NASCAR Barometer: Bell Becomes Season's 14th Different Winner

Christopher Bell raced to the front for the final 42 laps Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to win his second series race, becoming the 14th different driver to win this season. That victory turned the screws even tighter on those drivers left fighting for their first visit to Victory Lane as yet another playoff spot to be claimed on points vanished. Just two playoff spots remain for nonwinners with a further six races remaining in the regular season. The second of those two spots is now held by Bell's teammate Martin Truex Jr. The former champion dominated the early portions of Sunday's race, but a strategic call on pit road didn't pan out, and he struggled to get back to the front after it. He and some other of the sport's biggest names are feeling the temperature rise as Victory Lane remains elusive.

The quest for those final playoff spots continues this week at Pocono Raceway. The track hosted a double-header race weekend the past two seasons, but will only host one race in 2022. Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch were the victors last season, but the track has produced surprise winners in the past. That fact will not be lost on those fighting for their hopes in the championship either. The window for entry into the playoff battle is rapidly closing and playoff hopefuls have their sights set on Pocono to secure their ticket to the party.

UPGRADE

Christopher Bell – Bell grabbed his second series win at one of his best tracks in Sunday's Ambetter 301. After winning three straight at New Hampshire in the Xfinity Series, Bell made the breakthrough in the Cup Series. He scored stage points in both opening segments, then drove to the front, taking over the lead with just over 40 laps to go, and never looked back. Bell said after the race that he felt competitive enough to win early in the season but struggled the last two weeks only to come up big in New Hampshire. His win put him solidly into the championship battle with 14 of the 16 playoff spots taken by race winners. Last season's Pocono races were his best, finishing ninth and fourth in the double-header, too. 

Martin Truex Jr. – The weekend got off to a great start for Truex when he qualified on pole for the first time this season. His car performed while right from the start as he went on the dominate and win the first stage, too. Things continued to his favor when he went on to grab the second stage victory as well. However, a two-tire stop in the final stage was detrimental to the car's handling and left the former champion struggling further back in the field. Things slowly came back to him as the laps wore down, and he rallied to secure a fourth-place finish. Truex has two previous wins at Pocono and led 10 laps before finishing 11th in the second of the double-header races at the track last season. Last week might have been a missed opportunity for him as he now sits on the playoff bubble, 68 points ahead of Kevin Harvick.

Chase Elliott – Elliott's run of top form extended another week with a runner-up finish at New Hampshire. The second-place result is fourth in as many races and his fifth consecutive top-10 since St. Louis. The former champion is on the best run of form in the field and has a full head of momentum as the playoff approach. He spent Sunday's entire race among the top five, picking up stage points in both segments, then led 13 laps before Bell took the point and drove off to victory. Elliott leads the series with three victories and is the only driver with more than 700 points currently. Fantasy players should get a good picture of how robust his current form is this week at Pocono. His best finish in the two races there last season was 12th. He has never won at the track but does have seven top-10s from 12 career starts.

Brad Keselowski – Sunday's Ambetter 301 was an interesting one for Keselowski. The owner-driver qualified well, but he missed the points in both opening segments. Things then took a bizarre twist when Austin Dillon intentionally bumped the No. 6 under caution, only for Keselowski to react by driving even harder into the side of Dillon, driving both toward the infield grass, damaging his own car. After pitting for new tires and some quick fixes Keselowski climbed his way back through the field again. By the finish he was seventh, which was his best result of the year and his third top-10. Roush has been competitive at Pocono in the past even prior to Keselowski joining the organization, and with 15 top-10s from 24 starts, including six finishes of 11th or better there heading into this week, it could be another good week for the No. 6.

DOWNGRADE

Joey Logano – Logano's No. 22 team used strategy to gain track position. The move paid off at first and he took stage points in the second segment. The second time they tried it there wasn't the yellow-flag opportunity that would have enabled it to stick. Then, contact with Elliott, damaged his left rear, making the car a challenge to drive for the remainder of the race. Logano slipped down the order and finished the day 24th despite leading 25 laps. Logano is in a safe playoff position with two wins to his credit this season, but he and the entire Penske organization are searching for momentum as the playoffs approach. Logano is a former winner at Pocono, though. He scored two top-10s there last season and could find the spark they need this week to help turn things around.

Ryan Blaney – The playoff picture got a little more challenging for Blaney last week. The Team Penske driver has been near the top of the point standings all season but has yet to score a win this season. His lack of a victory is becoming more of a hindrance each week. Another new winner at New Hampshire leaves just two playoff positions for drivers to get in on points. Blaney holds a 37-point advantage over Truex and a 105-point advantage over Kevin Harvick, the first driver outside of the top 16. However, with six regular-season races remaining there is still a good chance that there could be two more new winners. If that happens and Blaney isn't one of them then he will not be part of the championship fight no matter how many points he has. Pressure is ramping up and a win at Pocono might be the only thing to relieve it.

Alex Bowman – Bowman's New Hampshire visit started with a disappointing qualifying effort that left him starting 27th for Sunday's race. That bad qualifying then put him in terrible position early in the race as Ty Dillon and Justin Haley had contact ahead of him, sending Dillon spinning and taking Bowman completely out of the race. The early exit Sunday was the third result worse than 30th in the last five races with the playoffs rapidly approaching. This team needs to put their struggles in the rearview mirror and begin building momentum quickly. Pocono has been decent for them recently, though. Bowman has a win and two other top-10s in the last three races at the track. He needs a good result this coming week to start putting the pieces in place for a championship fight.

Austin Cindric – Cindric and team made some adjustments after a disappointing qualifying and drove forward in the field to finish 13th Sunday. The effort was a good one, but the team also lost a wheel following a pit stop during the final stage break. He was just the latest of drivers to suffer a similar fate and will have to suffer the penalties that arise. The car was quick, though. Despite reversing on pit road to have the wheel replaced he still finished 13th on the afternoon. The likely crew suspensions will be difficult to stomach with races dwindling as the playoffs approach. The loss of time working together through the next few weeks will be an added challenge for the team to overcome and be at their best when the championship battle kicks off. Their first test in moving forward will be this week's Pocono race where Cindric won in Xfinity last season.

Austin Dillon - Taking exception with how Keselowski raced him, Dillon swerved into the No. 6 machine under caution to show his displeasure. Keselowski then retaliated, and the damage to both cars sent the pair to pit road. Neither team admitted to knowing why the drivers were feuding, but Dillon said after the race that he has been on the receiving end of some rough racing by Keselowski in the past and wasn't pleased that it happened again in New Hampshire. Dillon came off the worst of the duo, though. Despite closing some ground in the playoffs he fell further behind with a 23rd-place finish, his third in a row worse than 20th. Dillon now sits 20th in the standings and faces a must-win situation to enter this season's playoff battle.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Bubba Wallace – New Hampshire was never one of Wallace's best venues. That trend changed last week with one of Wallace's best races of the season so far. The team put the car fourth in an impressive qualifying effort, and then Wallace backed that pace up in the race as he spent the majority of the distance running inside the top 10. He finished third to score his second top-five of the season. That was his first top-five since the season opening Daytona 500 and his first top-10 since Kansas in May. Sunday's results show that when Wallace and the team have the right circumstances they can be potential winners. To continue improving they need to find that same form at more tracks and then build consistency each week. They could start that this week at Pocono, where Wallace had another top-five last year.