There are a lot of opinions surrounding which drivers are best suited to win the NASCAR 2026 Cup Championship based on the new format, and everyone has different stops from where they believe they could win. 

While Joe Gibbs Racing’s veteran driver and current championship leader Denny Hamlin had said that the eventual victor will come from the top 3-4 spots, maybe maximum the 5th place finisher, one of his teammates has a different opinion. 

Christopher Bell, who currently sits in 10th, believes that he and others have a genuine shot at winning the Cup series because of the way the Chase format allows for a more competitive driver pool. 

Speaking to PNR Live on a video uploaded to Instagram, the No. 20 JGR driver gave his thoughts on how low he thinks the Championship can be won from. 

Bell said, “If you're able to go on a tear and win a lot of races, then you can make up a ton of points. So I think that that's opened the door. And, you know, to Joey's point, if anyone, anyone in that top maybe not the top 16, but certainly the top 10- if you're able to win races, you're gonna make up a lot of points, and I don't think you're gonna be out of it.”

The JGR driver spoke in the context of how the Chase prevents early-season runaways from claiming the title on an early peak while the new format allows consistency to be a more solid route to the title. 

Bell mentioned Logano’s point because it was the Team Penske driver who had spoken about how difficult it would be to win the Cup series if you entered the Chase in 12th. 

Bell believes the new champion will be a deserving one

Before this season, with the playoff format and the win-and-you’re-in formats allowed drivers to perform at a handful of races and still have a genuine shot at winning the title. 

Now, with the Chase system that will see the points reset, drivers will get points based on where they are on the leaderboard after 26 races. This opens up the last 10 races for an all-out battle where consistency will now be the key. 

For a driver like Christopher Bell, who is the only JGR driver to not have a win yet this season, that opens up the possibility to win if he can have a strong run in the Chase. 

Speaking to PNR Live, Bell said, “I'm super, super excited about this Chase format. I think whoever the champion is gonna be, obviously I want it to be me, but whoever it is is gonna be a very, very deserving champion.”

“And really, you know, for the first time since I've been in the sport, you know, I think it's... all of us are gonna be able to celebrate the champion for sure,” he added. 

Bell believes he’s still in with a shot and that confidence means that there are many more contenders for the Cup crown this season beyond those who finish the regular season in the top five slots. 

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason