Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
KANSAS CITY (September 28, 2024) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media on Saturday after earning the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
When you come here do you know you’re going to run the top line for qualifying?
“100%, yes. There is not one question in my head of what lane I’m going to run in qualifying. There’s a lot of things to be determined. Where I position my car on the race track is pretty set in stone. That’s where it’s going to be for sure.”
Why is it that concrete?
“I was fortunate enough to do the tire test for the Next Gen car here at Kansas, and whenever I came here, we had an abundance of tires and I was able to – running down, running middle, running high and it was pretty clear that the top was the fastest lane. And I remember coming here for the first Next Gen race in 2022 – it would’ve been the spring of 2022 – I think I was the first guy to qualify on the top and it was just from the experience I had at the tire test. It’s a unique race track. All the other places that you go, and you run high, you run high on older tires. But Kansas is the one place where you can run high and make lap time on new tires as well. I think it’s just the progressive banking that this place has in it and yeah, it’s fast for whatever reason.”
How do you translate this pole into a win here at Kansas?
“Well, I haven’t done it yet. I don’t know, Kansas has been a weird track for us because we come here, and we obviously qualify really well but it seems like over the course of the long run I just haven’t had what I need to compete with the best cars. We’re consistently good, like we’ve finished top 10 a lot or on the verge of top five but certainly every race since the Next Gen introduction we haven’t been the winning car here. So, with that being said, we haven’t left here and said we hit it perfect either. So, I think a little bit of car work and me working on myself as a driver and then hopefully I can continue to improve and drive better tomorrow than I have in the past here and we can have a better result. It’s a tricky race track because the top is so fast but your balance changes during the course of the run so much that you have to move around, and you can’t be committed to the top. It’s honestly a little opposite of Homestead. Where Homestead you kind of run down and you migrate to the wall. Here at Kansas, it seems like you can start at the wall and as the run goes, you’re going to move around and get away from it whenever your balance starts to change.”
Is there any reason why we shouldn’t pick you to win tomorrow’s race?
“There’s a lot of reasons why you shouldn’t pick me, Bob (laughter). I can go down the list. Yeah, but I feel good. I feel good. Certainly, in practice it felt different. I felt really comfortable in the car here and most of the time I haven’t felt comfortable over the course of the long run. I don’t know. It is Kansas and there are a couple guys who are always going to be upfront but hopefully tomorrow is the day the 20 car is upfront.”
What can you do this week to protect yourself at Talladega?
“Win this week. I mean, yeah, that’s a great question. There really is no hiding, although it does feel like the fall Talladega race has been a lot calmer than the spring race the last couple years. I don’t know. Superspeedway racing, I’ve been very vocal, it’s not my favorite style of racing and that puts a lot of emphasis on this race tomorrow to try to get some stage points. Obviously, winning would be ideal, but certainly going to Talladega with a big cushion is our number one goal.”
Did the driver’s meeting this morning give you any sense of security for Talladega next weekend?
“No. There’s obviously talking about potential changes. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but whatever the changes are aren’t going to change the fact that the Toyotas haven’t qualified well (there). We’re likely not to qualify well which means it’s going to be tough to score stage points in stage one. Nothing is going to be earth-shattering. We kind of know what to expect going into Talladega and Daytona so I don’t see any big changes on how the race plays out.”
How differently does the wind affect the Next Gen car compared to the last car?
“I don’t know. These things are just way more on edge than the old cars were. The old cars, you could slide them around and catch it. You just have to be more mindful of what the wind is doing to your car, and definitely today the balance was pretty split. (Turns) one and two, I think everybody was fighting pretty tight in (turns) one and two and then you get to (turns) three and four and it’s a lot looser. So, you just have to be careful because this thing is just a knives edge where the other car, even if you were tight and you slide the front tires, it wouldn’t take off on you. So, this car everything about it – you have to be a lot more precise and cautious driving it.”
Do you think Kansas Speedway could hold the championship race weekend?
“I do if weather was not an issue. I think it would be a great place to hold a championship. I think that was a question at media day of which track should get the championship event and I said Vegas, but Kansas certainly could be an amazing championship race venue if weather is not an issue. The Next Gen car has just raced so well on the multi-lane intermediate race tracks. You look at here, Vegas, Charlotte – those three are really our best races now. Yeah, any of those three would be an amazing final race. Homestead too – you could put Homestead back in there too.”
What is on your mind now between now and tomorrow’s race?
“Yeah, just go back and study data from practice and see what was good and what was bad. Myself and Adam (Stevens, crew chief), we haven’t even been able to debrief, so I’m sure he has a lot better idea of where we need to improve and what our strengths and weaknesses were from the practice session. Yeah, it all starts tomorrow by winning the start. I won the pole here several times and sometimes I’m able to lead and sometimes I lose the start and that’s a big, big part of the run is getting the lead, getting that clean air. If you can get the lead and get clean air, you’re going to lead for a period of time, and then just managing it from there. It starts at the wave of the green flag to make sure that you get the launch and get out front and then that’s a big first step of the race.”
How aggressive will you be to get the lead at the start of the race?
“I mean, you want to do everything you can, but obviously you’re walking a tightrope. You’re managing risk versus reward and obviously the risk is much greater at the beginning of the race. Whenever you get down to the end – green-white checkered and stuff – you know how the stages have played out, if you have points in the bank and then that risk versus reward meter is going to read a little bit different. Certainly, you want to race hard to get the lead right off the bat, but you’re not going to put yourself in jeopardy to hurt your race.”
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