Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 25, 2021) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to media via videoconference prior to the Bristol event today:

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Irwin Trade Strong Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

How physical do you expect the dirt race to be at Bristol?

“It’s definitely going to be a lot more back-and-forth on the wheel. We saw that last night on the iRacing deal. Dirt racing with these stock cars, you have to really hustle them around the race track. Eldora was a very similar way, you’re far left to far right and eight times back-and-forth throughout the corner. It’s just a matter of who’s going to be able to repeat that the most and do the best job of being consistent throughout the course of the race. I think that’s going to be the hardest part. Physically, the G-forces are going to be down significantly from what they are normally at Bristol. I think the physical demand on us will probably be similar to a normal race I guess. The G-forces are the ones that typically make it hard for us.”

Do you have to use different muscle groups that you normally would at Bristol or on other dirt race tracks?

“I think it’s the same muscle group, but definitely a lot more active on the steering wheel. All of our crew chiefs know that we’re going to be back-and-forth on the wheel a lot more so the steering will probably be a little bit softer than what they would be at normal Bristol. I think the crew chiefs will help us out making the steering softer.”

How real did the iRacing event feel compared to what you expect the actual race to feel like and how confident are you going into the race weekend?

“I feel really good about it. I think I should have an advantage over the majority of the other competitors just because of my background and my experience on dirt tracks. As far as last night being realistic, I just don’t see it. We saw the track was really heavy on the iRacing simulator and if we get those conditions in real life, we’re not going to be able to see because the windshields will be mudded up. The radiators are going to be mudded up and we’re not going to be able to get air flow to the engines. We can’t have those conditions and then if it gets super dry, it’s going to be really dusty. I don’t think the track conditions were realistic, what we had last night, but I think some of the tendencies might be similar.”

What are your thoughts on Noah Gragson as a competitor and former teammate?

“He’s (Noah Gragson) definitely a personality. We see that all the time on social media. He puts himself out there and is not afraid to use his mouth. That’s just Noah.”

If you didn’t have a win already in the series, would you put more pressure on yourself for this race with many pointing to you as the favorite?

“It’s definitely a race that I had circled on the calendar whenever we went into the 2021 season and it still is. I think I’ve got a great opportunity to win another race this weekend at Bristol so we’re going to do everything we can to win another race. It’s nice not having to rely on this and be like, ‘Man, this is our only way to the Playoffs.’ I think we have the opportunity for a great showing here and I hope that we can capitalize on that and get some Playoff points, get some stage points and have a good solid points day and maybe come away with a victory.”

Has Chris Windom reached out about how to handle the stock cars and if so, what advice have you shared?

“I haven’t heard from him (Chris Windom) yet, but he’s going to be fine. I think he’s run ARCA cars before. I don’t know that he’s run any NASCAR stuff, but the ARCA cars are probably going to be really similar at least on the miles to what we’re going to do this weekend. I think he’s got as much experience as any of us so I think he’ll be a competitor for sure.”

Do you think some of the packs running together or lines being run from the iRacing could carry over to the real race or is it all just that far off of reality?

“I don’t think the track conditions were going to be what we see at all. After driving the cars, I don’t think the cars are going to drive that way either. As far as packs and stuff like that, yeah, you will probably get a couple guys out front, similar to last night where a couple guys can drive away who really can get going well and then you’re going to have some guys back there struggling that are all kind of racing together. As far as track conditions, racing grooves and car driving stuff, I don’t think that those three things will relate.”

How much rain could impact losing the track this weekend?

“Basically, any rain is going to, what we classify as, lose the track. If the track gets wet at all, we’re going to lose the track, but we should be able to regain it pretty quick with a little bit of track prep time. Then if we get a lot of downpours and heavy rainfall, then it’s going to be harder for them to prepare the race track. The more rain that we get, the longer the time period needed to regain the race track. And on top of that, the more water that they get in the surface and this is something that I’m sure they’re really careful about is, we can’t really do rough race tracks. The more water content the dirt has, the softer the dirt is going to be and the more rough the race track is going to be. It’s going to be interesting to see how they handle the weather this weekend. I’m all for having a little bit of water in the dirt to make it a more true dirt track than what maybe we’re anticipating. On the flip side, if the dirt has too much water content in it and either, ‘A,’ the track starts getting rough or ‘B,’ our windshields get mudded up. Our windshields get mudded up, the front of our cars get mudded up and the engines are going to get hot. They’re walking a very fine line on how much water content can be in the dirt.”

Are you educating Adam Stevens more for this race versus him normally setting the cars up based on his experience?

“I’m definitely letting Adam (Stevens, crew chief) run the show. He’s an excellent crew chief and he knows what’s going on. As far as practice plans, how many laps we’re going to do and stuff like that, I’m going to let him decide that, but definitely my feedback is going to be critical because nobody knows what to expect. Nobody knows what we’re going to be fighting. Adam can generally lead us down the path of Bristol concrete – you’re practicing and then you need to kind of hedge towards the tighter side to race well. All of that is irrelevant. His notes, well, he doesn’t have any notes for Bristol dirt so it’s going to be a lot of my feedback of the direction of the race car for what he needs to do to it.”

Will it be odd to have so many voices on the radio while running a dirt race?

“I would say it’s no different than the Bristol Truck race. That will be similar to that and it’s going to be a NASCAR race for sure. It’s not going to be a Midget race or a Sprint Car race. It still is a NASCAR race regardless of the surface underneath us. It’s going to be an exciting one though and I hope we’re able to put on a great show.”

What are the concerns for the race related to dust and track preparation for a midday dirt race?

“I was really, really worried about the dust prior to watching the Dirt Nationals last weekend. They started mid-afternoon just like the Cup race will and it seemed like they did a great job managing the dust. I was really happy about that. It’s just really, really difficult because of the fine line they’re walking between having too much water in it and throwing mud on the windshields and then not having enough water in it and getting super dusty. The dust is a product of the surface itself. We go to some race tracks and dust is not an issue. Knoxville, Iowa for example, you go there and dust is rarely a factor. It gets slick and it polishes off and you quit throwing mud and there’s no dust. That’s what we need, that’s what we want. Eldora gets similar and maybe has a little more dust than Knoxville, but you look at a place like the Charlotte dirt track, they were having to throw competition yellows last year during the World Finals because it got so dusty. Then the Las Vegas K&N race was similar. I remember we had to have a break for track prep because it was so dusty there too. After watching the Dirt Nationals though, I don’t think dust is going to be a huge issue for us at Bristol.”

How do you expect the track to change over the 250 laps?

“Regardless of how wet it is at the start, it’s going to be dry at the end. Then it’s just a matter of how dry and if the track transitions to taking rubber and actually gaining grip back, that’s definitely a possibility. It’s going to undergo a lot of changes over 250 laps for sure.”

Who do you think your biggest competition is heading into this weekend?

“You definitely have to look at the 5 (Kyle Larson) car. He’s going to be probably one of the top guys. Aside from that, Tyler Reddick ran extremely well in the trucks at Eldora. I think you need to look at that race in particular to pick your favorites. Stewart Friesen is going to be really good. I expect Chris Windom to be running really well. Shane Golobic, I know he’s got K&N experience so he has some stock car experience and he might be a factor. Austin Dillon, there’s a handful of guys that could easily win the race. I think you look at your dirt racers, your people that have run really well at the Bristol truck event, those guys are going to be the favorites.”

What will have to have happened in Sunday’s race for people to classify this as a great dirt race?

“I’m not entirely sure about that. I hope that it turns out well. If you look at the history of events in the Cup Series, it seems like that finish is a really, really big key ingredient to a great race. You look at the Ryan Blaney win at the Roval the first time we went there. I don’t think anybody would classify that as a great race, but it had a great finish so it got great reviews. I just hope that we’re able to get green flag laps in, having long green flag runs. A great finish is necessary for it to be considered a great race and we know it’s going to be a full field and we know there’s going to be bumping and banging. I just hope it’s not a demolition derby.”

What would be a bad race look like?

“A demo derby with a lot of yellow flags.”

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