In the aftermath of his February victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway—before the name change to EchoPark Speedway—Christopher Bell was first to admit the win was unexpected.
“Frankly, Atlanta Motor Speedway was not one we had circled,” Bell said after ending a Joe Gibbs Racing dry spell that dated to June 2024 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The Atlanta win was the first of three straight for the driver of the No. 20 Toyota, who followed with triumphs at the Circuit of the Americas road course and Phoenix Raceway.
Bell hasn’t won since the race in Phoenix, and he’s not brimming with confidence as the NASCAR Cup Series returns to EchoPark for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 (7 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“Atlanta’s going to be tough,” Bell said. “It’s hard to pick a favorite going through Atlanta with it being a superspeedway-style race. I think you’re going to see a lot of upsets in week one of the in-season tournament. Get through that one and see who’s left standing.
“I’m as optimistic as you can get. Atlanta—you’re going to Vegas. So, we’ll go roll the dice and see what happens.”
Bell is seeded fourth in the In-Season Challenge and will face No. 29 seed Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the opening round at the 1.54-mile speedway. It’s one of the first round’s most intriguing matchups, given that Stenhouse is at his best on drafting tracks.
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