briscoe started his Cup career and saw Bell winning, he knew it meant he could too.
“I always felt like if I could get the opportunity, I could do the same thing,” Briscoe said.
After all, he had beaten him on the simulator many times, including in intense finishes like Sunday’s.
“To think that when we were racing online 16 years ago and having photo finishes, that one day we’d be doing it in the Cup Series,” Briscoe said. “It’s just a pretty cool story.”
Bell came into the race 55 points behind Cup Series Chase leader Kyle Larson. After Sunday’s race, Bell now stands 51 points behind Larson. He won 93 laps and Stage 2.
“It’s useless,” Bell said, referring to the points he gained. “It doesn’t do any good in the grand scheme of things.”
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