Larson knows that his good friend and age-old competitor is bluffing.
Las Vegas was not exactly the ideal race for Christopher Bell. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was running in the top 5 during the first two stages. But in the final stage, he lost power steering in his car and subsequently fell down the grid to finish 23rd in the race. The incident has seriously hurt his championship chances in the Chase. Bell still sits third in the Chase standings, but he is 55 points behind leader Kyle Larson. To rub salt in the wound, Larson had the perfect weekend and scored the maximum points.
Christopher Bell is currently contemplating his own championship chances. After the power steering failure, he has to win multiple races in a row so that he can claw back from the point deficit that he has against Kyle Larson currently. While that's easier said than done, Bell is also facing the physical consequences of his Las Vegas heroics.
Kyle Larson laughs off Christopher Bell's pain from Vegas
According to Bell, the extra effort that he had to put in because of the power steering issue gave him terrible pain in his shoulders and hands. He was unable to recover from the same until Monday. But apparently, Kyle Larson isn't ready to accept any of his words.
"There was no chance that Christopher Bell was hanging out of the race car with no power steering. When people say they have no power steering, they have some power steering...Bulls**t... Zero percent power assist on an intermediate track? No way... There's a good chance I am stronger than Christopher Bell." Watch the interview on X
Now, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell share a long history together. From racing together on dirt tracks to competing for wins in top teams in NASCAR, they have been competing together the whole way. As such, it's natural that Larson would want to tease Christopher Bell over his issues. Moreover, Corey LaJoie also made a testament to Larson’s words. LaJoie, who had run a racecar without power steering himself, explained that as one of the strongest guys on the grid, it took everything he had to control the car at Bristol.
Bell, on the other hand, did not like this jab and invited Larson to try it for himself. Either way, the duo will get a chance to settle it on track as the 2026 season hasn't ended yet.
