Christopher Bell
Phoenix Season Finale Advance
No. 20 Interstate Batteries/DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing
Event Overview
● Event: NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale (Round 36 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EST on Sunday, Nov. 10
● Location: Phoenix Raceway
● Layout: 1-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 312 laps/312 miles (502 kilometers)
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 60 laps / Stage 2: 125 laps / Final Stage: 127 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Notes of Interest
● Outrageously Dependable for the 33rd Year and Counting: Interstate Batteries’ 2024 season featured 11 primary sponsorships on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule among the four Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Toyota Camry XSEs. Bell and Ty Gibbs carried the Interstate Batteries colors for the majority of the Dallas-based company’s races this season with eight primaries in all between the two drivers. Denny Hamlin piloted the Interstate Batteries machine for two races this season, and Martin Truex Jr. once. Bell’s No. 20 Toyota will feature Interstate Batteries as co-primary sponsor on his No. 20 Camry in this weekend’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
● As We Stand: While Bell and the No. 20 team missed the Championship 4 by a narrow margin, he currently sits fifth in the standings with 2,363 points, 24 ahead of sixth-place Kyle Larson.
● Numbers Game: With one race remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series 2024 season, Bell’s season numbers are among the most impressive in NASCAR’s top series. He currently sits at three wins, 14 top-five finishes and 22 top-10s. Other impressive statistics include three pole positions and more than 1,000 laps led.
● Career Highs: Many of Bell’s overall stats for 2024 are already career highs. Bell has amassed the most top-five finishes and the most top-10s in his career, besting his previous career highs of 12 top-fives and 20 top-10s during the 2022 season. Bell’s 1,002 laps led so far this year eclipsed his career high by more than 400 laps. His previous high-water mark for laps led came last season, when he led 599 laps.
● Bell returns to Phoenix this weekend as the latest winner at the mile oval, having brought home the victory at there in March. Bell led 50 laps in his first trip to victory lane at Phoenix in NASCAR’s top series. In all, Bell has made nine career starts at Phoenix with five top-10s on his resume there.
● Outside of the NASCAR Cup Series, Bell has made five career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Phoenix. He has one win, three top-five finishes and three top-10s in those three Xfinity Series starts. Bell found victory lane for the first time at Phoenix in the Xfinity Series in November 2018, when he led a race-high 94 laps en route to victory lane.
Christopher Bell, Driver of the No. 20 Interstate Batteries/DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE
You’re the most recent winner at Phoenix. Does that give you any advantage this weekend after your win there in the spring?
“I think the advantage I have, and a lot of us have, is that we know we’re going to be competitive. But every race is a new race, and just because you won this race in the spring does not guarantee results by any means and it does not mean that you’re the favorite or whatever. You have a good feeling you’re going to be competitive because the track hasn’t changed, the cars haven’t changed, the rules package hasn’t changed. So, ‘You’ll be in the hunt,’ is a good way to look at it. But the results of the previous race don’t guarantee anything. I know we are going to give it our all this weekend at Phoenix and try to finish off the year on a high note with our Interstate Batteries/DeWalt Camry.”
What takeaways from that victory in the spring race can you bring to Phoenix this weekend?
“I mean, the biggest thing is knowing you have a good baseline and you’re going to be fast. And there’s going to be a group of us who will be fast in practice and qualifying and, yeah, you take your top-10 guys and they’re probably going to be the top-10 guys, but the running order will be shuffled a little bit here and there. The best way I can explain it is, we know we’re going to be competitive. We were competitive there last year and in the spring. You know, going back there we expect to be competing for the race win. But to say you’re going to win the race because you won the previous race is just false and inaccurate.”
What was the passion you had for the sport as a young driver? Was there a moment that you knew this is what you wanted to do for your career?
“Yeah, I mean, it’s tough as the path to get here (NASCAR Cup Series) is so unclear as a kid in my shoes, growing up dirt racing, and the thing that’s just so hard to fathom, there are 38 cars that race on Sunday, and how many racers in the United States want one of those 38 rides. It’s just that the number is so small, and to get yourself into this position is so hard, so, you know, for me, I never thought it was a possibility. Whenever the door started opening up, racing for Toyota in the USAC ranks, it was (pause), the door was opened up, but the path to get there was so far away. Now, all of a sudden, you’re in with a manufacturer, but at the time, we had JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) and that was like six cars? I don’t know, but still, you go from 38 (cars) to six, it becomes so incredibly difficult to get one of those rides and, yeah, I never really saw the pathway to Cup. It was hard for me to envision that, even when I was in the Xfinity (Series) because, at the time, JGR had Erik Jones in the 20 car, and younger veterans with Denny (Hamlin), Carl (Edwards) and Kyle Busch. So it was, like, ‘How am I ever going to get in one of those seats? Those guys are young, Erik’s going to be there forever.’ So, I was always content with what I was doing and I never really tried to make it to the next level, just tried to execute what I could where I was at in my career. Fortunately, those results brought other opportunities from that, but I was never looking forward, just trying to do the best I could do in the situation I was in.”
Do you take that same mental approach for yourself?
“Yeah, I mean, I completely put the most pressure on myself out of anybody. But I always just try not to envision the end goal and focus on what the process is to get there. And that’s always been my M.O. I’ve never been one to set goals as far as, ‘You have to have this many top-fives, or this many wins, or whatever.’ So, yeah, I’ve always just focused on the job and not the end goal of, like, saying, ‘I need this many stats or race wins.’”
Where does that come from – your dad and family?
“It definitely stems from the people I grew up around and who have instilled knowledge in me. I go to my dad and my uncle and my car owners in my younger years and they just, I guess, molded me into what I am. Yeah, that was what I was always trained (to do) – to not focus on what’s out there, just focus on your job and to do the best you can.”
No. 20 Interstate Batteries/DeWalt Team Roster
Primary Team Members
Driver: Christopher Bell
Hometown: Norman, Oklahoma
Crew Chief: Adam Stevens
Hometown: Portsmouth, Ohio
Car Chief: Chris Sherwood
Hometown: Portsmouth, Virginia
Spotter: Stevie Reeves
Hometown: Speedway, Indiana
Race Engineer: William Hartman
Hometown: Laingsburg, Michigan
Team Engineer: Chris Whitenight
Hometown: Berwick, Pennsylvania
Road Crew Members
Truck Driver: John Maybry
Hometown: Campobello, SC
Mechanic: Wesley Lape Hometown: Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania
Ride and Handling Engineer: Chris Chase
Hometown: Nichole, New York
Truck Driver: Glenn Funderburk
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Mechanic/Tire Specialist: Bryce Bratton
Hometown: Maiden, North Carolina
Over-The-Wall Crew Members
Gas Man: Peyton Moore
Hometown: Buford, Georgia
Jackman: Derrell Edwards
Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland
Tire Carrier: Jake Holmes
Hometown: Westborough, Massachusetts
Front Tire Changer: Blake Houston
Hometown: Enochville, North Carolina
Rear Tire Changer: Mike Hicks
Hometown: China Grove, North Carolina
