Chase Lookahead: JGR shows power with Bell winning Southern 500 in postseason's opening Chase race

Joe Gibbs Racing showed its dominance again with Christopher Bell's victory in the Chase-opening Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway DARLINGTON, S.C. — The Chase leader and favorite, the newest Southern 500 champion and two rising young racers who had top-six finishes at Darlington Raceway to open's postseason on Sunday night — the hardest challenge for the four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers might be vying against one another for the Cup Series title.led to his first Southern 500 crown. 'Yeah, we need to make the most of it now, because we know how it goes. ', team owner Joe Gibbs' grandson, is showing his skills with 18 top-10 finishes — he was runner-up to Bell at Darlington — including victories at Bristol and Iowa. , in his second season with JGR, has 16 top 10s and finished sixth in his quest for a third consecutive Southern 500 trophy. Bell had endured a frustrating season, with seven second-place finishes and a wrist injury suffered in a crash at Michigan that he thought would derail his season. But with fresher tires after Larson stayed out on the track instead of changing to new tread, Bell quickly tracked down the defending NASCAR champion and broke through to victory lane for the first time this season. He also cut into Hamlin's Chase points lead, moving from 50 behind to just 12 as the series heads to World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, just outside of St. Louis, next week. 'We've got four great drivers, great teams,' Bell said. 'I mean, I go back to, when was it, 2019 when all four of the JGR cars were incredible. This is right there with it. ' Bell's win meant all four JGR drivers claimed wins this year, the first time that's happened since that dominant 2019 season when the lateThis year's JGR quartet has won eight races and Toyota has won 15 of 27 events this season. Hamlin remains on top, even though he had the lowest JGR finish at Darlington, where a midrace crash cost him a chance to extend his points lead. JGR co-owner Heather Gibbs, Ty's mother, said the organization would be disappointed if one of the four wasn't holding the trophy after the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. 'I think we've worked so hard as a team and as an organization to be consistent and have four competitive cars,' she said. 'Obviously points, coming, showing up every week, just as Christopher has, having all those top twos where it's criticized, and that makes a championship-caliber team to be consistent. ' Bell joked that he was going to say he had two free weeks to work on other things since he had advanced to the next round. But that was under the old playoff format, which NASCAR ditched to return to Chase racing, where all 16 qualifiers compete in all 10 races without eliminations. It's a consistent JGR approach to racing that has brought the organization 235 wins since Dale Jarrett won the 1993Adam Stevens, Bell's crew chief, said JGR often has had a dominant program. But rarely has the talent behind the wheel, in the garage, in leadership and in research and development been so high across the board. 'I think all of our teams are in a really good spot in that regard, and I think that we're kind of seeing, you know, we have the capablity,' Stevens said. 'We have the program and we have the ability to make good and bad decisions with that information. But the internal strength individually of the teams is next-level right now. ' It's a rare moment Bell knows he and his teammates should pounce on before the rest of the garage catches up. Everything To Know About The Chase As NASCAR's Postseason Starts At DarlingtonDenny Hamlin's Outlook On Winning The Chase: 'I Like Our Chances'NASCAR Contender Rankings: Which Driver Takes Top Spot Ahead Of The Chase? Everything To Know About The Chase As NASCAR's Postseason Starts At DarlingtonDenny Hamlin's Outlook On Winning The Chase: 'I Like Our Chances'NASCAR Contender Rankings: Which Driver Takes Top Spot Ahead Of The Chase? FOX SPORTS™, SPEED™, SPEED. COM™ & © 2026 Fox Media LLC and Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Use of this website constitutes your acceptance of these