Chase Elliott backs Christopher Bell’s strategy to take down Mexico’s ‘difference maker’, Shane van Gisbergen

NASCAR Cup Series drivers Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell were featured in a post-race interview after the Viva Mexico 250 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on Sunday. During the interaction, Bell gave his take on his strategy to beat Shane van Gisbergen at the Mexico City-based track, and Elliott backed Bell's strategy.

The #20 Toyota Camry XSE driver had a slow start and qualified in P31 with a best time of 93.72 seconds and a top speed of 92.96 mph. Meanwhile, the #9 Chevy Camaro ZL1 driver was among the top 15 drivers in P12 with a best time of 93.11 seconds and a top speed of 93.57 mph.

Despite such a slow start, Christopher Bell led four laps and paved his way up to the front of the pack. Following his performance at the Mexico City-based track, Bell claimed:

"I don't know. I would love to say a different setup, but I think it was more driver. This weekend both races between the Xfinity car and the Cup car. I was good; just not good enough. I was kind of -- I lacked a little bit. The fact that I was a little bit off in both of them, I think I just need to work on myself a little bit, figure out what Shane was doing through a couple sections of the racetrack, and my guys have been bringing really good road course cars for a long time now."

Being the third-place finisher, Chase Elliott agreed and backed the Joe Gibbs Racing driver's strategy. Reflecting on the same, he stated:

"I would agree. I think Shane was likely the difference maker, especially once you gave him fresh air. I think he just managed that last run so well.For us, I really -- personally, I thought our car was better on practice day and yesterday than it was today. But at the same time, we were in a lot of traffic at the same time, as well." (via ASAPSports.com)

"I don't know. I could ask for little things here or there, but at the end of the day, I would say likely just button up some things behind the wheel and try to keep yourself in a better position throughout the day to kind of be on the front end of strategy and kind of see what you've got from there," Chase Elliott added.

Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen won NASCAR's first points-paying race held outside of the United States of America since 1958. He led 60 laps in the 100-lap race and earned 50 points, moving three spots in the Cup Series standings.

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Hendrick Motorsports ace Chase Elliott faces a winless season despite consistent results

NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott has been facing a situation simklar to the one he faced two years ago. In 2023, the HMS driver wrapped the season with zero wins and snapped his winless streak at the Texas Motor Speedway in April 2024. However, since then, the #9 Chevy driver has again been winless, even in the 2025 season.

Elliott's no-win streak has crossed the mark of 40 races, and despite delivering consistent results in the 2025 season in 16 starts, the driver still longs for a win.

Furthermore, Chase Elliott ranks among the top ten drivers on the Cup Series points table as he holds the fourth place with 500 points. He has secured eight top-ten and four top-five finishes with an average finish of 11.188 this season.