Tag: Christopher Bell

Bell stays fast and motors to Southern 500 pole at Darlington

Christopher Bell was the best of the NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers Saturday at Darlington Raceway, backing up his fast practice time by earning the pole for the Cook Out Southern 500. Bell earned the top spot with a lap of 169.193mph (29.065s). …

Christopher Bell was the best of the NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers Saturday at Darlington Raceway, backing up his fast practice time by earning the pole for the Cook Out Southern 500.

Bell earned the top spot with a lap of 169.193mph (29.065s). It’s his third pole in the last eight races and the seventh of his Cup Series career.

Denny Hamlin will join his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate on the front row. Hamlin qualified second at 169.042mph.

Tyler Reddick qualified third at 168.972mph, Ryan Blaney fourth at 168.273mph and Brad Keselowski completed the top five at 168.227mph.

Joey Logano qualified sixth at 168.152mph, Kevin Harvick seventh at 168.129mph, Chris Buescher eighth at 167.962mph, Michael McDowell ninth at 167.893mph and Aric Almirola 10th at 167.231mph.

Almirola was the only non-playoff driver who advanced to the final round of qualifying.

Kyle Busch qualified 11th (169.297mph), Kyle Larson 18th (168.411mph), and Bubba Wallace 19th (168.324mph).

For playoff drivers will start outside the top 20. William Byron qualified 23rd (168.089mph), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 25th (167.802mph), Ross Chastain 27th (167.625mph) and Martin Truex Jr. 31st (166.913mph).

Carson Hocevar qualified 15th for Legacy Motor Club in the No. 42 Chevrolet. Erik Jones, another Legacy M.C. driver and the defending race winner, qualified 20th.

There are 36 drivers entered in the Cook Out Southern 500.

Bell leads tame practice session at Darlington

Christopher Bell was the fastest NASCAR Cup Series playoff driver in Saturday’s practice at Darlington Raceway, which was also good enough for fastest overall in the session. Bell, who ran 26 laps, led the way at 168.428mph (29.197s). His No. 20 Joe …

Christopher Bell was the fastest NASCAR Cup Series playoff driver in Saturday’s practice at Darlington Raceway, which was also good enough for fastest overall in the session.

Bell, who ran 26 laps, led the way at 168.428mph (29.197s). His No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the only one to crack 168mph.

Michael McDowell was second fastest at 167.277mph, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. third at 167.049mph, William Byron fourth at 166.642mph and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five at 166.591mph.

Austin Cindric was sixth at 166.433mph, Kyle Larson seventh at 166.349mph, Denny Hamlin eighth at 166.242mph, Chase Briscoe ninth at 166.017mph and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10 at 165.973mph.

Cindric and Briscoe were the only non-playoff drivers inside the top 10.

Martin Truex Jr. was 11th fastest (165.956mph), Tyler Reddick was 12th (165.956mph), Chris Buescher was 13th (165.659mph), and Kyle Busch was 15th fastest (165.359mph). Ryan Blaney was 16th (165.320mph), Kevin Harvick 19th (165.087mph), Ross Chastain was 23rd (164.898mph), and Joey Logano was 26th fastest (164.661mph).

Three of the playoff drivers bounced off the wall in practice: Larson, Busch and Truex.

Logano ran the most laps (37).

Erik Jones, the defending race winner, was 17th fastest.

In the best 10 consecutive lap average, it was Cindric fastest over Blaney, Hamlin, Truex and Bell.

Joe Gibbs Racing gives Christopher Bell a new pit crew for 2023 NASCAR playoffs

Joe Gibbs Racing provides Christopher Bell a new pit crew before the 2023 NASCAR playoffs that was highly rated during the regular season.

[autotag]Joe Gibbs Racing[/autotag] has made a change involving [autotag]Christopher Bell[/autotag]’s team for the 2023 NASCAR playoffs. The organization has swapped the No. 20 and No. 54 pit crews after Ty Gibbs failed to make the playoffs at Daytona International Speedway. Bell’s new pit crew now ranks third-fastest when it relates to average time on a four-tire pit stop.

Meanwhile, Gibbs’ new pit crew ranks 20th-fastest when it relates to average time on a four-tire pit stop. This change makes sense for Joe Gibbs Racing as Bell made the Championship 4 during the 2022 season and is looking to return to Phoenix Raceway with a chance for a NASCAR Cup Series title. The current setup wasn’t going to cut it as Bell’s pit crew was ranked so low.

Now, the driver of the No. 20 car will have a pit crew that won the NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge at North Wilkesboro Speedway during All-Star Weekend. This is a major development for Bell and one to keep an eye on moving forward with the Round of 16 beginning at Darlington Raceway.

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JGR swaps pit crews for Bell and Ty Gibbs

Joe Gibbs Racing has swapped pit crews for Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Bell earned his third consecutive berth in the postseason and begins his hunt for a championship from the seventh seed. He has 2,014 …

Joe Gibbs Racing has swapped pit crews for Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Bell earned his third consecutive berth in the postseason and begins his hunt for a championship from the seventh seed. He has 2,014 points.

Gibbs did not qualify for the postseason, although he was in contention to earn a spot going into the regular-season finale last weekend in Daytona. He is headed toward Rookie of the Year honors.

The No. 54 crew for Gibbs has one of the fastest pit crews on pit road, ranking inside the top five in the Cup Series. The group won the NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge in May during All-Star Race weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Bell’s pit crew beginning this weekend at Darlington Raceway for the playoff opener (Sunday, 6pm ET) will be: Blake Houston (front changer), Jacob Holmes (tire carrier), Michael Hicks (rear changer), Derrell Edwards (jackman), Peyton Moore (fueler).

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Bell made the Championship 4 last season and finished third in the standings. He won the elimination races at the Charlotte Roval and Martinsville Speedway.

The crew working with Gibbs moving forward will be: Jackson Gibbs (front changer), Nick McBeath (tire carrier), Kevon Jackson (rear changer), Braxton Brannon (jackman), Ian Anderson (fueler).

Bell rolls to Michigan Cup pole

Christopher Bell will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to green at Michigan International Speedway. Bell led the way in Saturday’s qualifying session, posting a speed of 193.382 mph (37.232 seconds) with his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to score his …

Christopher Bell will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to green at Michigan International Speedway. Bell led the way in Saturday’s qualifying session, posting a speed of 193.382 mph (37.232 seconds) with his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to score his second pole of the 2023 season. The Oklahoman started second at Michigan in 2022, but fell to 26th after a late crash with Ross Chastain.

After posting an average start of 27th in the five races following his Nashville Superspeedway win, Chastain bounced back to qualify second in Michigan. The Floridian lad down a speed of 193.382 mph to lead Chevrolet in qualifying.

Rookie Ty Gibbs slotted in third at 193.024 mph. Richmond Raceway winner Chris Buescher (192.921 mph) kept his momentum rolling in fourth, with points leader Martin Truex Jr. (192.658 mph.) rounding out the top five.

Wrapping up the top 10 were Joey Logano (192.616 mph), William Byron (192.108 mph), Kyle Busch (191.898 mph), Ryan Blaney (191.775 mph) and Chase Elliott (191.755 mph). All five cars from the second group qualified ahead of their first group counterparts in the final round.

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Last year’s pole winner, Bubba Wallace, qualified 11th. Defending race winner Kevin Harvick was relegated to a distant 22nd. six spots further back than he started in last year’s win. Only three of the past 17 Cup races at Michigan have been won from outside of the top-15.

Playoff bubble driver Michael McDowell will start 23rd, providing an opportunity for Gibbs and Elliott to gain ground on him with early stage points after qualifying in the top-10.

Josh Berry qualified 35th in his substitute role for the suspended Noah Gragson at Legacy Motor Club.

Logano led Group A with a speed of 192.400 mph. Advancing with him were Byron, Elliott, Busch and Blaney. Gibbs topped Group B with a speed of 193.418 mph, leading a top five of Chastain, Bell, Truex and Buescher into the final round.

UP NEXT: Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 will go live at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA and MRN.

RESULTS

Defending winner Bell grabs ‘really fun’ Cup Series pole at Loudon

Christopher Bell is on top again at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, this time in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying. Bell, who won at the track last year, earned the pole Saturday with a qualifying speed of 124.781mph (30.524s). It is his first pole at New …

Christopher Bell is on top again at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, this time in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying.

Bell, who won at the track last year, earned the pole Saturday with a qualifying speed of 124.781mph (30.524s). It is his first pole at New Hampshire and the fifth of his Cup Series career.

“That was a tough, man,” Bell said. “We did the tire test here in April and it was significantly cooler and the cars had a lot of grip, and that was the first time here with the low downforce package and I was surprised how much grip we had. But back-to-back from July last year to July this year, these things are sliding around like crazy and pretty evil to drive.

“It makes it really fun out there, and I’m really proud of this Rheem No. 20 group.”

Bell’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, Martin Truex Jr., qualified second with a lap at 124.752mph.

Aric Almirola qualified third at 124.707mph, Joey Logano fourth at 124.589mph and Ryan Blaney fifth at 124.328mph.

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Tyler Reddick qualified sixth at 124.308mph, William Byron seventh at 123.896mph, Bubba Wallace eighth at 123.871mph and Brad Keselowski ninth at 123.855mph.

Kyle Busch, who is listed 10th in the starting lineup, did not record a qualifying lap. Busch was the first driver on track in the final round and spun going into Turn 1 on what would have been his fast lap. His No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet hit the outside wall with the left rear.

It is still unclear if Busch will have to go to a backup car. The team is currently assessing the damage in the New Hampshire garage.

Kevin Harvick will start 13th in his 40th and, for now, final, start at New Hampshire. Harvick’s fastest lap was 124.479mph.

After putting down the fastest lap in practice, Michael McDowell qualified 17th with a lap at 124.207mph.

Ty Gibbs got loose in Turn 2 and got sideways in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The disrupted lap of 121.268mph put Gibbs last on the starting grid.

STARTING LINEUP

Bell heads for New Hampshire with eye on regular season crown

Christopher Bell returns to New Hampshire Motor Speedway as the defending race winner in the NASCAR Cup Series and with a much different agenda than a year ago. Bell’s victory last year clinched him a spot in the postseason while also ending the …

Christopher Bell returns to New Hampshire Motor Speedway as the defending race winner in the NASCAR Cup Series and with a much different agenda than a year ago.

Bell’s victory last year clinched him a spot in the postseason while also ending the obsessive bubble-watching done by Bell and his No. 20 team. Ironically, Bell still obsessively points watches, but it’s for a much different reason with a victory on the Bristol dirt on his stat sheet.

“We’re right in the thick of the regular season championship,” said Bell, who is fourth in points and 37 points out of the lead. “We’re focused on those group of guys — how they’re doing, how they’re running, if they’re scoring points; hopefully we’re scoring points. Stuff like that.”

William Byron is the championship points leader by 21 over Bell’s teammate Martin Truex Jr. Bell is one point behind third-place Kyle Busch.

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The winner of the regular season championship will go into the postseason with 15 added playoff points. Those would be a much-appreciated boost for Bell, who is tied with Joey Logano for the fewest playoff points of any driver inside the top 10 in the championship standings with a win (seven).

“I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but definitely, I’m focused on it a lot,” Bell said of routinely checking the standings and his competition. “We’re in a unique spot because a lot of cars are still in the hunt. So, I’m racing for points against a number of cars. Last weekend the 24 of William [Byron] had a great weekend, but the rest of the guys were all in the same boat.

“I didn’t lose any ground to anybody except for William, and I think Kyle Busch is now (ahead) of me where he was a little bit behind me. But all it takes is one bad race and that safety net that William has is gone.”

While pushing his JGR team to “put it all together,” Bell is keeping an eye on the ebbs and flows of his competition. John Harrelson/Motorsport Images

Byron leads the series with four wins and 22 playoff points. And Bell is correct about how many drivers are still in the hunt for the regular season championship with seven races to go, as eight drivers chasing Byron are less than 100 points behind.

A driver can score a maximum of 60 points in a race through victory and winning both stages. Ross Chastain, who is fifth in the standings, is 53 points behind Byron and Denny Hamlin, who is sixth, is 67 points behind.

A repeat triumph in New Hampshire would not only help Bell’s cause but be another step in the right direction for the team as the postseason approaches. Bell once enjoyed time at the top of the championship standings, but despite the strong start, two months ago, Bell was blunt in his assessment that the team isn’t showing its true potential. Now, in the thick of the summer stretch, Bell is still looking for that to come to fruition.

“I don’t think that it’s all come together yet, no,” Bell said. “We’ve definitely had some more positive moments, but we’re still struggling to put all the pieces together. Hopefully that means it’ll come later on in the season. But I don’t think we’ve got it put together yet.”

Bell’s strategy ‘ruined’ by call to shorten Chicago street race

Christopher Bell felt his race on the streets of Chicago was “ruined” by the timing of NASCAR officials deciding to shorten the distance of Sunday’s race due to impending darkness, while crew chief Adam Stevens called it “complete negligence.” Bell …

Christopher Bell felt his race on the streets of Chicago was “ruined” by the timing of NASCAR officials deciding to shorten the distance of Sunday’s race due to impending darkness, while crew chief Adam Stevens called it “complete negligence.”

Bell led a race-high 37 laps and swept both stages. He was in control of the proceedings when the caution flew on lap 45, the final lap of the second stage.

Shortly thereafter, under the caution, officials informed teams the race was going to be shortened from 100 laps to 75. Racing the full distance was not realistic, and teams had begun discussing over the radio it was the likely scenario.

That includes Stevens, but he was immediately frustrated as Bell needed to make a pit stop. As Bell’s No. 20 Toyota and a majority of the leaders came down pit road, 11 other drivers stayed out and inherited the track position.

Those drivers had taken a chance and pitted under a previous caution. Doing so split the field on strategy, and with a few more cautions before the end of the race, it allowed those drivers to make the finish on fuel.

Stevens said he had been reaching out to NASCAR to make sure they were aware darkness was going to be an issue, which officials were. But Stevens said he also wanted to make sure they understood that, “They couldn’t back the race end up far enough that people that already decided to pit would back into the track position, which is what they did.

“So, they made the call too late, and the people that pit on (lap) 31 could make it on fuel with a couple of cautions, and the people that pit prior to the stage end could make it on fuel. So, it was just complete negligence that they let that happen. They should have called that prior to the lap that you could make it to the end so we all had the same chance to pit.

“The way that it was, the teams that were not handling well and running in the back pit when the cautions came and then backed into that strategy, which is not a way to run a race, in my opinion. We all knew there wasn’t enough daylight left and that we were going to have to make that decision at some point in time. They just made it so late that 12 or 13 cars had already backed into the strategy.”

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Bell restarted 12th after the pit stop and with a new running order. On lap 56, any chance of a comeback ended when Bell slid sideways getting into Turn 1 and bounced off the tire barriers.

“Just racing,” Bell said of the incident. “I was racing and lost sight of my brake marker and got in too deep.”

He ultimately finished 18th.

“Just nothing we could have done there as far as the strategy stuff,” he said. “Obviously, I made a mistake getting into the tire barrier trying to come back through traffic, but I don’t know. It wasn’t meant to be today.”

NASCAR chief operating officer Steve O’Donnell explained the decision to change the race distance and informs teams when officials did as having “a lot of thought” behind it.

“At the time we made it, we waited as long as possible to see if we could get all 100 laps in,” O’Donnell said. “When we knew that wasn’t possible, we waited, we closed pit road. We wanted to make sure everybody knew what the race distance was going to be. Everyone had a chance to come in, pit the car, get fuel. We wanted to take fuel mileage out of it.

“I think we’ve had conversations with some who may have thought it was unfair who pitted on the same lap that the leader did and won. I think we’re more than comfortable with the way the decision was made in this case. Certainly, it can be second-guessed anytime you have to do this, but I feel like the process played out well. Would have liked to get all 100, but we wanted to be as fair as possible for the fans and also not put ourselves in a position where we’re getting questions of why are you racing in the dark.”

Stevens doesn’t see the need to talk to NASCAR officials.

“They know that it was stupid,” he said. “So, there’s nothing I’m going to tell them that’s going to make them change their mind on that.”

Bell glad to finally be the center of attention after latest Cup win

There shouldn’t be the need for a reminder this week, but just in case, here it is: Christopher Bell won Sunday on the Bristol dirt. Bell understands the wisecrack. The last two wins the Joe Gibbs Racing driver scored were overshadowed by late-race …

There shouldn’t be the need for a reminder this week, but just in case, here it is: Christopher Bell won Sunday on the Bristol dirt.

Bell understands the wisecrack. The last two wins the Joe Gibbs Racing driver scored were overshadowed by late-race antics, making the victorious Bell an afterthought. There was the Cole Custer race manipulation at the Charlotte Roval in October. Then there was Ross Chastain’s wall ride at Martinsville Speedway a few weeks later.

But Sunday night was all about Bell.

“It’s cool,” Bell said of this one not being overshadowed. “It’s funny you bring that up because it does seem like that happens quite often, but I still won the race no matter what happened. Hopefully, I can win many more in my career, so that’s not an issue.”

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The first win of the season for Bell and the No. 20 team should not have come as a surprise. No, not because the series competed on dirt, which always makes Bell a favorite.

As the NASCAR Cup Series hits the one-quarter mark of the season, Bell and company have quietly put together one of the best starts of any team. Bell now leads the points standings with six top-10 finishes through eight races and an average finish of 10.6.

“We’re doing everything really well,” Bell said. “Adam (Stevens, crew chief) is giving me great race cars and the cars drive really well, but we haven’t been able to control the race.”

Bell feels his No. 20 Toyota has been strong all season, but qualifying issues have prevented him from showing it consistently. Rusty Jarrett/Motorsport Images

Bell not only leads the series in the championship standings, but his six top-10 finishes are the most in the series. So are the five top-five finishes Bell has.

But the controlling of the race part comes from stage wins and laps led. Although he’s shown speed, Bell does not have a stage win this season, and he’s led 154 laps in eight races.

In looking at some of the competition, Kyle Larson, who is fourth in points, has led over 400 laps. William Byron, who leads the series with two race wins and five stage wins, has led 385 laps.

“Looking back at last year, I qualified really well and this year, we haven’t had an abundance of qualifying,” continued Bell. “Richmond was rained out, so we didn’t have a fair shake of it there. Las Vegas, we were quickest in the first round, and in the second round, the wind shifted and it seemed to hamper our qualifying performance. We didn’t qualify well there and weren’t able to get control of the race. And we haven’t been able to do that anywhere.”

Bell’s numbers, however, are impressive. Taking out the two races where he caught up in incidents (Fontana and Circuit of The Americas), Bell hasn’t finished worse than sixth.

“My cars are driving well, but we’re just missing a piece of the puzzle where we can lead the race and control the race and win stages,” Bell said. “Hopefully, we can close the gap on that to where I can lead laps. I think that’s important in this series.”

Dirt ace Bell takes the spoils on Bristol clay

Before Sunday night’s Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell lamented that a “dirt guy” hadn’t won the NASCAR Cup Series’ only race on the red clay in Thunder Valley. Bell fixed the problem-in a race that also saw hard …

Before Sunday night’s Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell lamented that a “dirt guy” hadn’t won the NASCAR Cup Series’ only race on the red clay in Thunder Valley.

Bell fixed the problem—in a race that also saw hard feelings between pole winner Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece boil over.

Holding off charging Tyler Reddick in the final stage of the 250-lap race, Bell held a slim lead over Reddick when NASCAR called the 14th caution with 200 yards left in the final circuit.

A dirt-track aficionado who won three straight Chili Bowl Midget Nationals from 2017-2019, Bell collected his first victory of the season and the fifth of his career.

“Man, let me tell you, these are some of the longest laps of my entire life,” Bell said of the lates stages of the race. “This place is so much fun, whether it’s dirt or concrete. Whenever the cushion got up there on the top, it was very tough, because you couldn’t drive it super hard. Otherwise, you’d get sucked in.

“If you got your right front into it, you’d push a little bit. If you got your right rear into it, you’d slide. It was a lot of fun.”

Bell used his experience on dirt to negotiate the two ends of the half-mile track, which featured markedly different racing characteristics.

“(Turns) 3 and 4, that was the scary corner for me, because if you got into it too far, you lost all your momentum,” the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota explained. (Turns) 1 and 2, I think I kept hitting the wall a couple times.

“Seems like there was a little bit more moisture up there—it would hold me better. I’m like, ‘OK, I can really attack (Turns) 1 and 2.’ But (Turns) 3 and 4, I had to be careful… Definitely the track tonight favored experience.”

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Staying out on old tires after the end of Stage 2, Bell led the last 100 laps. Reddick, on the other hand, forewent a pit stop after Stage 1 and won Stage 2, but paid the price with a pit stop at the second break and rested 12th on lap 151.

It wasn’t until lap 223 that Reddick passed eventual fifth-place finisher Chase Briscoe for the second position, as Briscoe scraped the outside wall in Turn 4. Reddick began his pursuit of Bell, but the final caution foiled any opportunity he might have had.

“Yeah, towards the end there definitely feel like I had a little bit more,” Reddick said. “I thought I had the edge, but I wasn’t quite there in the last couple laps. Definitely found it.

“Just hate it for everybody on this (No. 45 23XI Racing) Toyota. Just needed to be a little bit closer than I was. I think with two (laps) to go, it would have been really bold to try to make that move work. Obviously, on the white flag coming into (Turns) 3 and 4, I was going to see. We’ll never know if it (would have) worked.”

Larson won 75-lap Stage 1 wire-to-wire, but he angered Preece with a move that forced the Stewart-Haas Racing driver into the outside wall. On lap 175, 20 circuits after Larson spun and fell to the rear of the field, Preece returned the favor in Turn 4. Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet then shot to the inside into the door of Preece’s No. 41 Ford before spinning into the outside wall.

“Yeah, I’m guessing he was paying me back for whatever I did earlier,” said Larson, who exited the race with suspension damage to his car. “He ran me straight into the fence, and my car was broke and we crashed.

“It sucks, but I should just be mad at myself for spinning out earlier and putting myself back there. Just sucks.”

Austin Dillon ran third, followed by Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Briscoe and Justin Haley, as drivers with dirt-track backgrounds claimed the top six finishing positions. Martin Truex Jr., Todd Gilliland, Kevin Harvick and Ty Gibbs completed the top 10.

“I just have to thank (Speedway Motorsports Inc.) for all of the hard work they’ve done with this dirt racing,” Dillon said. “I don’t care what anybody says, that was an amazing show throughout the field. I felt like it was some great racing.”

RESULTS