Christopher Bell disappointed with Glen finish, but looking forward to Bristol

Joe Gibbs Racing star driver Christopher Bell has described his outing after a 14th-place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR playoff race at Watkins Glen International. The second race of Round of 16 had been topsy-turvy for Bell and his #20 JGR Toyota team.

After the race, Christopher Bell expressed his disappointment with the result but was satisfied because he made progress in the playoff points standings, gaining crucial 23 points. He became the new points leader, leading the standings by three points over Austin Cindric.

Despite an ordinary day, Bell is looking forward to the upcoming Bristol race with a relaxed mindset, knowing he is in a comfortable position to advance to the Round of 12.

Speaking to Frontstretch’s Daniel McFadin about his P14 finish at the historic 2.45-mile road course, Bell said:

“That was disappointing, but ultimately if you had told me that I'm going to come out of here with gaining on the points of the cutoff line, I would have taken it. So it wasn't pretty how we got there, but we got there, and now we can go to Bristol and relax a little bit more.”

“It's just the lack of performance that we had today at one of our best road course races; that's what is frustrating, and yeah, I mean, this is, uh, you know, there's not another place out there like it, so it's not too concerning, but it's just one,” Bell continued.

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Christopher Bell dismisses the impact of the new tire at Watkins Glen

Before the race, Christopher Bell and several other drivers expected tire wear could be a game changer at Watkins Glen, but that was not the case on Sunday. Bell dismissed tire wear theories as it turned into a typical Watkins Glen race, where tire strategy wasn’t as crucial.

In the aforementioned interview, reflecting on the impact of the new tire compound at Glen, Bell said:

“It ended up being the same old Watkins Glen. I mean, we all, pre-race, expected the same thing of tire wear being a huge factor and having to pit to put on tires and, you know, be able to drive up through the field. And it was the complete opposite. It ended up being just normal, Watkins Glen.”

Christopher Bell revealed that he realized in Stage 1 that tire wear was not going to be a significant factor at Watkins Glen.

The 29-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver has made the championship 4 appearance in the last two seasons but fell short on both occasions. He will look to become the champion this year.