Bell 'in the hunt' after strong Phoenix showing

Christopher Bell is finally right where he wants to be in the NASCAR Cup Series championship fight.

Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway didn't produce a win for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, but it was a performance that had to have felt just as good given its impact. Bell led a race-high 85 laps and finished fourth, but he moved to second in the championship standings.

Bell is now only five behind leader Kyle Larson. That is the closest he’s been since the Chase started.

“It’s going to be a battle, that’s for sure, but we’re right there in it,” Bell said. “I’m really proud of our team; they’ve been doing a really good job of bringing fast race cars, executing races, we’ve been able to qualify well, run up front in the stages, and yeah. I felt like our performance probably tapered off a little bit as the day went on, but we had the right strategy to put tires on at the end and had good restarts to get some track position.”

After winning the first Chase race, Bell has had a frustrating road since. Mostly because of missed opportunities to win again and a deficit that ballooned to as much as 55 points after Las Vegas (Oct. 4).

The emotions have been clear on Bell’s face after every race.

Despite the ups and downs, Bell's belief hadn’t changed: the No. 20 team needed to stay the course. The cars are fast enough, and execution and race wins will make the difference. Now they are back within striking distance with three races to go.

“We’re in the hunt,” Bell said. “That’s all you can ask for.”