Denny Hamlin: Christopher Bell's streak of 'good fortune' is not sustainable

Denny Hamlin came up just short at Phoenix Raceway over the weekend, finishing as the runner-up to teammate Christopher Bell. The win marked Bell’s third consecutive win, an incredible start to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.

While Bell is adding trophies to his collection, Hamlin doesn’t believe the No. 20 team’s immense success is sustainable. During the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, the veteran wheelman elaborated on why his teammate would be defying immense odds if he kept winning. 

“No, I mean — no,” Hamlin stated, regarding whether Bell’s streak is sustainable. “Being like, having good fortune, and winning races that you don’t expect to win, you know, those things just kind of happen, and they get spread out in your career usually. But, you know, is it sustainable in the sense of — I mean, could he win the next two more in a row on skill and talent and speed? Absolutely. Yeah. But it’s a weird business — you know, the fastest car, fastest driver only wins like, 30 some percent of the time.

“So, it would be defying odds. Even if he were to dominate the next couple of weeks, which he could. … He easily could have had no victories. Instead, he’s got three in a row. So that just tells you kind of like the balance of this thing. … It’ll make you jealous of the fortune very quickly.”

Bell understands Hamlin’s point to a tee. While he might’ve had the best car at Phoenix, he didn’t during the Cup Series’ trips to Atlanta Motor Speedway or COTA. He still managed to make it to Victory Lane in those races. It’s only a matter of time before the other shoe drops.

Regardless, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Bell continue riding this incredible hot streak. Even if Hamlin knows the odds aren’t in the favor of the No. 20 team, they’re approaching some tracks where Bell excels. Next up on the docket is Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and that’ll be followed by Homestead and Martinsville in the coming weeks.  

Three in a row is huge. Four or five in a row would be iconic. That’s what’s on the table for at the moment. As for his total throughout the season, Bell’s head-start is a game-changer, and could lead to a historic total for the 30-year old.

Denny Hamlin won seven races in 2020. Christopher Bell’s never won more than three in a season. He could shatter that total this season  and match his teammate’s career-high, as long as he keeps racing to his full potential.