Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (February 25, 2021) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to media via videoconference prior to the Homestead-Miami event today:
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What has your week been after the win?
“It’s been a ton of fun, and I’ll tell you what it’s been really fun to be relevant again. I felt like I’ve been falling off the face of the earth the last 12 months or so, but it’s really nice to be able to get back and win and talk to all the media like I remember doing. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Does the win allow you to be more aggressive at Homestead?
“That’s a great point, and Homestead is definitely a place risk/reward is a huge conversation to talk about at Homestead. We know there is a ton of speed if you get up right next to the fence. The Cup cars are very, very sensitive and prone to damage. If you get against the fence, it’s really easy to cut a tire. That’s going to be something that is definitely going to be talked about amongst all of the teams and it’s going to be fun to see who plays with the razor’s edge. I think we are a team that definitely could play with it more than others, since we’ve already won and locked in, but for me it’s going to be about seeing the checkered flag. I want to make sure that I get to the end. If it’s the closing laps, and I’ve got a shot to win and I’m pushing hard, I think I’m going to get up there and try to make it happen, but I definitely want to finish.”
What was last year like for you?
“Last year was very different. Obviously the COVID stuff changed everything. It made it different for everybody. For me, I never got to talk to you guys, really, from maybe I talked to you in preseason, but aside from that. I told Claire (B. Lang) last week that I hadn’t heard her voice in a long time, and same with you Jenna (Fryer). I don’t think I’ve talked to you in a while. It’s nice to be able to talk to the media again and just be relevant. I said I wanted to be factor from the beginning of this year, and it’s nice to be able to click off a win this early in the season.”
When you got back into the Joe Gibbs Racing equipment, what was the biggest difference?
“I don’t know. That’s tough. LFR (Leavine Family Racing), we knew what set-ups they had. Definitely our pit crew is extremely strong, which was a struggle point for us last year. Adam Stevens (crew chief) is doing a great job. My pit crew has been on point this year, so that has been fun to work with such a talented group of people there. Adam Stevens is doing a great job on the pit box and making great calls and bringing great race cars to the track, but Jason Ratcliff was a great crew chief too. It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly what is the difference maker between LFR and JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing). It’s just a little bit everywhere, but I’m just grateful to be here. Hopefully, we can keep the ball rolling.”
When did you think you would win?
“Me and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) talked a lot this offseason about not trying to get too much too early and not trying too hard too early and getting ourselves in trouble with DNFs and things like that. He kept telling me that. I understand that. Last year, I learned that you can’t start out in a giant hole and I think last year after the first three or four races I was in the 30s in the point standings and that wasn’t great, but on the flipside, I would ask Adam, why can’t we win at the second race of the season at the Daytona Road Course. That race was a great race for me last year, why can’t we win that? His reply was, there is no reason that we can’t, we just don’t need to push our issue too hard and make a mistake. I think looking at the schedule, we have opportunities to win littered throughout the course of the season. There’s not really – I don’t think there’s a weak link on the schedule for us at the moment.”
What does it mean to be a team leader?
“That’s really special and I feel like I’ve put in a lot of effort to be around the guys and try to create those relationships between me and my mechanics, my crew chief, Stevie Reeves, my spotter, who I’ve worked with I guess for two years now. It’s so refreshing to hear Stevie talk to me like that. As far as being a team leader, that’s one thing that I feel like Adam (Stevens, crew chief) is really good with me with. There’s no doubt about it – Adam is the team leader. I enjoy that. I enjoy working for someone and driving for someone who knows how to run a team, run an organization. It’s a dream come true to be a part of this Joe Gibbs Racing 20 group with Adam in charge of everybody, and hopefully we can keep it going for a while.”
How do you look at Homestead?
“Homestead was definitely one that we had circled going into the 2021 calendar year, because it was one of my best races last year. I think I finished eighth last year in the LFR (Leavine Family Racing) car. I think we have the opportunity to build on that. If we go out there and have another solid day, that’s going to create really good momentum going forward. I really love Vegas. I haven’t really had a good run there, but I really enjoy the racetrack and I think that Vegas and Homestead could be two really good races for us.”
With your dirt background, have you been able to find your edge in the Cup Series?
“I think so a little bit. I have crossed over the edge a few times as you know, and I’m sure I will sometime in the future again too. Hopefully, it’s not this weekend in Homestead. Homestead is definitely a place where that is apparent. There’s a lot of speed to be right up against the wall but it’s very risky as well. Fortunately, I’m one of the guys who can kind of throw caution to the wind. It’s going to be fun to see how the strategy plays out for us, if we are very aggressive or yeah, we will just have to see. I know that the stage points are important to us and we want to get a good finish, but at the same token, we really want to win too.”
Did you have any doubts last season?
“It was pretty hard to mitigate it. It was a low point in my career for sure. I know I’ve said that time and time again, but you just start doubting yourself and, in this sport, you are kind of labeled as you are only as good as your last race. Fortunately, right now I’m a winner, so I’m on top of the world. Last year, it wasn’t looking good for me and a lot of people had probably written me off. I’m glad to prove those guys wrong and I’m so excited to be where I’m at. I think we have the opportunity to run well at all of these race tracks and I don’t think we are done winning yet.”
Do you remember those times at the beginning of your NASCAR career where there were some struggles?
“Absolutely, I’ve learned from the very beginning that you are only as good as your race car, you are only as good as the guys around you. Looking back at my 2015 Truck races, I was able to win at Eldora. Obviously, I was still young and had some learning curves to go through, but going into the 2016 Truck Series, it was me and William (Bryon) as the two full-time drivers. William was paired up with Rudy Fugle, who was – I’m not going to call them the a-team – but they were very good, kicking on all eight cylinders. I was with Jerry Baxter, and we started off the year strong, well, at Daytona, I flipped, so that wasn’t great. But Atlanta was a great race for us. I think I led the most laps and was in the lead coming down to the end and blew a tire, and that really knocked the wind out of our sails. Rudy and William were able to take off and I think they won the next race, and they were able to win four or five more races that year, and I struggled to get going and only won one. I learned way back then that it’s important to have a great team behind you and make the most out of those opportunities, so I’ve been taught early in my NASCAR career that it’s the people that make or break you and I’m very fortunate to be able to drive for the groups that I have at Kyle Busch Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing.”
Can you describe the impact David Wilson has had in your career?
“This win has been so big, not only for me personally, but it’s been so fun to see how much it meant to so many people. David Wilson obviously being at the very pinnacle of that, David Wilson, Tyler Gibbs, Jack Irving from the Toyota side, all of my dirt teams that have given me opportunities, all of the people that have put their money on the line to risk it in me and believing in me. It’s just been really fun to see how much my win has meant to so many different people.”
From your dirt background, who did you get congratulations from that surprised you?
“From my dirt background, that’s tough. Obviously, all of my mentors, Rick Ferkel, Pete Willoughby, Keith Kunz texted me which me and Keith obviously have a great business relationship but a crew chief/driver standpoint, but we don’t really have much of a personal relationship, like we don’t really communicate very often, and he texted me, so that was really cool to hear from Keith. I had a bunch of drivers congratulate me – that was really special. I didn’t expect that many drivers to congratulate me. It’s tough. My phone was completely blown up on Sunday evening. I think I had over 300 text messages. It was pretty surreal, and it hit me hard knowing how much it meant to so many people.”
Have you worked with Adam Stevens on what you want out of your Bristol dirt car?
“It’s going to be tough, and I don’t think anyone knows exactly what to do. I would say the biggest source of resources that we have is Kyle Busch Motorsports just from their truck stand point, running their Trucks on the dirt. I think that Adam (Stevens, crew chief) is really going to be leaning on that group to guide us on what we need in our race car. Speaking about Rudy Fugle, he’s obviously over at Hendrick now, so he’s got a pretty good eye of what they need too.”
Any takeaways from the early Bristol test sessions for other teams?
“I actually haven’t got to see video of it. I’ve had several people tell me about it, so maybe as soon as I’m done with this call, I’ll go check it out, but it’s going to be really interesting to see how the Cup cars handle it. Like you mentioned, they are a lot different than modifieds or late models. The racetrack is going to be really the biggest piece of the puzzle, how well it’s going to handle the heavy stock cars on it and how well it’s going to go over the course of the afternoon. I think it’s a 2:30 start time, so the sun is going to be out and it’s going to be a big deciding factor on how the tracks going to shape up.”
How excited are you to see Chris Windom run at Bristol?
“It’s going to be fun to have Big Daddy (Chris Windom) racing with us. I’ve been teammates with him now for a couple races on the midget side, so he’s going to give us a run for our money for sure.”
How long did it take you to get over the hard races, and how long do you allow yourself to relish this win?
“I would say it’s tough and that’s something that I’ve really struggled with throughout my NASCAR career is you only get one race a week. Growing up dirt track racing, I was accustomed to running 80 to 100 races a year, so whenever you have that big of a schedule, if you had a bad night typically you are racing the next night or a couple nights later but on the NASCAR side you get one opportunity and then you have to wait seven days at best, and then if you have an off week, you’ve got to wait even longer than that. That’s been a huge change from dirt racing to NASCAR which makes it amazing when you win because you get more time and you are a winner longer, but on the flip side if you have bad days you just can’t wait for the next opportunity to come and race. As far as learning from the bad days and dropping them behind you, I’m not very good at that but definitely by the time you get into the race car the following week, that has to be behind you, and you have to be moving forward. On the flip side, when you win, hopefully I can carry this momentum for a while and winning always helps your confidence, and confidence makes you a better race car driver. Whenever I strap into the race car on Sunday at Homestead, I’m going to know I was the winner the last time I got in the car.”
Where does this trophy rank as far as your achievements so far?
“It’s got to be right up there at the top. It’s just so crazy how much this win meant to so many different people, and it was a big one for sure. I think that 300 number of text messages that I got was probably bigger than any other win that I’ve had. It’s right up there at the top for sure.”
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