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Christopher Bell evaluates first half of 2026 NASCAR season: 'It's been disappointing'

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones05/12/26brianjones_93

Christopher Bell knows he missed some opportunities to win multiple races during the first half of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. On3 caught up with Bell ahead of the Watkins Glen race this past Sunday and asked him how he would evaluate his performance in the first 11 races of the year.

“It’s been disappointing for sure, not from a speed or performance standpoint, but from a results standpoint,” Bell, who finished 21st at Watkins Glen, told On3. “It’s been extremely disappointing. I look back at the races, we’re 11 races in, got zero wins. But I very easily could have had three or four wins by now. It didn’t work out; some of it is bad luck, I’ve made a couple mistakes.”

Bell continued, “I look back at Bristol Motor Speedway. We had one of our best cars all year, and I got a speeding penalty that took us out of it. Going back to Texas last week, I drove all the way to the lead, leading the race, and got caught up in a spinning car, wrecked out of it. And then at Kansas, a couple of weeks before that, Atlanta, the list goes on and on and on about races we’ve could have won.”

Where Christopher Bell currently sits in the NASCAR standings

After a P35 finish at Daytona and a P21 finish at Atlanta, Christopher Bell finished third, second, and fourth at COTA, Phoenix, and Las Vegas, respectively. Since then, the only other top-10 finish for the 31-year-old was at Martinsville (P7) on Mar. 29.

Bell’s slow start to the 2026 season is the polar opposite of what he did in 2025. Through the first 12 races last year, Bell had three wins, eight top-10 finishes, and six top-five finishes. His fast start resulted in him finishing fifth in the final standings.

Despite not having a win yet this year, Bell is in a position to compete for a Cup Series title. He is currently in 11th place in the standings and needs to be in the top 16 to qualify for the 10-race Chase later this year. Bell will win a race this season, but if he can get a victory soon, he will move up in the standings and have a better chance to win his first Cup Series championship.