Christopher Bell has been one spot short of Victory Lane this season. A bunch of times, actually.
In fact, no one has finished second more often in a season without winning a race than Bell, who tied Harry Gant’s 1981 record with a seventh runner-up finish Sunday at Iowa Speedway.
“This is what you call a bad second-place finish,” Bell told USA Sports after climbing from his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
MORE: Iowa results | Cup standings before Richmond
Seven runner-up efforts just leave a driver with different emotions than others. Here’s a look at each time Bell finished second this year and how he felt after the race.
Phoenix Raceway: March 8
Race winner: Ryan Blaney
Margin of victory: 0.399 seconds
What happened: The fourth race of the season produced an incredible performance by Bell and the No. 20 team. Bell led 176 laps, finished second in Stage 1 and won Stage 2 in what appeared to be a day built for his first trip to Victory Lane this year.
Instead, a double whammy of late cautions upended Bell’s hopes of winning his third consecutive Phoenix spring race. A Lap 288 caution for Austin Dillon brought the field to pit road for their final service of the day, with Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs and others electing to take two tires while Bell’s crew opted for four Goodyears.
Bell restarted eighth with 19 laps to go, but the ensuing restart resulted in another quick caution after a multicar crash on the backstretch. That yellow took more time away from Bell to catch Blaney, who escaped to win while Bell was only able to climb back to second place.
Quote: “Ultimately, if we had more green-flag laps, I think we could have made a run at him, but I don’t know. You win some and lose some, and this one stings.”
Charlotte Motor Speedway: May 24
Race winner: Daniel Suárez
Margin of victory: Under caution (rain)
What happened: After leading 44 laps and collecting stage points in two of the three stages — including a Stage 3 victory — Bell was fighting for the win late in the Coca-Cola 600 with rain looming on the radar. After a caution flag waved for lightning inside the final 50 laps, Daniel Suárez’s No. 7 team opted to take two tires while the rest of the field took four. Suárez leaped to the lead alongside Bell for the restart.
Another brief spat of rain washed over the speedway to trigger another yellow flag, but Bell maintained in second spot. When the green flag waved for the final time, Bell held serve and drew to Suárez’s back bumper, but Bell’s teammate Denny Hamlin wasn’t letting either get away. Hamlin and Bell slammed doors battling for second, allowing Suárez to gap the JGR duo and win the Coke 600 after a final dose of rain ended the race 27 laps early.
Quote: “Just a bummer. Wasn’t meant to be today. It’s 2026 for us. … After the first restart, I knew that (Suárez) couldn’t get clear and I was going to have to stay beside him. And I just couldn’t stay beside him. He cleared me, and once he cleared me, I knew it was going to be a really tough pass with it being a short run.”
Nashville Superspeedway: May 31
Race winner: Denny Hamlin
Margin of victory: 0.115 seconds
What happened: Bell led the field to the restart zone with four laps to go, with JGR teammate Chase Briscoe to his right on the front row and Denny Hamlin in tow. Bell got the clear launch and looked to be setting sail toward win No. 1 of the season.
Instead, Hamlin caught Bell by the exit of Turn 2 and jumped to Bell’s left and ran side-by-side with the No. 20 for each of the next two laps. That allowed Briscoe to draft up to the duo and jump to the high side in a three-wide JGR sandwich at the white flag.
Bell shot through the middle on entry to Turn 1 on the final lap but washed high, allowing Hamlin to power through to the lead and the victory, leaving Bell to settle in second after leading 29 laps.
Quote: “There is nobody to blame, no circumstances. It was all completely in my hands, and I dropped the ball. There is literally nobody that had anything to do with losing the race but me, and it sucks.”
Chicagoland Speedway: July 5
Race winner: Chase Briscoe
Margin of victory: 0.276 seconds
What happened: Bell only led one lap in the Fourth of July weekend special, but his charge up the leaderboard had him hounding the back bumper of Briscoe’s Toyota for the final handful of laps.
Rallying to third before the final round of green-flag pit stops, Bell eventually charged past William Byron for second and set his sights on Briscoe. Bell surged to Briscoe’s bumper multiple times in the closing two laps, but Briscoe eventually hung on to score his first win of the year and leave Bell winless again.
Quote: “It was a great day. … Toyotas are fast. It seems like a monkey can drive them, so it’s just disappointing when you get beat by another monkey. … Just a second-place driver, man.”
EchoPark Speedway: July 12
Race winner: Ryan Blaney
Margin of victory: 0.068 seconds
What happened: Bell didn’t have the dominant car at the 1.5-mile drafting track outside of Atlanta, but he did have a car capable of contending for the win.
The bad news is that the main driver he had to battle was Ryan Blaney, who led an incredible 171 of 263 laps to score his second win of 2026. Bell took the checkered flag third but advanced to second after Bubba Wallace was penalized for passing beneath the double-painted line — out of bounds — on the back straightaway on the final lap in a move to advance his position.
Bell led five laps in this race and nabbed four stage points in the process after starting 32nd.
Quote: “I found myself in the right lane, that’s for sure, to be on the outside. (P2) is really good. … It was about as good as I was gonna get. Ryan was super fast. His car was super fast. He could pass and lead lanes and do really good. Really happy with that. Our Rheem Camry was driving really good. Just had a fun day. It was a really fun race.”
Indianapolis Motor Speedway: July 26
Race winner: Corey Heim
Margin of victory: 0.287 seconds
What happened: Bell’s Brickyard 400 bid began in the middle of the field with a 23rd-place qualifying effort, but a methodical effort through the field and from the pit box helped Bell climb the leaderboard at Indianapolis.
A caution at Lap 114 brought the field to pit road one final time, and Stevens opted for a two-tire stop, rocketing Bell from 14th to fourth for the impending restart. Another quick caution set Bell second on the inside lane — behind Hamlin and in front of Briscoe — but ill-timed shoves allowed rookie and part-timer Corey Heim to surge ahead and take command of the race for the final 35 circuits.
With Hamlin sinking, Bell struck for second on Hamlin’s outside down the backstretch before beginning his hunt of Heim. Bell waited for Heim to make a mistake, but that mistake never came, leading Heim to score his second career win and first crown-jewel victory.
Quote: “This is a good second place. We’ve had a lot of bad second-place finishes, but this one’s a good one. We were buried after qualifying, and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) did a great job with strategy to get us up there. And whenever we had the restart on the second row, I was really happy with our position. Proud of Adam, proud of this team. We pulled together a really good day. We’ve run second a lot. There’s been bad seconds. But this one’s a pretty good second.”
Iowa Speedway: Aug. 9
Race winner: Ty Gibbs
Margin of victory: 0.253 seconds
What happened: Another middling qualifying effort in 22nd didn’t stop Bell from charging forward to score massive stage points — including a Stage 2 victory — and become the race’s dominant car in the second half of the event.
Bell led 108 laps Sunday — the second-most, fittingly — and appeared on his way to finally breaking the drought that has kept him winless since the Bristol Night Race in September 2025.
Instead, a four-tire call by Adam Stevens allowed second-place Ty Gibbs and his crew chief Tyler Allen to leapfrog Bell during green-flag pit stops. Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota set sail despite Bell’s best efforts — including multiple dives on yet another JGR teammate in the closing laps — leading to Gibbs’ second win of the year and of his career.
Quote: “This is what you call a bad second-place finish for sure. I don’t know what else to say. Ty did a really good job. He did a great job managing the race. I could tell that he was slipping and sliding around. Similar to two weeks ago with Corey Heim, he just didn’t make a mistake. So … P2.”