Kevin Harvick expresses surprise at Christopher Bell Martinsville performance, JGR mechanical issues

Joe Gibbs Racing already had two of its drivers, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe, locked into the Championship 4 heading into Sunday’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway. It was Christopher Bell who needed to race his way into the final four.

Unfortunately for JGR, they had an off day at the Virginia short track by their high standards. Ty Gibbs started on the front row and finished 12th. Bell finished seventh but could never race consistently inside the top five. Hamlin and Briscoe both had mechanical problems that ended their day. For Bell, seventh wasn’t enough; he lost the points battle to Kyle Larson for the final spot in the Championship 4. Kevin Harvick was overall surprised by JGR’s issues at Martinsville.

“For the most part… the race pace was at best fifth to 10th for those two cars [Hamlin, Gibbs]. Denny was probably gonna finish somewhere in there. Ty could run right in there. That’s where Bell and Briscoe were,” Harvick said on Tuesday’s Happy Hour podcast. “I mean, they were all kind of in that same area as far as performance and didn’t have that top five speed that we’re typically used to see out of them at Martinsville. Definitely a little bit surprising from that standpoint.”

Christopher Bell failed to make Championship 4 alongside JGR teammates

For the second consecutive year, Bell’s postseason came to an end with the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville. Bell had an average finish of 6.0 in the Round of 8, but it wasn’t enough.

“He never really showed any signs of making a lot of progress with his car to be able to run in that top five,” Harvick said. “Ultimately, it cost him an opportunity to win the championship.”

The focus at JRG has to be on Hamlin and Briscoe with the championship race at Phoenix Raceway just five days away. Those mechanical issues will certainly be of high importance for the organization, Harvick said.

“I think the more surprising part was all the engine problems,” Harvick said. “We’ve been talking about this with the 11 car with just the mechanical problems that they have had. I think that was probably the worst way you could go into the championship race with back-to-back mechanical issues. When you look at the momentum of the 24 to the 11, just on total opposite ends of the spectrum. Now, will Denny refocus and be ready himself? I don’t think we’ve ever questioned that, and you heard Denny mention it after the race.

“They asked him directly, are you worried about the mechanical issues, and he didn’t say no. He said, ‘there’s nothing I can do about it,’ and he definitely didn’t back them from what he thought about it being ready. His quote was, ‘We’re gonna be fast, I know we’re gonna have the speed.’ I think that definitely to me says, we might have some questions about the reliability of everything that’s been happening because there’s been a lot of it on that car.”