Christopher Bell is quickly gaining a reputation as the “comeback kid.” A week after a strong rally in the NASCAR Camping World Truck series race, the 23 year old repeated the in feat his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut Saturday at the same track, Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Starting seventh, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver nearly saw his first Xfinity race end in disaster on lap 3. Bell was exiting turn 4 when he got together with Ryan Reed . Bell’s Toyota spun and charged nosefirst across the infield frontstretch grass. Despite the wild ride however, Bell was able to continue and the car suffered minimal damage. He was forced to pit however and restarted deep in the field.
“Whenever I got buried back there I couldn’t drive back up through quite as easily as I thought I could,” Bell said. “Eric Phillips (crew chief) did a great job on top of the pit box giving me what I needed.”
The week prior in the Truck series race, Bell, who started that race from the pole, cut down a tire early, spun, and was forced to restart deep in the field. That night he rallied back to finish third. Saturday, Bell patiently worked his way through the field. In the final laps Bell charged his way forward holding off veteran racers Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski to finish fourth. MORE>>>
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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