Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
ISM Raceway – November 9, 2018
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media at ISM Raceway:
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 GameStop Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How do you stay upbeat under these circumstances battling for a spot in the final four at Homestead?
“For me, I’ve always taken a lot of pride in being a winner and winning races. To have – and I think even at media day whenever we started the Playoffs – one of the questions they asked was if you would rather have a five-race win year or win the championship and I’ve always said that I would rather win five races than win the championship. I’ve won six and it would be awesome to make it seven this weekend – this would be a pretty big one. It doesn’t matter, I have another year to try to get it next year if it doesn’t happen this year. I’m going to try to make it seven wins this weekend and then eight at Homestead. If not, I’ll try to win 10 next year.”
What are your expectations for the races here this weekend with the new configuration?
“Well two weeks in a row we’ve wrecked on lap one going into turn one so I think there’s a pretty good possibility we’re going to make it three. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be fun for a fan to watch for sure. The inside is going to have an advantage of running a way shorter distance, but the shorter that you make that distance, the more your trajectory is screwed up by the time you get to turn one. Then on top of that, you’re on the flat and you’re going to have guys on your outside, which is what has caused the issue the last couple weeks. The Truck race is going to be fun to watch.”
What is your confidence level going into this weekend after the last two weeks?
“I don’t know, I feel good. Honestly, every week that we’ve shown up to the race track on a normal oval, not a road course and not plate racing, I feel like we’ve had an opportunity to win. Once again, I feel like we’re going to have another opportunity to win and it’s just a matter of if the cards fall right. Just watching back over the spring race here and there were pretty much four cars that were capable of winning – 18, 22, myself and Justin (Allgaier). All four of us had moments that we were the best car on the race track. That give me some confidence going into this race that we’re going to be fast so I’m going to have a shot at it I feel like and it’s just a matter of if the cards fall right.”
