Christopher Bell is the only NASCAR Cup Series playoff driver who has clinched a Round of 12 berth. Is Bell an early favorite for the Championship 4?
Luken Glover: Calling anyone a Championship 4 favorite in 2022 is like saying someone is a favorite at a superspeedway race. That said, Christopher Bell is the biggest threat from the Joe Gibbs Racing camp right now. Sure, Denny Hamlin has two wins and back-to-back second-place finishes, but Bell has had the most consistent speed for JGR throughout the year. If he can advance through the Round of 12, the Round of 8 shapes up pretty well for him to make his first championship appearance.
Mike Neff: Bell has appeared to be the fastest Toyota in 2022, but he hasn’t been in contention to win many races. Bell will have a great chance of making the Championship 4 if the No. 20 team can start contending for wins.
Stephen Stumpf: Bell has continued to get better throughout the season, as he ran in the top five all day at Kansas Speedway. However, calling him a Championship 4 favorite would be a stretch at the moment, especially when considering what tracks are lined up for the Round of 8: the chaotic lottery of Talladega Superspeedway and the unpredictable Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. JGR has been absent at road courses for much of the 2022 season, but Bell has led the way for the JGR camp with two top 10s in five road course starts this season. If Bell shows speed in the Round of 12 opener at Texas Motor Speedway and survives to the Round of 8, he certainly has a chance of going all the way to the finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Is there another lost speedway that can be revived like North Wilkesboro Speedway?
Bryan Davis Keith: There are dozens, if not hundreds, of lost speedways across the country that could easily be revived and returned to racing — be it dirt or asphalt — for a fraction of the tax dollar slush fund that’s bringing North Wilkesboro Speedway back to life. No, there’s none that come to mind that would be Cup-worthy in terms of size, but the Camping World SRX Series was able to host professional, nationally televised events at facilities that in terms of capacity and size are weekly racetracks. Bringing smaller ovals back into the fold and utilizing them for either exhibition events or even ARCA Menards Series races, since they no longer require live pit roads, could easily be viable products to cash in on nostalgia. Increasing access to local racing can and should foster interest…
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