By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – As the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Round of 8 begins with Sunday’s South Point 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, drivers insist there is still no absolute championship “favorite.” However, one driver that no one would be surprised to see advance to the Championship 4 for a shot at the big trophy is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell – the only driver who has advanced to the title round the last three seasons.

“I got asked the question last week, like who’s the guy, and I mentioned four or five people without mentioning Christopher (Bell), and like, he’s so good; sneaky., like very sneaky, quiet, good. I mean that’s his personality, too. Just quiet,’’ championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson said. “He’s not out talking about how good he’s doing; he’s just doing it. Him and his team are super strong. Yeah, I think they’ve been doing a great job over the last three years, or whatever it’s been.

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, reacts after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 19, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

“I’ve raced with Christopher for so long, so I know how good he is. He is just a quiet, just a smooth, person. smooth racer. Yeah, for whatever reason, he’s flown under the radar his whole NASCAR career, I feel like.”

Bell said he genuinely doesn’t care how much people are talking about him or even if they regard him as a favorite. The 29-year old Oklahoman remains confident and optimistic about his chances to hoist his first NASCAR Cup Series championship trophy. And he’s scored top-10 finishes in the last four Playoff races entering the weekend – his last win coming at the Charlotte oval, New Hampshire and …. Phoenix Raceway, where the championship will be decided on Nov. 10.

“I’ve won three races and 10 stages, so I feel we are every bit as capable as anyone,’’ said Bell, driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota, adding, “I love our chances.

“I just think the way these Playoffs have gone, and the points position we’re in, we’ve been in a conservative mode of just collecting the points that have been given us and moving on. But looking at the regular season, we accumulated the second-most bonus points and put ourselves in a really good spot and Phoenix is probably our best track on the schedule. So if we can make it there, I feel really confident that we’ll have a good shot at it, at least.”

Hamlin Goals

Bell’s JGR teammate Denny Hamlin conceded Friday that he has a lot going on as both a veteran driver for JGR and the 23XI Racing team owner. But Hamlin says he’s just fine with all the balls in the air. The driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota has three wins on the season but that last trophy came 22 races ago (at Dover, Del).

He enters this round of the Playoffs, ranked sixth (eight points out of the fourth-place transfer position) among the eight Playoff drivers. He’s earned three top-10s in the first six Playoff races – a best showing of fourth at Bristol, where he won this Spring.

He has a 12.5 average finish at Las Vegas and is one of four Playoff drivers (also Larson, Joey Logano and William Byron) to have won at all four remaining tracks.

But as busy as Hamlin is managing a busy life, he says he prefers and thrives in that pace.

“I don’t know if I do better, but it is just what I choose, right? “ said Hamlin, a 54-time winner in the series. “I’m a work-acholic in every way, shape and form. It is just what I like to do. I like to set goals and then figure out how the process to achieve those goals, so it is self-inflicted in some instances, but in others, things pile on and you have this going on and that going on, what have you, you just put it in the tackle box, and it is stored away in its own little section, when I have to address it, I go back in there and open up that section of the tackle box and I work on that problem.

“I’d like to think my tackle box is pretty deep, and certainly, got a lot of storage in there. At my age, it is still something that I love to do, there is not a lot that I would like to eliminate from my daily life. As time goes on there is always going to be things that pop up that you just don’t plan for, but it is how do you react in those situations, and how do you manage them.”

Under the Radar

While Larson is coming off a win at the ROVAL last weekend and scored a dominating victory at the Bristol, Tenn. Playoff race four weeks ago (leading 462 of 500 laps), his Hendrick Motorsports teammate – and fellow former series champion – Chase Elliott likes his chances for a second title too.

The 2020 season champion has wins at both Martinsville and Phoenix and a career-best runner-up showing at Las Vegas in 2021 – his last top-10 here.

“Yeah, I think we have a great opportunity for sure and I also feel that if you get to the Round of 8, I truly believe it’s anyone’s game at that point in time. All it takes, is just getting in a good little groove,’’ said Elliott, who is ranked seventh of the eight Playoff drivers – a slim nine-points behind his teammate William Byron in the fourth position entering this three-race round.

“There’s only four races left, so if you get in a good groove this time of year you’re fortunate enough to still be around and have a shot, I think anyone’s whose left could be dangerous.

“I feel we’re in a good spot. I feel good about it and excited about the opportunity.’’

Hometown Favorite

Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch did not qualify for this year’s Playoffs, but he is still highly motivated as the season closes out – and especially so at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his hometown track.

The 39-year old two-time series champion currently boasts a series-best 19-year victory streak. But the driver of the No. 8 RCR Chevrolet hasn’t wo since June 4 of last season (at Gateway, Ill.) – 53 races ago. This season his best work is back-to-back runner-up showings this summer at Daytona Beach and Darlington, S.C. He’s had only a single top-10 (at Atlanta) during this six-race Playoff portion of the schedule.

He is a past winner at his hometown 1.5-miler – winning from pole position in 2009 and scoring six top-10 finishes in the last eight races at the track. Among the four remaining venues – also Homestead-Miami, Martinsville, Va. and Phoenix – Busch said he was optimistic about his chances to visit Victory Lane again.

“You know, you kind of come down towards the closing stages of the regular season, and we had some pretty good runs, we’ve had a couple second-place finishes; some close opportunities and some missed chances there, which really hurt being able to get into the playoffs, for one,’’ Busch said. “But two, to just scratch-off the 20 year question mark. And so here we are again – the last few weeks of the season and trying to get that victory.

“All you can do is try each week and go through the best you can; execute and put yourself in the right spot to have that shot to win. If it doesn’t happen, then you were beaten by others that were better than you. So it’s just all you can do.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, enters his car during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 19, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

Playoff Disappointment for Bowman

Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman finished 18^th at the Charlotte ROVAL last week thinking he had advanced to the Playoffs’ Round of 8 – only to find out hours later that his No. 48 Chevrolet did not pass post-race inspection. The resulting penalty – last place points – was enough to drop Bowman out of the Playoff mix and move the ROVAL’s eighth place finisher – Team Penske’s Joey Logano – into the championship mix.

Bowman brought a good attitude about the disappointment with him to Las Vegas this weekend, frustrated he’s no longer racing for a title, but holding onto perspective.

“[Crew chief] Blake [Harris] called me and wasn’t sure about things and then the next thing I got was [a] tweet and I proceeded to throw my phone in the pool and my phone proceeded to call 911 and tell them I was in a car crash,” Bowman said, managing a smile. “So my Sunday night was not too good.

“Part of life and just moving on and going to do my best this weekend,” he added. “Honestly, it’s just part of the deal. We win and lose as a team. We worked really hard and have done a lot of things right and unfortunately, that situation we did something wrong and really no way around that. Really all we can do is run well the rest of the year and continue doing what we’ve been doing and I think this is a good place for us to go try to win and hopefully, we’ll have a shot at it.”