Can Christopher Bell win the 2026 NASCAR title?

Christopher Bell could not have asked for a better start to the 2026 NASCAR Chase. After going winless through the regular season, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver finally returned to Victory Lane at Darlington — and did so in the opening race of the championship phase.

The result was worth more than another trophy. Bell jumped from sixth to second in the Chase standings and now sits on 2,123 points, only 12 behind Denny Hamlin, who remains the leader on 2,135.

So, can Bell actually win the 2026 NASCAR title?

Bell has already shown the consistency needed

The most important argument in Bell’s favour is that his winless streak was misleading.

He entered the Chase without a victory, but that did not mean he had been an anonymous contender. Bell had been consistently finishing near the front, including seven runner-up finishes during the 2026 season before finally breaking through at Darlington.

That consistency matters even more under the new Chase format.

Instead of the elimination system used in previous seasons, the 2026 championship is decided over a 10-race Chase, with all 16 contenders remaining in the fight throughout the postseason. The driver who accumulates the most points across those races becomes champion.

That makes Bell’s profile particularly interesting. He does not need to dominate every remaining race. He needs to avoid major point losses while converting strong weekends into victories when opportunities appear.

And Darlington showed he can do exactly that.

The Darlington win was more than a lucky break

Bell’s victory was particularly significant because of how it unfolded.

Kyle Larson had led the race for much of the closing phase, but rain interrupted the event and changed the strategic picture. Bell stopped for fresh tyres while Larson stayed out on older rubber, and the No. 20 Toyota quickly became the fastest car once the race resumed.

Bell caught Larson within two laps and made the decisive pass with 12 laps remaining before winning by 1.038 seconds over team-mate Ty Gibbs.

That is exactly the kind of execution that can win a championship: speed, strategy and the ability to capitalise when circumstances change.

Bell had also demonstrated his race pace before Darlington. At New Hampshire, for example, he finished fourth behind Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace and Josh Berry, while several other championship contenders were also in the top 10.

The problem was not a lack of competitiveness. It was converting that competitiveness into victories.

Darlington finally changed that.

Denny Hamlin is still the benchmark

Bell’s biggest obstacle is sitting in the other Joe Gibbs Racing garage.

Hamlin began the Chase as the regular-season champion and remains the points leader after Darlington. More importantly, he has already demonstrated an ability to recover from difficult situations and consistently score heavily throughout the year.

His advantage, however, is now only 12 points. That is small enough for the championship picture to change completely at the next race.

Hamlin also has a major advantage in experience. The veteran has been through countless championship battles, while Bell has never won the NASCAR Cup Series title.

But the new format reduces the importance of a single late-season collapse. There are still nine races to go, meaning Bell has plenty of opportunities to overturn the deficit without needing Hamlin to suffer a dramatic failure.

Joe Gibbs Racing may be Bell’s biggest advantage — and biggest problem

One of the most striking aspects of the opening Chase race was the strength of Joe Gibbs Racing.

Bell won, Ty Gibbs finished second and Chase Briscoe was sixth, while Hamlin remained the championship leader despite a difficult night. NASCAR’s official post-race analysis described JGR as showing significant strength at the beginning of the Chase.

That gives Bell access to one of the strongest organisations in the championship.

It also creates an internal problem.

Hamlin, Ty Gibbs and Briscoe are all Chase contenders. If JGR continues producing the fastest cars, Bell may spend much of the final nine races fighting his own team-mates for stage points, race wins and championship momentum.

Ty Gibbs, in particular, is worth watching. He finished second at Darlington and entered the Chase after an increasingly strong regular season, including victories at Bristol and Iowa.

Bell’s main rivals are still close

Bell is not simply chasing Hamlin.

Ryan Blaney is third, only 16 points behind the leader, while Tyler Reddick is fourth, 24 points back. Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs are also within 40 points of Hamlin, while Kyle Larson remains a dangerous contender despite falling to seventh after Darlington.

That makes the next few races crucial.

Blaney, for example, arrived at the Chase with strong momentum after winning at New Hampshire and leading 115 of the 301 laps. Ryan Blaney’s New Hampshire win showed his late-season momentum

Larson is another obvious threat. He led 99 laps at Darlington before the late-race tyre strategy left him vulnerable to Bell’s charge. A single difficult result therefore does not erase the speed that made him one of the favourites entering the Chase.

So, can Christopher Bell win the 2026 NASCAR title?

Yes — and after Darlington, he should be considered one of the championship favourites.

The biggest reason is not simply that Bell won. It is that he entered the Chase with a long record of strong finishes, finally converted that pace into a victory and emerged from the opening race just 12 points behind the leader.

The situation is also fundamentally different from the old NASCAR playoff format. There are no elimination rounds and no requirement to survive a series of three-race cutoffs. Bell has nine more races to build his points advantage and can afford an occasional setback as long as he consistently finishes ahead of his main rivals.

The next test comes at Gateway on September 13. If Bell can follow Darlington with another top-five or podium-level performance, the question will no longer be whether he belongs in the championship conversation.

It will be whether Denny Hamlin can stop him.

FAQ

Who is leading the 2026 NASCAR Chase after Darlington?

Denny Hamlin leads the standings with 2,135 points, while Christopher Bell is second on 2,123, just 12 points behind.

How does the 2026 NASCAR Chase work?

The top 16 drivers from the regular season compete across 10 Chase races without eliminations. The driver with the highest cumulative points after the season finale wins the NASCAR Cup Series championship.