Rising like a rocket into the atmosphere, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell has soared to the NASCAR Cup Series standings lead following his first win of the 2023 season at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt.
The win was the fifth of his career and his first at the half-mile track. Now, for the third consecutive season (2021-2023), the 28-year-old Oklahoma native has locked himself into the Playoffs and has also earned a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race that will be held on May 21 at the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Atop the standings, Bell holds a 13-point lead over Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain in second and a 26-point lead over Stewart-Haas Racing’s veteran Kevin Harvick in third.
Through eight race this season, Bell has put up one win (Bristol Dirt), five top fives (series-most) and six top 10s (tied with Alex Bowman for series-most). Bell is the seventh different winner and the fourth different points leader through the first eight races of the season.
“We knew this was going to be a good stretch of races,” said Bell. “Obviously wanted to capitalize on it.
Last year through the Playoffs, it was a really big eye opener of Playoff points, how important they are. Frankly, we didn’t have very many of them last year. The only thing that pays Playoff points is race wins and stage wins. Thankfully, we have five in the bank now and we need to get some more.”
Looking to Martinsville this weekend, Bell must be encouraged about keeping up this early season success, as he is the most recent winner at 0.526-mile track, taking the victory last Fall in the Playoff race to earn his spot in the Championship 4 Round.
“I feel good about going back to Martinsville,” said Bell. “It’s going to be certainly different with the low downforce package. But it’s different for everybody. I feel like we were the best car there in the Fall, so hopefully we can do our homework and make sure to study the differences between Richmond and Phoenix with the low downforce package and what we expect at Martinsville.”
In six NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville Speedway, Bell has put up one win (2022), one top five and two top 10s. His average finish at the half-mile track is 14.6, and he has led 159 laps.
NASCAR Cup Series’ short track swing culminates at Martinsville Speedway
Amid a short track swing on the 2023 season schedule, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the half-mile Martinsville Speedway for the NOCO 400 this Sunday, April 16 at 3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio – the third of three consecutive tracks measuring less than a mile (Richmond, Bristol and Martinsville).
Martinsville Speedway, at 0.526-mile in length, is the longest continuously running track on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, and the only currently active track that was a part of the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series season in 1949.
Martinsville Speedway was originally a dirt track and the facility hosted 12 NASCAR Cup Series races on the then dirt surface before paving the track in the late summer months of 1955, between the track’s two Cup races that season.
In total, there have been 148 NASCAR Cup Series races held at Martinsville Speedway, one race in the inaugural year (1949) and two races per year since 1950.
The first NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway was on September 25, 1949 and won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Red Byron driving an Oldsmobile for car owner Raymond Parks.
The first 500-lap Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway was in 1956 and the event was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Buck Baker from the pole position. Baker was driving a 1956 Dodge for car owner Carl Kiekhaefer. The now famous concrete corners were added atop asphalt in 1976 making the already uniquely ‘paperclip’ shaped track that much more one-of-a-kind.
Martinsville Speedway’s 148 races have produced 63 different pole winners and 57 different race winners over the years. This weekend, 10 of the 57 NASCAR Cup Series Martinsville Speedway race winners are active.
