“I didn’t that one have planned”: JGR ace Christopher Bell reflects on his ‘unexpected’ road course win at Atlanta

Christopher Bell’s Ambetter Health 400 win may have surprised some fans, and it was also unexpected for the driver. The Joe Gibbs Racing star secured his first 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season win at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. However, the JGR No. 20 admitted that winning at Atlanta wasn’t something he had initially thought as a likely outcome.

Bell was speaking at a press conference before the 2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), reflecting on the unexpected nature of his win.

“And honestly the win last week doesn't really change my outlook on the season, just because I didn't have that one planned on winning. I don't think anybody on this 20 group expected to win a speedway race this year. It's a goal and you wanna try and obviously do it but we didn't have that one circled as a potential win. So that’s good," said Christopher Bell.

“We were just starting the season out with what we expect to be good race tracks for us. So, going into a really good stretch. Hopefully, we are competitive. We can see where we stack up. Obviously, it would still be amazing to win again early on in the season. We don’t really know where we are at. So, we will get a good feel of where we are at between this race, the next two and then re-evaluate and see what we need to improve on,” added Christopher Bell.

Even though he has had early success in Atlanta, Bell is keeping his feet on the ground. His main focus is still on the tracks where the team usually does well.

Bell started in 32nd place in Atlanta. A late-race caution led to an overtime restart with four laps to go. But Bell edged out Hocevar and Kyle Larson in a three-wide sprint, as a race-ending caution flag was raised on the last lap. This marked the 10th career victory for Bell in the NASCAR Cup Series.

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Christopher Bell looks to lead JGR's COTA challenge

As Christopher Bell shifts his focus to COTA, he emerges as Joe Gibbs Racing’s primary contender on road courses. His record at the Austin-based track is solid, with two top-five finishes in four starts, including a runner-up result in 2024. Despite having an average starting position inside the top 10 at COTA, he will start at 19th this year, qualifying with a lap time of 1:39.21.

Christopher Bell practicing at COTA for EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix - Source: Imagn

Beyond COTA, Bell has been one of the better racers on road courses over the past five years besides JGR teammate Denny Hamlin with four wins each. With momentum from Atlanta, Bell and the No. 20 team view the next few races as a crucial evaluation period. While Hamlin has mostly seen success at the Watkins Glen, Bell has found wins in Martinsville, Bristol and Daytona road courses.

This year, COTA also presents a fresh challenge with reduced miles and more laps, 95. With its revised layout, this is more suited for Bell than Hamlin, who has mostly seen his road course successes at Watkins Glen. Whether Bell can translate his unexpected Atlanta win into sustained success remains to be seen. However, his approach to the season is methodical and is about to remain the same.