Christopher Bell needs a near-perfect day at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the NASCAR Cup Series title. His crew chief, Adam Stevens, says the team could know whether it has a real shot by the end of Stage 1.
Bell is second in the standings, 67 points behind Kyle Larson. Larson needs only nine points on Sunday to clinch his third title.
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Stevens laid out the plan on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. He said the first goal is to win the race.
“You’re first and foremost going down there to try to win, and win in a dominating fashion to give yourself some semblance of hope to race for the championship,” Stevens said.
‘That Could Be Over and Done With’ After Stage 1
He also admitted that hope may not last long. Bell must win the race and score at least 14 stage points, or 13 plus the fastest-lap point. He is out if he does not finish eighth or better in Stage 1.
“But that could be over and done with as soon as Stage 1 is over, if they score points and we don’t, or however that goes,” Stevens said.
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“Certainly by the end of Stage 2, we’re going to have a much clearer picture on how that project’s going for us,” he said.
Plan B Is Second in the Standings
If the title gets away, Stevens has a second target. Teammate Denny Hamlin is third, just three points behind Bell.
“Then our focus is going to shift to trying to finish as high as we can in the points, you know,” Stevens said.
“It looks good on the resume to finish second, better than it does to finish fourth. I know that. So, you know, one of us out of this group is going to probably do that. So I hope that it’s us,” he said.
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Chase Briscoe, a third Joe Gibbs Racing driver, is fourth, 84 points back. He is out of the title fight but still racing for position in the final standings.
Stevens also wants the team ready if Larson’s No. 5 runs into trouble.
“I hope that we can all maintain second through fourth if we can’t muscle up there and win and take advantage of the five having some problems,” Stevens said. “But if it’s not in the cards, then we need to finish as close to the front and as high in the points as we possibly can.”
Stevens has been on the winning side of a Homestead title fight twice. He won Cup championships with Kyle Busch in 2015 and 2019, both decided there.
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Bell finished 10th at Martinsville despite a Lap 216 spin, when he and Hamlin were caught up in contact with Joey Logano. Hamlin started from the pole and finished sixth, and Bell weighed in on his own odds after the race.
Here is every scenario for Bell, Hamlin and Larson heading into the finale. The Cup finale starts Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, capping a motorsports weekend at Homestead that also includes the Truck and O’Reilly Series title races.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
