LAS VEGAS — Christopher Bell sometimes can’t believe seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson even knows he exists. And when Bell’s phone lights up with a new text message from the NASCAR Hall of Famer, he can’t stop himself from freaking out a little bit.
But the texts have come three weeks in a row now — after Bell’s victories on Feb. 23 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, March 2 at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and last weekend at Phoenix Raceway — and Bell hopes Johnson hits that send button again Sunday, when the Cup Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Bell has the chance to become the first driver since Johnson in 2007 to win four consecutive Cup Series races — an accomplishment that only eight drivers have achieved in NASCAR’s modern era that began in 1972. The 30-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver will start 13th in his No. 20 Toyota.
“It is still the coolest thing in the world to me that I have Jimmie Johnson in my phone,” Bell said of the former Hendrick Motorsports star who is now the majority owner of Legacy Motor Club (and occasionally a third driver for the team). “He has talked to me, he has sent me a text message after every win so far.
“I’m still shocked every time I see his name pop up. I respect the heck out of him. It’s an honor to know that he thinks of me after the race to send a text message. That is so cool.”
Bell’s three straight wins marks the Cup Series’ longest winning streak since Hendrick’s Kyle Larson won three in a row twice in 2021 on his way to that year’s championship. Bell is the first to do it in NASCAR’s Next Gen car, which was introduced in 2022.
Among those who have accomplished the feat, seven are in NASCAR’s Hall of Fame and six are Cup Series champions.
The drivers who have won four consecutive races in the modern era are Cale Yarborough in 1976, Darrell Waltrip in 1981, Dale Earnhardt in 1987, Harry Gant in 1981, Bill Elliott in 1992, Mark Martin in 1993, Jeff Gordon in 1998 and Johnson 18 years ago. Gant is not in the Hall of Fame, but NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list released during the series’ 75-year anniversary season in 2023 included him, along with the other six drivers in the group.
Johnson tied the record already shared by Earnhardt and Richard Petty for most Cup Series championships when he won title No. 7 in 2016.
Bell’s three wins this year have already tied his single-season high for victories set in 2022 and matched in 2024, and breaking his personal mark isn’t out of the question at Las Vegas, where he has five career top-10 finishes in 10 starts on the 1.5-mile oval. Bell was the runner-up in the fall race at the track the past two years.
He is not considering a fourth consecutive victory a lock despite his domination during the first month of the regular season while winning on a variety of tracks. After contending before being wrecked late in the season-opening Daytona 500 — always a possibility on a superspeedway such as Daytona International Speedway — he won on the high-banked, high-speed 1.54-mile oval at Atlanta, the road course in Austin and the 1-mile flat oval at Phoenix.
“One thing is for sure — nothing that has happened the last three weeks means anything for this week,” Bell said. “Everything is still ahead of me and nothing is set, and we have to go out there and perform. This has been a strong track for us in the past, but I’m just trying very hard to not get ahead of myself and understand it is a new week. It’s a different race, and everyone is going to be bringing their best stuff to try to beat me.”
Bell is one of just two Toyota drivers who will be among the top 13 on the starting grid for the 36-car field at Las Vegas, with Legacy MC’s Erik Jones the other in fifth.
Veteran driver Michael McDowell earned the first Cup Series pole position in team history for Spire Motorsports, which launched in 2019, when he took the top qualifying spot Saturday in the No. 71 Chevrolet. It’s the seventh career pole for McDowell, who will be joined on the front row by reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford.
Austin Cindric starts third in the Penske No. 2 Ford and is joined on the second row by Kyle Busch in the Richard Childress Racing No. 8 Chevrolet.
The 40-year-old McDowell is in his first season with Spire after driving for multiple teams over the years, including Front Row Motorsports from 2018-24. He has two Cup Series career wins: the 2021 Daytona 500 and a 2023 race on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Spire has shown stark improvement with an infusion of cash brought by new majority owner Dan Towriss, who also controls Andretti Global in IndyCar and the Cadillac team set to debut in Formula 1 next year.
Larson (+400) is the BetMGM Sportsbook favorite to win Sunday, followed by Bell (+450). Larson won last year’s March race at Las Vegas, while Logano won the playoff race there in October.
Sunday’s field will include three Las Vegas natives: Busch, Front Row’s Noah Gragson and 23XI Racing’s Riley Herbst.