AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Larson is aware of the sensation of successful three consecutive NASCAR Cup Series races.
Up till Sunday, he was the final to perform that feat, successful back-to-back-to-back Cup occasions throughout his 2021 Cup championship season.
One in every of Larson’s greatest rivals, Christopher Bell, earned his third race trophy in 15 days, as he adopted victories at Atlanta and Circuit of the Americas with a triumph Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
It marked the primary time a driver has gained three consecutive Cup races with the Subsequent Gen automobile launched in 2022 and the primary time a driver has gained three of the primary 4 races since Kevin Harvick did it in 2018.
“It is extraordinarily robust to win two in a row, I really feel like, within the Subsequent Gen period, and for them to win three in a row is absolutely spectacular,” Larson mentioned. “Their group is simply sturdy. Their race vehicles are actually quick. Bell is an exceptional racecar driver, clearly.”
Bell’s triumph Sunday got here after he led 105 of the 312 laps in what probably would have been considerably of a runaway, if not for some late cautions. Bell had a side-by-side battle with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin within the ultimate two-lap sprint to the end, edging Hamlin by 0.049 seconds on the end line.
“I believed I had misplaced the race coming to the white flag on the underside with Denny on my exterior. After which I as soon as once more felt like I had misplaced the race coming to the checkered flag down the again straightaway at any time when Denny was on the skin,” Bell mentioned.
“I do not understand how I gained. I do understand how I gained. The [No.] 5 automobile [of Larson] gave me an incredible shove coming off the flip ahead to push me to the road, and that was the distinction maker.”
Hamlin has earned 54 Cup victories in his profession. This marked Bell’s twelfth, together with his three consecutive wins coming at three very totally different tracks. These got here at a drafting observe at Atlanta, a highway course at COTA and a flat one-mile observe at Phoenix. At Phoenix, there was the added twist of groups getting to decide on between two totally different tire choices through the race.
“Clearly, you see a achieve in efficiency there, however you don’t know [why]. It could possibly be numerous various things,” mentioned Hamlin, a JGR teammate of Bell’s about his three-race successful streak. “Is it our vehicles higher? Is it circumstances in a speedway race or road-course race or like this one? I suppose he in all probability dominated.
FINAL LAPS: Christopher Bell takes checkered flag at Shriners Youngsters’s 500 to win third straight Cup Collection race
“I do not know. Circumstance or not, three in a row is fairly spectacular and no matter they’re doing is simply working.”
His group proprietor, Joe Gibbs, couldn’t clarify how Bell might win three races after ending 2024 with a 19-race winless streak.
“I’ve obtained to let you know the reality,” mentioned the famed soccer coach. “I do not know that I’ve a solution for that.”
What he is aware of is what he sees in Bell and crew chief Adam Stevens, who gained two Cup titles with Kyle Busch.
“All of us sort of watch him, the expertise he has,” Gibbs mentioned about Bell. “I believe it reveals up. [These three wins] says rather a lot in regards to the expertise.
“Adam and Christopher are an actual pair. Adam, clearly you possibly can inform he has a present being a crew chief.”
Bell has a easy clarification of why he went winless over the second half of 2024 to now successful three in a row in 2025.
“We must always have gained rather a lot, however we did not win any,” Bell mentioned. “It was simply unhealthy fortune, some lack of execution. … The efficiency had been there. It was simply getting every little thing to line up, and now we’re clicking.”
The query now could be when will the streak finish? The sequence heads to Las Vegas and Homestead the subsequent two weeks. These are two sturdy tracks for Bell.
“The extra wins you get, the extra confidence you get in addition to your group will get,” Larson mentioned. “He is attending to go to Vegas, one other observe the place he is silly quick after which Homestead perhaps after that?
“I do not know the place we go after Homestead, however I am positive he’s quick there as nicely. It’s good to get on a streak this early within the 12 months. … It simply units your season up in a great spot.”
No driver has gained 4 consecutive races since Jimmie Johnson in 2007.
“All people’s grinning ear to ear and simply making an attempt to journey the wave,” Bell mentioned. “I’ve raced lengthy sufficient all through my life that I do know it is available in waves. And there are occasions the place it simply seems like you possibly can’t do something proper, and there are occasions the place you are feeling like you possibly can’t do something unsuitable.
“I am simply going to maintain dwelling and using it out so long as we are able to.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports activities. He has spent many years masking motorsports, together with over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting Information, NASCAR Scene journal and The (Daytona Seashore) Information-Journal. Comply with him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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