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Kevin Harvick exposes Christopher Bell fatal flaw, what's holding him, Kyle Larson back

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones07/22/25brianjones_93
Christopher Bell (12)
Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Kevin Harvick revealed the one big flaw Christopher Bell has that could prevent him from winning a NASCAR championship. On Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Harvick reacted to Bell spinning out twice at Dover Motor Speedway this past weekend.

“This is the difference between Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell. Denny’s going to go as fast as he can go and not spin out,” Kevin Harvick said. “You look at a Bell and you look at [Kyle] Larson and some of those guys. They get themselves into these positions. It’s the dirt car mentality. It’s like drive it to the edge, and if it spins out, okay. If it doesn’t, I guess it works.

“I think in these scenarios, this is still one of Bell’s weaknesses, in my opinion. …When you’re racing for the win, you’ve got to be able to capitalize on if you don’t win, finish second and being able to do that, not step over the edge. That’s just one of the things that Bell needs to get better at, in my opinion, of not stepping over the edge. We’ve seen it happen a number of times, and it puts him in a bad spot. I think that makes it harder to win a championship, because you’re going to make those mistakes in pressure moments of not finishing second.”

Christopher Bell reacts to tough finish at Dover

The two spinouts by Bell led to him finishing 18th on Sunday. In the last four races, Bell has finished outside the top 15 three times. However, the 30-year-old has had a strong season, as he’s one of four drivers to have at least three wins. After having a tough run at Daytona, Bell won the next three races and became the first driver in the Next-Gen era to reach that mark.

After the Dover race, Bell talked about his performance. “It is refreshing to have speed again in our Rheem Camry,” Bell said, per Dustin Long of NBC Sports. “We haven’t had pace, but today we were able to lead laps and get stage points and we won a stage. That is something that I’m super excited about, even though I made mistakes and I spun out when I probably shouldn’t have spun out. We were going for the win, and if we keep bringing speed like that to the race track, then we are going to be just fine.”

In 201 career Cup Series races, Bell has earned 12 victories and 97 top-10 finishes. In the last three years, Bell has finished in the top five in NASCAR’s final standings.