Toyota GAZOO Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
LOUDON, N.H. (September 20, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Do you have any news to tell us this year like you did last year here at New Hampshire?
“Thankfully, this year’s race is a little bit later on in the year, so I think all of the silly season stuff is behind us (laughter). But, yeah, it was right here in this seat, and I do not have any news to share.”
How much do you think the tire test will help you here?
“I do think anytime you get track time is valuable. NASCAR does a pretty good job of making sure that it’s not just an open test. We do get to come here, we do get laps on the race track, but for the most part you’re just working on evaluating tires and not really a bunch of car performance stuff. So, I think that the race is going to probably play out a little bit different than years past just because the tire that they’re bringing is expected to have a little bit more tire deg than what we’ve raced here in the past. So, the tire strategy is probably going to be called a little bit differently than what we’ve had in the past. But, yeah, at the test, we were not the fastest one here for sure. I’m glad that we weren’t racing that day in July at the tire test and hopefully we made performance gains. I think that the cars are really good – now. They are really good now. I think we’ve made an uptick in performance now versus what we had in the tire test, but I’m sure the rest of the competitors could say the same thing.”
What is the vibe within your race team this week after your win at Bristol?
“Certainly, winning helps but we didn’t lead laps. Once again, I won a race, but I didn’t lead laps which is okay. I will gladly take that. Last week was just such unique circumstances. We kind of won the lottery last week. Whoever won that race was going to have to have a substantial amount of luck and fortunately it was on our side. But I don’t know. I think we had a great car, but I think a lot of people would’ve said the same thing, and we got really fortunate last week. So, it was kind of a unique circumstance that played out. So, I don’t know that it necessarily was a true test of where the teams stack up.”
Were you excited when the schedule for this year came out and New Hampshire was a Playoff race?
“I was definitely excited whenever the schedule came out and I saw that Loudon was a Playoff race. It made me very optimistic about it and obviously this is a great track for me. You need to start out the rounds with a positive race and certainly this is a place that we should lead laps and should contend for the win. And, if you’re putting yourselves in that position where you are leading laps and you are contending for the win, even if you don’t win, you get enough points. Which is a different mentality than in the Round of 8. In the Round of 8 you really need to win, but in the Round of 12 getting through here with a lot of points – that’s the goal.”
What’s the temperature like at Joe Gibbs Racing?
“Certainly, we’re feeling good. Joe Gibbs Racing has asserted themselves as the powerhouse team in the sport right now so we’re loving life. Absolutely. We know we’re in a good spot and we’re just trying to keep the ball rolling. It’s a week by week basis and the schedule certainly lays out really well for the Toyotas to run well for a little bit here and hopefully we can do that. But, certainly, we’re all super happy and thrilled with how it’s going.”
What is the biggest challenge in the Round of 12?
“I think, you look at the race tracks on paper and they say that we should be really good at all of these tracks, and we should be able to have good performance. The toughest thing is just going to be going out there and doing it and not eliminating yourself. I think that all of us, myself, Denny (Hamlin) and Chase (Briscoe) – even Bubba (Wallace) and Tyler (Reddick) – all of the Toyotas, they’re going to have speed. We’re going to be capable so just got to dot your i’s and cross your t’s and do your job. I think if it’s up to car performance, we’ll probably be fine but the execution side and finishing the races out, making sure that you make the right decisions on restarts, the right strategy calls, not making mistakes on long green flag runs – stuff like that — is going to be the difference maker in the Round of 12.”
Are you surprised that Toyota is not just winning but dominating the Playoffs statistically and how much confidence does that give you?
“It’s pretty impressive. I don’t think any of us expected the Round of 16 to start the way that it did. It’s just a credit to the Joe Gibbs Racing folks and Toyota and Toyota Racing Development (TRD). It’s not an overnight thing. It’s a lot of effort put in by a lot of different people that have gave us the performance that we have and then once you have that performance it comes down to the teams executing the races and doing the right thing. The 19 team with Chase (Briscoe) and James (Small, 19 crew chief), they did incredible. That Darlington performance was one of the best performances that we’ve seen in a long time. To qualify on the pole at the Southern 500 and lead and just dominate the race like that. That was absolutely phenomenal. Then – Denny (Hamlin) – I don’t think he had the best car at St. Louis, but him and (Chris) Gayle (11 crew chief) did a great job playing the strategy right and were there whenever it mattered the most. So, it’s just – I don’t think that any of us pictured it going the way that it has, but we know that we’re in a good spot.”
What’s the hardest part of the Playoffs for you?
“Surviving Talladega. That’s been the hardest part every year. I don’t know if it’s fortunately or unfortunately, now it’s moved a little bit later on in the schedule so fortunately I don’t have to deal with it now. Unfortunately, and hopefully, I have to deal with it later. Talladega has always been the toughest one. Last year we had Atlanta in there so certainly this year the additions of Gateway and Loudon into the Playoffs were something that I was super excited about. And, yeah, Talladega has been the one that’s always the fearful one for me and I don’t know if it’s good or bad that it’s later on in the year this year.”
How have you learned to handle the highs and the lows that you’ve experienced in the Playoffs and how have they shaped you?
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s hardened my heart a little bit. Yeah, certainly I don’t know – certainly Martinsville 2024 was the bottom of how I’ve ever felt in my professional career. And, yeah, Martinsville 2022 was probably the highest I’ve ever felt in my professional career. I don’t know. I guess it just kind of mellows you out a little bit and you understand that no matter what happens come February we’re all going to be chasing the Cup back there again. Yeah, I don’t know. I guess the more you do it, the more experience you have with it, it becomes more natural, it becomes more normal, and you know what to expect. So, hopefully I have the ends covered from winning and advancement in 2022 and then the being in and not advancing in 2024. I think all of it is probably filling in in the middle there on the emotional spectrum.”
Has what you’ve gone through in the Playoffs run you through the ringer?
“It has for sure. I don’t know. I love where we’re at and obviously I’m glad that we’re on a positive, but you never know what the next week brings. I don’t know. I feel like maybe Adam (Stevens, crew chief) does a little bit better job of managing the highs and lows than I do. But, yeah, it’s – I don’t know. You always ask the deep questions. That’s a good one. That one stumped me a little bit, but I certainly have the highs and lows covered throughout my career so far.”
Can the current form of your race team win the championship and if you feel like you can’t, what’s the biggest thing you need to see happen to make it to Phoenix?
“So, actually, I can answer this one pretty clearly. What we have to do better, is we’ve got to start qualifying better. That is mission critical. Oh, my goodness. All of us are – we’re frustrated a little bit of how we’ve qualifying especially compared to our team cars. I say that because the team cars are the barometer. If the team cars are qualifying well, then you should be qualifying well too. And, through the summer months, we couldn’t even put it in the top 10. We’ve made gains on our qualifying performance and now it seems like we can consistently put it in the top 10, but our teammates are consistently putting it on the front row. Whenever you get deeper into the Playoffs, you have to be scoring stage points, and a lot of the stage points are dictated by your qualifying effort. So, yeah, that’s mission critical. We’ve got to start qualifying better, and along the lines of qualifying better, that’s how you lead laps. I think a lot of it stems from the qualifying and that’s probably the biggest performance gain that we need to go out there and be one of the top contenders. I feel like our race performance has been on par with most of our competitors, it’s just we’re starting from a hole after Saturday.”
What are you not able to do in qualifying to get the result?
“There definitely has been a consistent theme through our qualifying sessions the past handful of races and probably months. It just comes down to car balance. We have the capability and the teammates are showing we have the capability if we just get it right. And, we just have been off a little bit, and it doesn’t take much to be a couple positions back. Our teammates have just been hitting it and getting the good qualifying results. We’re missing a little bit. Some of it has been on the balance side and some of it has been on the driving side as well. All of us – myself, Adam (Stevens, crew chief), the engineers, we all have to just buckle down and improve that if we want to go deeper here.”
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