Tag: Christopher Bell

Bell and JGR have a Richmond win squarely in sight

Christopher Bell was plenty happy to talk about all things Richmond Raceway for multiple reasons Saturday. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver attracted a crowd when he entered the media center. Bell was the other player in the highly publicized pit road …

Christopher Bell was plenty happy to talk about all things Richmond Raceway for multiple reasons Saturday.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver attracted a crowd when he entered the media center. Bell was the other player in the highly publicized pit road confrontation at Circuit of The Americas when Kyle Busch marched to his car to give him an earful about their contact on the racetrack. After Busch had earlier visited with the media, sharing his side of their phone conversation earlier this week, Bell knew the questions were coming.

The first two questions were indeed about Busch. The third shifted the conversation to the Virginia short track.

“And we’ve got the first winner that’s a non-Kyle question,” Bell quipped.

The change in topic had Bell eager to talk about something else, and do so with a smile on his face and enthusiasm in his voice. Richmond is a place Bell loves to compete at twice a year, and the betting favorites for Sunday night’s Toyota Owners 400 are Joe Gibbs Racing drivers.

“I just like driving for JGR here,” Bell said. “Their resume speaks for itself and the cars are super, super fast. This is arguably JGR’s best racetrack, so I just love going to racetracks where I know I’m going to have a shot at it.”

Of the active tracks on the Cup Series schedule, Joe Gibbs Racing has been the most successful at Richmond. Gibbs has won nine of the last 16 races in Virginia, and the 18 total they have celebrated through the years are the most for the organization at any racetrack.

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“It feels like this is JGR’s playhouse,” Bell said.

Although Bell has not contributed to those Cup Series victories, he does have an average finish of 7.7 at Richmond Raceway in seven starts. In a five-race stretch between 2021 and 2023, Bell finished no worse than sixth at Richmond with a runner-up effort in the summer of 2022. He’s led 99 laps at the track.

Sunday is an opportunity for Bell and the No. 20 team. With one check mark already notched in the win column, the hunt is on for more and the valuable playoff points that come with the accomplishment. Bell and his group aren’t tracking how the competition stacks up with playoff points, but he knows how many he has and that the long runway ahead offers more.

The long season and its many points available also means trying to keep up the same pace, and Bell doesn’t want to look too far ahead lest he veer off the right path. The good news is that Bell is driving cars right now that he described as the strongest he’s ever had in his Cup Series career.

“For me, I just focus on the task at hand,” he said. “I try not to look at the big picture and just focus on what’s coming up this week, and this week we’ve got a great racetrack for myself at Richmond and a great racetrack for our team, and a place that should suit our new car. With all those combined, you need to make the most of it.

“Whenever we go to another place in the future that might not be [our] place, the mentality’s going to be a little bit different. Definitely, here at Richmond, we have winning circled, and that’s what we want to do … whenever we think we have everything lined up to do it.”

Busch will race Bell harder until ‘he concedes that he’s sorry’

Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell had a much calmer conversation in the days after the Circuit of The Americas race when on-track contact resulted in a post-race confrontation. That doesn’t mean it’s all been resolved between them yet, though. Busch …

Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell had a much calmer conversation in the days after the Circuit of The Americas race when on-track contact resulted in a post-race confrontation. That doesn’t mean it’s all been resolved between them yet, though.

Busch marched to Bell on pit road after last weekend’s race to express his displeasure with being spun by his former teammate in the second stage. The contact that took Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota into the left rear of Busch’s Richard Childress Racing Chevy as he tried to get inside Busch in the sharp Turn 4 left-hander. Bell felt Busch had opened his entry into the corner and there was a lane.

The two spoke via phone earlier this week to come to an understanding. In the immediate aftermath, Busch did most of the talking — and finger animation — on pit road at COTA.

Busch said the phone call was “just to give more of my side than what I said on pit road (and) to have him (get) a greater understanding into my objectives and what I have going on, versus what he might think that he’s got going on,” the RCR driver said Saturday as the series shifts to Richmond Raceway. “I think he understood that. I heard his side of it and didn’t really believe much (of) it when I didn’t even give consideration to him making a move because he was four lanes back. Then all of a sudden, he was there.

“So, I knew he was back there but too far to do anything and I got hit. It is what it is.”

The two-time Cup Series champion said he’ll race Bell harder going forward. Or at least until it seems Bell has gotten the message.

“Run him harder for a little bit until he concedes that he’s sorry on the racetrack,” Busch said, “and then get back to normal.”

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Busch has been on the receiving end of contact with Bell at COTA twice, although he conceded the first one two years ago wasn’t necessarily Bell’s fault. It’s particularly frustrating, Busch also admitted, to have it happen with a former teammate and Kyle Busch Motorsports alumni.

“When you’re racing against guys that have come through KBM, and you’ve helped them along the way and you feel as though they’re taking that extra 10% rather than giving a little bit out of respect,” Busch said. “But everybody’s got their own race out there, and they try to do what they got to do. But, obviously, Christopher’s in really good stuff at a really good place, and he needs to understand that.”

Bell knew the questions about Busch were coming when he faced the media Saturday. When it was the first question, Bell smiled and joked, “Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner.” But he also seemed ready to move forward and prove there would be no lingering issues between him and Busch.

“I was surprised that he called me back,” Bell said. “I called him Monday and he didn’t answer, and I thought that was going to be the end of it and I was really happy that he called me back. It was a good conversation.

“We don’t have a lot of run-ins, but the two times that we have had run-ins, he’s been on the losing side of it. I’ll just race him with respect as I always try to, and it is what it is.”

Christopher Bell talks about spinning Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson at COTA

Christopher Bell talks about accidentally spinning Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson at COTA. Find out what Bell had to say about the incidents!

[autotag]Christopher Bell[/autotag] almost won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas, but he didn’t make friends along the way. Bell accidentally spun out Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson, which prompted frustration from his former NASCAR Truck Series owner after the event. For the No. 20 car, it was a second-place finish behind William Byron.

After the event, Bell was asked about incidents involving Busch and Larson. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver apologized but needed to see a replay of the incident involving Busch.

“Obviously, [Kyle Busch] is very upset, which he ended up turned around,” Bell said. “First off, I’m sorry to [Kyle Larson] and the 5 car. I got him earlier in the race and by no intention at all. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“K.B. is frustrated about what happened in turn one. I don’t know. They were two-wide going in there. I haven’t obviously seen a replay yet, but I had no intentions of turning him. I’m sure we’ll talk it out before the next race.”

Busch let his frustration known after the race at COTA, and Bell knows that something might be coming his way in return. Either way, the driver of the No. 20 car has shown a lot of speed in 2024. Bell is a weekly threat for the win, and despite the enemies made at COTA, he will look to win his second race of the year at Richmond Raceway this weekend.

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Kyle Busch expresses major frustration at Christopher Bell after COTA

Kyle Busch expresses major frustration at Christopher Bell after Circuit of the Americas. Watch Busch confront Bell after the event!

[autotag]Kyle Busch[/autotag] was running well before a mistake by [autotag]Christopher Bell[/autotag] affected his race at Circuit of the Americas. Bell dove into Turn 1 and didn’t expect Busch to cross over toward the bottom. The No. 20 car hit the No. 8 car and spun him out. Bell ended up finishing in second place behind William Byron, while Busch climbed to ninth place.

Following the race, Busch confronted Bell on pit road. No fists were thrown, but Bell didn’t say much as Busch lit into him. The two drivers have a history together as Busch owned Bell’s truck that won the NASCAR Truck Series championship in 2017. The two drivers are close and have a significant amount of respect for each other.

In this instance, Busch suggested that Bell has one coming. Bell admitted that Busch hadn’t wrecked him and didn’t try to make an excuse. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how the former teammates race each other. Bell and Busch will likely be around each other most weeks, so the No. 20 car could face the same fate as the No. 8 car at COTA.

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Bell needed a Byron mistake in order to make a run for COTA win

Christopher Bell was fast enough to erase a 9s deficit in the final stint of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of The Americas, but he also needed a little fortune to take the victory. Bell and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team finished …

Christopher Bell was fast enough to erase a 9s deficit in the final stint of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of The Americas, but he also needed a little fortune to take the victory.

Bell and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team finished second to William Byron in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. Pitting for the final time under green with 20 laps to go, Bell cycled out in sixth position, 9s behind the lead. He took third with seven laps to go, now 5.6 seconds behind, and took second with three laps to go.

The gap was 2.7s when he took second place. At the white flag, his Camry was 1.7s behind Byron.

“Obviously, when I got close to him, it was going to be tough to pass him,” Bell said. “I needed a couple of mistakes. William has been really, really good on the road courses, and he was flawless when it mattered today.”

Bell felt at least one more lap would have put him even closer to Byron, but there was no guarantee he would overtake the Hendrick Motorsports driver.

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“It seems like another lap and I would have got there for sure with our DEWALT Camry,” Bell said. “Passing was going to be a little more difficult and I needed him to make a mistake.”

Byron was the dominant car Sunday, leading the most laps (42) from the pole. Bell, however, led nine laps and won the first stage as the team kept to a two-stop strategy.

While the day ended on a high note, it wasn’t smooth for Bell, who spun two of his competitors. The first was contact with Kyle Larson on lap 21.

“I completely take ownership of [that],” Bell said. “I’m completely sorry about that and had no intention of that.”

Bell’s second incident came in the final stage when he got into former teammate Kyle Busch. After the race, Busch confronted Bell on pit road.

“The Kyle Busch incident was a little bit different [from Larson] because I wasn’t trying to make a move or pass him,” Bell said. “He opened his entry up because he was too wide, and I was obviously under him when he came down. I had no intentions of spinning him out at all.”

Christopher Bell talks about the possibility of NASCAR returning to dirt tracks

Christopher Bell talks about the possibility of the NASCAR Cup Series returning to dirt tracks. Find out what Bell said about the idea!

[autotag]Christopher Bell[/autotag] has plenty of experience with dirt racing. Before focusing more on NASCAR, Bell won the 2013 USAC National Midget Series championship, three Chili Bowl events, and five World of Outlaws races. Speaking of NASCAR, the driver of the No. 20 car also won the final dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway before returning to the pavement.

This marks the first time NASCAR hasn’t brought the Cup Series to Bristol Dirt since 2020. Due to this fact, Bell spoke to NBC Sports about the future of the Cup Series on dirt tracks. Obviously, the comments from Bell are significant due to his past dirt racing success.

“I don’t think we should go down the path of having one dirt race a year,” Bell said. “Whenever you have that single event, it becomes easy to overlook and then people don’t take it seriously. We saw that in road course racing early on in the sport…If you weren’t a good road course racer, you would just kind of put it behind you and it was easy to put it behind you, and ‘Well, on to the next one.’”

“The dirt race was very much that same way. For all of the teams that didn’t have a dirt driver, it was just kind of an off week for them, a throw away event.”

Bell is correct because the Cup Series does belong on dirt tracks. Does the current version of the NextGen car belong in those venues? That’s a debate for a different day; however, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is right. If NASCAR wants to add dirt tracks to the schedule, there must be more than one. It’s the only way it will indeed be taken seriously.
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Toyota makes championship statement with Phoenix domination

In each of the four years the NASCAR Cup series championship has been contested at Phoenix Raceway, at least one Toyota driver has been included. But none of those drivers finished higher than third in the final championship standings. “It’s …

In each of the four years the NASCAR Cup series championship has been contested at Phoenix Raceway, at least one Toyota driver has been included. But none of those drivers finished higher than third in the final championship standings.

“It’s completely unacceptable that we have yet to win a championship in Phoenix,” TRD president David Wilson said over the winter. “I can go back and make excuses, but the buck stops here (and) it stops with our team partners and we, bottom line, haven’t gotten the job done.

“Our focus is Phoenix, and we all put so much emphasis on that.”

Toyota had five drivers lead Sunday’s race in a dominating showing for the manufacturer with 298 of 312 laps led. Christopher Bell went to victory lane, which was Toyota’s first win at the track since the spring of 2021 with Martin Truex Jr. However that race was the last year of the sixth-generation race car at the track. and since NASCAR rolled out Next Gen in 2022, it’s been even tougher sledding for the Toyota teams. In the previous four races at Phoenix, Toyota drivers had combined to lead just 15 laps.

“It’s no secret that Phoenix has been a little bit of a struggle for us,” Bell said after winning the Shriners Children’s 500. “After that first year of Next Gen, myself and Adam (Stevens, crew chief), we really sat down and said that Phoenix needs to be a focus point because I didn’t feel very good there the first two races in 2022 and then in 2023, we were a little better each time and today was lights out so today is a great day for the company.”

Denny Hamlin started the weekend by winning the pole and admitting Phoenix has been his weakest oval racetrack. Like his teammate Bell, Hamlin said he and his No. 11 group has been working on improving at Phoenix.

Toyota’s last fall win at Phoenix came in 2019, when it wasn’t the championship race. Lesley Ann Miller/Motorsport Images

Hamlin won the fall race at Phoenix Raceway in 2019 to qualify for the championship race a week later at Homestead-Miami Speedway. A year later, Phoenix started hosting the championship race. Hamlin made the Championship 4 in 2020 and 2021.

Looking back at Hamlin’s comments after those races, where he finished fourth (2020) and third (2021) in the final standings, brings to light how the pendulum was swinging away from Toyota’s direction. The short-track package wasn’t as strong for the Gibbs group in 2020, and Hamlin knew that things needed to fall perfectly for him in the finale. In 2021, it came down to an untimely final caution that sent the contenders down pit road one last time, where Kyle Larson’s team prevailed to get him out front.

But in hindsight, Hamlin and his camp knew it would be an uphill battle even going into the races. Hamlin later recalled a conversation on the plane to Phoenix during one of those championship seasons where Joe Gibbs Racing knew, given where they stacked up at Phoenix, they were long shots to win the title.

Hamlin led 68 laps on Sunday. Tyler Reddick also led 68 laps. Bell led 50 after taking the lead for the final time from Martin Truex Jr., who led 55. Ty Gibbs, who got the jump on Hamlin at the start of the race, led the first 57 laps.

Reddick won the first stage and Bell won the second stage. From start to finish at Phoenix, it was a day for Toyota.

Wilson’s tone afterwards was much different, with a hint of relief, from the last time he spoke about Phoenix Raceway.

“For Toyota, this was a momentous win,” Wilson said. “This was the first win with our new Camry body. I was clear to say at the beginning of the year that we have struggled here recently. I didn’t realize this statistic until it was brought to my attention, but in the four previous Phoenix races, Toyota led a combined 15 laps.

“(Sunday) we led everything but 14 laps. That’s a credit to the Joe Gibbs organization, TRD USA, Calty Design, who helped us with this new Camry body. At the same time, I will say that the secret to longevity in sports, in motorsports, is never get too high when the day goes your way, and never get too low when it doesn’t because we’re going to be racing again next week. Phoenix will be in our rearview mirror.”

Toyota deserves its due for the work that went into making a statement with Sunday’s performance. But as Wilson also advised, it’s just a start in the right direction and the series is going to evolve between now and the championship race in November. For the teams who couldn’t keep up with the Toyota drivers Sunday, plenty of racing is left to evolve and hone in on the short-track package.

If a Toyota driver makes it to Phoenix in the fall for the fifth consecutive year with a shot at the championship, there should be no overreacting to what that means based on the spring race. But there is no denying Toyota laid down the gauntlet of what the field is aiming for and should feel pretty good about having a much better notebook to build on for the race that really matters.

Christopher Bell’s win at Phoenix was the largest victory of the NextGen era

Christopher Bell’s win at Phoenix Raceway was the largest margin of victory in the NextGen car era since it was introduced in 2022.

[autotag]Christopher Bell[/autotag]’s race on Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway can be classified as domination. Bell had the best car and despite some drivers saying passing was difficult, the No. 20 car seemed to have few problems doing such. In fact, Bell’s domination has officially been record in NextGen car history.

According to Fronstretch’s Stephen Stumpf, Bell’s 5.465-second margin of victory is the largest in the NextGen car era. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver eclipsed the old record, which was his 5.439-second win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2022. The trends don’t lie as Bell seems to dominate like no other driver when given a good NextGen car.

Bell was in a different zip code compared to the other drivers at Phoenix, which could spell trouble for the competition moving forward. If the driver of the No. 20 car finally unlocks his potential, he could be a multi-race winner in 2024. Bell now looks forward to Bristol Motor Speedway, which is a track he has run very well at with the NextGen car.

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Christopher Bell’s dominant win at Phoenix indicates a breakout year in 2024

Christopher Bell’s win at Phoenix indicates a breakout year could be on the way, despite making the Championship 4 the last two years.

[autotag]Christopher Bell[/autotag] made the Championship 4 in the last two years, but mistakes by his pit crew and a blown brake rotor ended his chances of winning his first NASCAR Cup Series title. Bell and Joe Gibbs Racing knew they needed to up their performance at Phoenix Raceway, the site of NASCAR’s championship race, and they did just that on Sunday afternoon.

Bell dominated the Cup Series race at Phoenix en route to the largest margin of victory in the NextGen car era. It only tops Bell’s win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2022. In other words, the No. 20 car didn’t just find the speed it needed at Phoenix. It was the most dominant car Bell has likely ever had in his Cup Series career.

That should be scary for the competition. Bell has stepped up to the plate when it matters the most in the playoffs, but he and crew chief Adam Stevens have been adamant that the No. 20 team’s potential has not been met. Stevens knows that his driver can unlock more speed and vice versa. Bell has been underrated for the last two years because of this fact.

The No. 20 team has been a consistent force in the Cup Series but has lacked the speed to dominate an event. On Sunday afternoon, that changed. Bell hasn’t run this well at a track this early in the season since joining Joe Gibbs Racing. The No. 20 team members have all said the potential is there for a major breakout. A breakout after two Championship 4 seasons?

That is the case, and we may be watching the beginning of it. Bell has become the face of Joe Gibbs Racing, and with that comes the confidence needed to succeed. Bell and Stevens found the speed to combine with the confidence at Phoenix. Now, a multi-win regular season could be on the way, and Phoenix might be the first indication that Bell has finally arrived as a dominant driver.

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Christopher Bell talks about his dominant victory at Phoenix in 2024

Christopher Bell talks about his dominant victory at Phoenix Raceway in 2024. Find out what Bell had to say about his first win this season!

When NASCAR Cup Series practice ended at Phoenix Raceway on Friday afternoon, the entire garage knew [autotag]Christopher Bell[/autotag] would be the driver to beat on Sunday. Bell started Stage 1 with some struggles, but after the first pit stop, the No. 20 car was on rails. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver rallied to win Stage 2 and then won the race by over five seconds.

Following his dominant victory at Phoenix, Bell got out of his car, stood on the roof, and talked about the piece crew chief Adam Stevens gave him. Like many others, Bell knew the type of car he had on Sunday afternoon.

“Man, this one feels really good,” Bell said. Just a credit to [Adam Stevens], man. Adam, my engineers, my crew chief, all the mechanics on this thing. You don’t get cars like that very often, as you know. Just super, super proud. Proud to be on this 20 car. This Rheem Camry was amazing today. I feel like we have capability of running races like this a lot. Hopefully this is the first of many this year.”

If Bell and the No. 20 team perform like they did on Sunday afternoon, this will be the first of many wins. It was a dominant performance and officially ranks as the most significant margin of victory in the NextGen car era. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver really flexed his muscles at Phoenix, and he hopes to be in position to do it again in the Championship 4 for a third straight year.

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