Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes
DOVER, Del. (October 4, 2019) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to media at Dover International Speedway:
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No.20 Rheem Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
How happy are you to finally have the announcement done?
“So happy. It has been a long time coming, because everyone has already known for a long time, but we have not been able to publicly say it and now it’s out there.”
For Dover, people say that you are just on the ragged edge when you are driving out there. Can you at all compare that to what it feels like driving dirt?
“I would say that is a little bit of a stretch. It’s pretty tough to relate anything to dirt racing, but one thing it does reward here, especially where we come from – sprint car racing, is you have to drive hard. It rewards driving hard.”
With the announcement, do you think it’s going to help you focus even more on the task at hand?
“It’s about, now I don’t have to hide anything anymore. I don’t have to avoid coming in here, that’s for sure. It’s nice that it’s out there, but people ask you ‘What are you doing to prepare for next year?’ and me and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) have rarely talked about next year, because we are so focused on trying to win every race that we go to.”
How important was it taking Jason Ratcliff to the next level?
“It was very important just because he understands me; he understands who I am as a race car driver. It’s going to be really easy to start doubting things when we get up there, and if we don’t go good – it’s like is our car not good, is the driver not good – and now I feel like working with Jason, he’s going to trust me and believe in me with the ups-and-downs.
Do you feel like you can be harder on the non-Playoff drivers knowing that they can’t come at you?
“Fortunately for me, I haven’t been on the other side of the fence, but from what I hear from everybody getting to Homestead – if you are not part of the Final Four – it’s a pretty tough race because you are just trying to stay out of the way. Fortunately, I have never been on the outside looking in, so I can’t really comment on that. It wouldn’t be very much fun to not be in the hunt.”
What about how do you race the non-Playoff drivers?
“I don’t race anybody any differently. We are all trying to win. Getting to Homestead and you are in the Final Four, then you are only focused on those red spoilers. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if you finish 30th or if you win the race as long as you beat the other three.”
Dover practice. How was it for you?
“Yeah, it’s been nice. The Rheem Supra has been turning really good. I’ve been a little bit loose at times. Got to work on that a little bit, but I like where we are at.”
Speed versus handling here.
“In our cars, with the rules package that we have, typically handling equals speed. If you handle good, you are really fast.”
Did the Roval turn out the way you expected?
“Yeah, it was a pretty standard Roval. Pretty calm at the beginning. I say ‘standard Roval’ and we’ve only had two of them. Calm at the beginning and hectic at the end.”
About Toyota
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