I think if you gave Christopher Bell a chance to rank his chances of which track was the best chance for him in the Round of 8 to win at, it would go Las Vegas-Martinsville-Homestead. So, for him to win on the South Florida track on a wild day of action last Sunday, does that turn his championship psyche around?

He was dejected after a runner-up finish in the Round of 8 opener in Vegas saying that he felt like that was his moment. That’s because he felt like he threw away his best chance at making the final round.

Bell was admittedly reeling some coming into Sunday’s 4EVER 400. For Bell personally, the Oklahoma native tends to struggle to get over past races that got away.

However, in what was likely a must win scenario over the next two weeks, he welcomed it too. Bell embraces these moments and last year’s playoff run was a prime example of it. His team was on the brink of elimination not once, but twice. He had to have walkoff wins on the Charlotte ROVAL (Round of 12 cut race) and Martinsville (Round of 8 cut race). He delivered in both.

If he was going to accomplish the ultimate goal this season by winning the championship in Phoenix, he was going to have to win again anyways.

On what may be his worst track in the playoffs, Bell delivered another defining moment. On a day that he faded to outside the top 20 at the end of the second stage and didn’t even get into the top 5 until the final 50 laps, he passed William Byron for the lead with 16 to go and never looked back in a statement made trip to victory lane.

“To come into the Charlotte road course, I’ve said this a million times, in a must-win situation, whenever we sucked on road courses all year, to have the car capability we had, same thing at Martinsville, now the Round of 8 basically every race is a must win with our points situation,” Bell said.

“Vegas was amazing. Certainly had a car capable of winning. Then a huge, huge turn of events from stage two to stage three this week to get our car to where I could maintain my track position and win the race.”

So now that he has won?

“Yeah, I mean, you’re always more prepared whenever you get into situations for the second time,” said Bell on making it to the final round for the second time of his career. “I feel like we’re going to be better than what we were last year. That was a bad race for us. We were in the Final 4 but we did not have the pace that we needed to compete for that event.

“Then Phoenix one this year, we improved dramatically on it. I would say Phoenix one this year was our best race in the Next Gen era. I have way more confidence going into Phoenix this year than I did last year. Yeah, it’s one race and we just have to go out there and execute.”

The winner of the second race of the Round of 8, has finished either second or third in 3 of the last 4 years and won the title in the other. Is Bell ready for a run at his first championship in two weeks?

He’s heating up in the right moment. Last year, he forced his way in via clutch moments. He came into the Round of 12 elimination race in a must-win situation. He’d reach victory lane to get by to the Round of 8. He came to Martinsville a year ago in another must-win. He do it again.

With a win now on Sunday, has Bell become Mr. Clutch?

“I don’t think that it’s anything. There is no magic in it,” Bell admitted. “Fortunately or unfortunately I’ve been put in a lot of these positions growing up. I think it’s just a credit to me driving professionally for as long as I have.

“You improve on things every time you get into that position. My first walk-off win was Charlotte road course. That was certainly not the first high-pressure event that I’d been in in my career. You learn from it and you get better every time. I just credit it to my racing background and being a professional racer long before I entered into the NASCAR series.

“I certainly thrive on pressure and I love it. I live for those type of moments. That’s why last week hurt so bad because I live for those moments. Whenever you have an opportunity to be great…”

The pressure is off this week but next week is back for another Championship 4 visit. He’s delivered when needed the most. Can he do so again?