Toyota GAZOO Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
NORTH WILKESBORO, NC (May 16, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media on Friday prior to qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series All Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
What does it mean to win the Coca-Cola 600?
“It is a crown jewel event, and it is a really big deal. I hate that it got rain shortened last year, because, obviously, it is known for the 600 miles and I want to win the 600 mile event, but Charlotte has been a great track for me the last couple of years, really every Next Gen race we have been there, or we’ve had, I’ve been really, really strong. My team has done really good, so it is an honor to be able to compete in that event. The way the whole weekend is celebrated there at Charlotte Motor Speedway is special. They do such a good job of making it feel like it is a big event because it is a big event, and hopefully, I win a couple more races in my career, and it just adds to the Coca-Cola 600 legacy.”
What is it about the track having one race on the oval every year that produces such good racing?
“Yeah, just the Next Gen car has done really good at the intermediate tracks, and Charlotte has turned into a great race track with the Next Gen rules package that we have. Really, the intermediates that we go to, that race well, that have multiple lines – that is what it is all about. Charlotte, it is really rough, so it makes the cars move around a little bit more, and it opens up the different lanes and makes passing a little bit easier there than some of the other tracks.”
Do you have any ideas on the identity of the All Star race – what we do and where we take it going forward?
“I was bummed that we didn’t get to do the ‘run what you brung’ thing. I thought that was really cool. I understand the reasoning behind it, and how it does make it a really expensive event, but I genuinely enjoy trying different things. I, obviously, haven’t been around the sport for that terribly long, but where we at – Texas Motor Speedway, we tried a different package a few years ago. Here we had the option tire, which I’m not a big fan of the option tire, but I think it is a good event to try that. I would have loved to try something and see if you hit on something. I think this and the Clash are two events that are great opportunities to try and improve our sport.”
Does this feel like any other race?
“A little bit. The format is very unique, and the purse is as well, so we won’t race like it is any other event when the green flag drops. That is one thing that really took me by surprise whenever I got into the Cup Series is – the All Star race is not just another race. Everybody is more aggressive here than what you see at a normal Sunday Cup race. Everyone, I think, has that win it or wear it attitude, and it races differently because of that.”
What does it mean to have the late models and modifieds here this weekend too?
“Yeah, I think it is a huge opportunity for them, and I love that. I love being able to showcase the lower levels of automobile racing, and for the late model guys, the modified guys to be able to race on the same track that Cup guys race, it is a big stage. Obviously, the crowd is going to be really big all weekend long. It is a great opportunity to showcase some of the young stars that are coming up, and you have a lot of industry personnel that will be paying attention to those events, that if they are off on their own, you might not otherwise get that attention. As a kid growing up, I always looked forward to these events, where you get to race along the big stage, and I love that we get to do that here.”
Do you have any plans to run anything like that here soon?
“No, not right now. I don’t know. I’ve learned to never say never, but I don’t have any planned as of now.”
What does it mean to hear from people that they want to go the same route as you?
“Yeah, it is really cool, especially getting back to my local tracks in Oklahoma and hearing that people are trying to follow what I did – that is really special. Even the Toyota Racing Development deal – the Toyota Driver Development deal – it is cool to pioneer that path and have others that are following behind now. I look at Corey Heim – it looks like he is well on his way to being a Cup Series star through the TRD program. I do take a lot of pride in that, and it is really cool to see, and I hope it continues. I would love to get more of the Oklahoma dirt racers that may not otherwise have the opportunity up here if they have the talent to do it.”
What will you look at in terms of this track?
“Yeah, hopefully that is a little bit better this year. I think with age the track should continue to race better and better. I thought last year, it raced amazing for being a repave. I don’t think anyone expected it to get as wide as it did. Hopefully, this year, the track will open up a little bit more, not having the option tire, should make strategy a little more straight forward, and hopefully get the cream to the top, and that’s all we want as racers and teams is the best guys to win. Qualifying will be important – it is a very short race – but I’m hopeful that the track aging will help us pass a little bit better.”
Does it hold the same value coming back to North Wilkesboro for the third straight year?
“I think this is an amazing race track. That weekend in 2023 when we came for the first time was super, super special. I think the fans turned out, and it has turned out to be a huge success. Hopefully, the future of this venue is to have a Cup Series race year-in and year-out. I think it is a deserving venue. We should be at these race tracks, and I think there is a lot more tracks throughout the country that the sport should invest in and bring back. I would love to continue to diversify the schedule and get to where we are going to tracks one time a year, and I think the crowds would be much larger if that was the case.”
How do you view your season and is there any frustration of running up front without winning?
“That’s a really good question, and frankly, we’ve been finishing, probably, a lot better than we probably should be finishing after that last could of weeks. We were fast at the beginning of the year. We had really good race tracks for us – COTA, Phoenix, Atlanta is a speedway, so I don’t know how much of that we can account for. The last couple of weeks we’ve been heavy on the intermediate package and one thing we’ve learned is that we’ve not been as strong on the intermediate package as we would have hoped to have been. A couple of those finishes, like Kansas this past weekend, Darlington, Texas Motor Speedway – those are three races that we outperformed our car potential. We need to be faster, for sure, on that intermediate package specifically. Being on the low downforce or the short track package this weekend, I am optimistic that we will have the car to compete for a win, but we are still searching for that in the high downforce stuff.”
Are you surprised you haven’t won again?
“Well, I wouldn’t say that I’m not surprised that we haven’t won because winning is very hard, but I’ve definitely been surprised about just lacking pace on the intermediate tracks, like at the end of last year, we did really well at the intermediates, and was one of the strongest contenders, and then the last couple of weeks, week-in and week-out, we just haven’t been there yet. Hopefully, we make gains on it. I feel like Kansas was a little bit better than what we had at Texas and Darlington, so if we can make another step like that going into Charlotte, maybe we will be contending for the win, but we are definitely lacking a little bit at this point in time.”
Is it possible to still get the regular season championship?
“It is definitely possible. I think it is up for grabs for a lot of guys inside the top-10 of the regular season right now. Losing ground is a good indication that we are not running as well as we need to be running. Just starts with qualifying. Qualifying leads into stage one points. We just haven’t been running well enough to earn stage points. Like I said, we’ve been squeaking out good finishes, but we haven’t been performing well enough through the races to get those stage points, and that has been the difference between myself and the two Hendrick cars up front. Even my teammate Denny (Hamlin), if it wasn’t for two mechanical failures, he would have been up there as well. We need to be running better, and everyone on this 20 team knows it and we’ve been working hard to get there.”
How do you prepare for Indy?
“Definitely, there is three or four races throughout the year that are the big ones. You have Daytona, Charlotte, Indy and then Southern 500 and then if you are fortunate to make the championship race, but Indy is a huge deal, and it is definitely back. It didn’t feel like the same venue whenever you were on the road course. I’m very grateful we are back on the oval, and certainly, it is one that every driver in the field and every driver in America would love to drive and compete in the Brickyard 400. It is definitely one that we have circled. We know it means a lot. There is a lot of history that rides on that race. It is a special event that we don’t take lightly.”
How do you prepare for racing 600 miles?
“Charlotte is such a fun race track that it is easy to look forward too, but 600 miles is no joke, and it is very difficult to stay focus and make sure that your body is in good condition to be able to compete at the end of that race. It is a really big event. It is a long event, and definitely one that you have to prepare for. You can’t just show up and run, so I’m very excited about it because the track itself is a ton of fun to race on, and hopefully, we get good weather, it stays dry, and we get all 600 miles in this year.”
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