Crew chief Adam Stevens confident in Christopher Bell ahead of championship race

Adam Stevens has won two NASCAR Championships with Kyle Busch. He’s now trying to earn his third with Christopher Bell behind the wheel. Given his championship background, Stevens is a good judge in moments like these. He’s got all the confidence in the world in his driver.

Christopher Bell has once again come on hot late in the season. Just when he needs to peak, he manages to pull it off. His win at Homestead-Miami was major. It allowed him and his team to put more focus on Martinsville.

Now with all of that prep, Adam Stevens is ready to go to war with his team and his driver.

“Yeah, confidence level is just super high,” Stevens said to media on Friday. “I mean, I know the equipment that we have. … I know if we do what we’re capable of doing that it’s right there in front of us, I don’t know how you couldn’t feel ecstatic about that, and I do.”

Later in the press conference, Stevens talked about being “at peace.” With Christopher Bell behind the wheel, and his JGR team in the garage, it’s easy to be calm in a moment like this.

“Late last week, our sim sessions were going really well,” Stevens continued. “I just felt really at peace with what we had going on as late as probably Thursday last week. We refined on it, got better through the weekend, into early this week. I mean, honestly, we were ready to load quite early in the week because we felt like we knew where we wanted to be.”

Christopher Bell was in this same position last year, perhaps less prepared. Back again for another run, is this his year?

Christopher Bell seeking his first-ever Cup Series championship

If you’re looking for a favorite this weekend, there are a few angles you can look at. William Byron has the most wins this year with six, and he won at Phoenix earlier this year.

Ryan Blaney might be the most successful driver at Phoenix in the Next Gen era, despite no wins. He’s been P2 in each of the last two races at the track. Then you have Kyle Larson. 2021 champion, seen as the most talented driver in the field.

Finally, Christopher Bell – he’s won four pole awards and picked up a win at Homestead to propel him to the Championship 4. He’s also the most even-keeled driver, one who doesn’t get flustered easily. Bell is the only driver from last year’s championship to make the Championship 4 this year.

Bell was also the fastest in the 10-lap average during practice. That could go a long way to earning him the Bill France Cup.

So, we’ll have to let it all play out. Qualifying is going to be very important. Only one driver can claim the championship, who will it be?