Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Kansas Speedway – October 19, 2018
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media at Kansas Speedway:
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How do you feel about your chances with a number of 1.5-mile tracks coming up on the schedule?
“For myself, I love 1.5-mile (tracks). It’s my favorite style of racing and my favorite race tracks too. I’m excited about it.”
Has it set in that you have the Xfinity record for most wins for a rookie?
“I think it’s definitely set in. The biggest thing for me is whatever happens from this point on, I’ve had a successful year. Back in July whenever I had only won one race driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, that was pretty disappointing. Now here we are at the end of the year and I’ve won six races. If I don’t win anymore, obviously that will be disappointing, but we’ve had a very successful season and that’s something that I’m very proud of.”
Where does your first career-series win here a year ago rank in terms of career progression?
“That was cool. I guess the biggest thing for me is I’ve been really proud at how whenever – I don’t know how to word this – but I guess get to the next level, I’m able to just drive really fast race cars and that allows me to compete for wins and win races. To be able to win in the Xfinity Series so early was obviously a big turning point for my future going forward. It was really big to prove to the company at Joe Gibbs Racing that they made the right call on the right guy or something. Just very fortunate to drive really fast race cars because at this sport, you see it time and time again with (Ryan) Preece and Ross Chastain, you’re only as fast as your race car. A race car driver can’t make up for very much if your race car is not very good. I’ve got great race cars and that’s the reason why I win races.”
How did Erik Jones react after this race last year when you made contact with him for the win?
“We didn’t talk after the race. Everyone was – my phone was blowing up saying that Erik’s mad at me and obviously my team was happy and I don’t really think his team was that upset. Anyway, as soon as I got to the airplane an hour later, I shot him a text and I said hey man, I didn’t mean to make you not finish the race and I don’t remember his exact words, but he didn’t say congratulations, but I think he said he was happy for me. We were on pretty good terms fairly quickly. Heat of the moment, I’m sure he was a little bit upset with me. We’re good now.”
Parker Price-Miller referred to you as Jesus following your World of Outlaws win at Eldora Speedway. That’s quite the compliment.
“Yeah, it is quite the compliment. Obviously that was meant I think as more of a joke. None of us can be compared to Jesus (laughter). I don’t know, it is a really cool compliment that a fellow racer would I guess make that analogy or whatever. Eldora was a ton of fun. I got my wall riding practice in for this week.”
Is Jesus going to run any Cup races soon?
“If your referring to me, no I won’t be.”
How do you feel about the Cup Series drivers not being allowed to race in the Xfinity Series right now during the playoffs?
“I do not like the fact that we’re not able to race with them. That’s just kind of been my motto my entire life. Even whenever I grew up sprint car racing, I always strived to go race with the World of Outlaws because they were the best and I wanted to compete against the best. I love racing with them and I wish that we continued to race with them because I think that validates ourselves a little bit more competing with those caliber drivers.”
