RELATED: Truck Series Playoff standings
Christopher Bell’s current wave of performance comes at an opportune time, nearly halfway through the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs. His next challenge comes in the Round of 6, which will set the field for the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 17.
Bell will kick off the final three-race stanza Saturday, Oct. 28, at Martinsville Speedway, hoping to keep the hot hand and protect his edge in the points standings. He joins defending series champ Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton, John Hunter Nemechek, Ben Rhodes and Austin Cindric as the six remaining drivers in championship contention.
There are no more off weeks on the Truck Series schedule, which goes from diminutive .526-mile Martinsville to 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway before concluding the round at 1-mile Phoenix Raceway. Those events will trim the postseason field from six drivers to four for the Homestead-Miami finale.
Bell already carries a significant advantage in the Round of 6 standings, having amassed 47 playoff points to date. That total includes five points for each of his five race victories, one point for each of seven stage wins, and his 15-point bonus for claiming the Regular-Season Championship.
That effectiveness has given the 22-year-old Bell a 20-point margin over Sauter and a 34-point cushion over the cut line. The Oklahoma native has finished no worse than third place in the last four races, and his sweeping victory (overall race win plus two stage wins) in the last round’s opener at New Hampshire only solidified his grip on the top spot.
Like Bell, Sauter and Crafton are also vying for a return trip to the Championship 4 showdown. Each have had their share of success at Martinsville: Sauter has three career Truck Series wins at the Virginia short track, and Crafton has two.