Toyota Racing – Christopher. Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
LOUDON, New Hampshire (July 30, 2020) – Leavine Family Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to media via videoconference in advance of the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway:
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 95 Rheem Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing
What makes you so strong at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?
“New Hampshire is one of my best race tracks that we go to on the schedule for whatever reason. I don’t know why that is. I think I have to give a lot of thanks to Kyle Busch Motorsports because whenever I drove for them in the Truck Series, we actually used one of our rookie tests up there at Loudon in the 2016 season. That kind of kicked off my experience there. I’ve also run a Late Model race there back in 2015 so I had a lot of seat time before I started going there in the NASCAR Series and it’s just been a great race track for me with the second-place and the win and two truck races I’ve run there and then two wins in the Xfinity Series.”
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned this season with so many changes?
“Expect the unexpected, that’s for sure. 2020 has been absolutely crazy. It started off crazy with the President coming to the Daytona 500. That was a surreal moment and very cool experience to be a part of and then on top of that, it ended up getting rained out so then we didn’t race until Monday night for the Daytona 500. Then the pandemic hit and we had a huge break in the season. I’ve very thankful that NASCAR is allowing us to keep going to the race track. It’s been up and down for me since then. We’ve definitely made gains since the beginning of the year.”
What have you learned from Jason Ratcliff through this season?
“Jason’s (Ratcliff, crew chief) has kind of been our leader. We’ve definitely had ups and downs. Jason with all of his experience and expertise, he’s been able to guide us along the way. Very thankful to be able to drive for him.”
Have you started asking what your plans are for 2021 yet?
“The way that this season has gone with the big break in the middle, we’re kind of right in the thick of things right now. This is going to be a really good race track for me at Loudon so that’s not really on my mind at the moment.”
Do you ask a lot of questions about next season or rumors?
“I try and stay out of the business parts of it. I love driving the race cars so I try to stay out of the business part as much as I can and just focus on racing and doing as good of a job as I can do.”
How is the talent and competition of this rookie class going to help you as your career progresses?
“It’s been fun to be able to compete against all the rookies and I think all of us have kind of had our moments where we’ve done well. Pocono was definitely a highlight for me. Bristol was another one. I’m looking for more of those highlights and hopefully we’ve got another one coming this weekend. It’s been cool to see John Hunter (Nemechek) and Cole (Custer) and Tyler Reddick also up there. They’re all running good and I’m really proud of all of us rookies for competing well and hopefully we can continue to improve and maybe get a couple more rookie wins.”
How excited are you to be part of the next generation of NASCAR?
“It’s a dream come true. Being able to compete at NASCAR’s highest level is something that I’ve always wanted to do. I’m very thankful for the opportunity to do that.”
Are you good at New Hampshire due to the short track design and similarities to tracks you grew up racing on?
“I don’t know, that’s a tough question. It’s really a flat, one-mile oval race track. For whatever reason, I don’t know what it is. I’ve had really good cars there. I got to run a Late Model race here in 2015 and then in 2016 before my first NASCAR Truck Series race, we actually came up and tested at Loudon. I think just having experience on the race track before competing in my first race and then every time I’ve been here, I’ve had great race cars so it’s made me look really good.”
Do you have more dirt races scheduled this season?
“I am going to be driving a midget for Tucker Boat on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. I’m going to go to the Pennsylvania Speedway midget races and then outside of that, I don’t really know.”
What is your outlook for the Daytona road course race?
“It’s going to be interesting to go to a road course that none of us have been to, I guess some of us have, but none of us have been to in Cup car anyway and not even the teams. That’s going to be a change of pace and then throw in no practice as well. It’s going to be very, very different and I’m excited for the challenge. It’s just fun to be able to go out to the races and you don’t know who’s going to be good and who’s going to be bad with no practice. You just have to go out there and figure it out.”
Do you feel the Daytona road course could be a race where you could potentially capitalize?
“Yes, absolutely. I’ve been able to do pretty good on the road courses the last couple years. I’ve been definitely putting in a lot of effort into the Daytona road course on the simulator and stuff. Hopefully, it will pay off.”
How important do you feel it was for NASCAR to come back after the pandemic?
“That was really, really big for NASCAR to be the first sport back on TV and I think we got the benefit of it from being watched on TV a lot. It was really cool and I’m really glad that NASCAR took that chance and took a hold of that opportunity to be the first sport back. I hope that we were able to build our fan base and we got some new fans watching and hopefully they continue to watch.”
How did you feel when NASCAR announced there would be no practice or qualifying the rest of the season?
“I think this no practice thing definitely fits my background. I think it’s up and down and if you look at our results, we’ve arguably ran a little bit better since they stopped practice. One thing that I do think it hinders me a little bit on is I just don’t have a feel for these cars and it takes a little bit to figure out where the limit is and especially at these race tracks where we’re going with new rules packages. It’s definitely a little bit different.”
Do you think it will make a difference when you return to some tracks for a second time?
“I’m looking forward to returning to race tracks for the second time. I think that will be a big advantage. Or not a big advantage for me, but definitely think we’ll be better the second time around.”
Did NASCAR send a rule to drivers for New Hampshire about different protocols?
“I did notice that this weekend we’re under a little different guidelines anyway. They want us to stay outside of the New Hampshire community you could say. We have to pretty much stay within our own confines. They don’t want us going out to restaurants or anything like that. It’s pretty much fly in and race and fly out anyway. They’re taking extra precautions this week.”
Do you feel the drivers and team members are being careful week-to-week?
“I’m just proud of NASCAR for stepping up and allowing us to participate under unforeseen circumstances. They do a really good job at making sure everyone in the industry is staying safe.”
How do you balance what you do and don’t do to ensure you’re in good health when you travel to dirt races or other activities?
“The biggest thing is just trying to use common sense and being as smart as I can about going to the races and making sure you keep your distance and instead of traveling up to Pennsylvania races on a plane, like I probably would. Instead, I’m going to be riding in the rig and isolating from the masses as much as I can anyway. I think it’s a matter of just doing your part. Wearing masks when you need to and making sure that you’re staying away from people and just using common sense.”
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