After winning three straight NASCAR Cup Series races early this season, Christopher Bell hasn’t fallen off the face of the earth—but at times it might feel that way to the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
The reason? A lack of optimal performance at intermediate speedways. The finishes may not show the deficiency, because Bell acknowledges that he and his team have been outperforming the potential in the cars.
In the three most recent downforce races, Bell ran third at Darlington Raceway, ninth at Texas Motor Speedway and a fast-closing second at Kansas Speedway, but to the driver, those results are somewhat illusory.
“Well, I wouldn’t say that I’m not surprised that we haven’t won (since the three-race streak) because winning is very hard, but I’ve definitely been surprised about just lacking pace on the intermediate tracks,” Bell said. “At the end of last year, we did really well at the intermediates, and (were among) 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.”
Charlotte was good to Bell last year. He led 90 laps and won the Coca-Cola 600, which was shortened from 400 laps to 249 because of rain.
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