Same song, different verse in Iowa for Bell

It was the same song, different verse for Christopher Bell.

The driver of the No. 20 for Joe Gibbs Racing finished second for the seventh time in a NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at Iowa Speedway. This time, Bell was unable to overtake his teammate, Ty Gibbs, in the run to the finish after the cycle of green-flag pit stops.

Bell had four tires. Gibbs had two.

“This is what you call a bad second-place finish for sure,” Bell said. “I don’t know. I don’t know what else to say. Ty did a really good job. He did a great job managing the race; I could tell he was slipping and sliding around, and similar to two weeks ago with Corey Heim, he just didn’t make a mistake. So, P2.”

The final pit stops for Bell and Gibbs came with 60 laps to go. Bell was the race leader at the time, and Gibbs followed him down pit road. But the two-tire call jumped Bell on pit road, and he never regained the position.

Gibbs and Bell cycled to the front when Ross Chastain, who had run long on the cycle, pitted with 21 laps to go. Bell got close, made a few attempts to the inside and outside of Gibbs, but never had enough to take the race lead.

“It was more of the same every time I would get to him,” Bell said. “I actually found a little free speed by downshifting, and it seemed like that really, really increased my pace. But the tires would just get so hot, I would start slipping and sliding, and anytime I got near him, and I was trying to advance my position and get beside him, I would just slide.

“I got there a couple of times but never got by him.”

Bell has not won since September 2025. But after sitting as far back as 12th in the championship standings this season, including after San Diego in late June, Bell has climbed to sixth. In the new Chase format, there is no reseeding for drivers, and a high point position when the postseason starts will help a team’s championship chances.

“We’ve been stacking these second-place point days up,” Bell said. “Ultimately, there are so many more points if you win. I say stacking these second-place point days up, think about the 15 bonus points that I could have had if those seconds were first. The points would look a lot different.

“The one thing I’m excited about is we’re still alive. After how rough this season has been for us, we’re still alive in the title fight, and today helped our case for that.”