Christopher Bell reveals the reason behind engine failure at Gateway - “It was just a random part failure”

Christopher Bell was well poised to record a back-to-back win last week at the World Wide Technology Raceway, but his number 20 Toyota faced a mechanical failure with 20 laps to go. Recently, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has revealed that his car had broken its valve spring.

Christopher Bell showed both pace and promise as he led a race-high 80 laps. He even pitted in the last pit cycle, got four fresh tires, and then went all out in a battle with Team Penske's Ryan Blaney for the lead. Unfortunately, his car slowed down to the extent that the Toyota pilot thought he wouldn't even finish the race. As a result, Blaney took the lead, leaving Bell behind.

However, it didn't end well for Blaney either. Blaney's Mustang ran out of fuel and his teammate, Austin Cindric, scooted forward and clinched his second Cup victory.

In a recent interview with FOX Sports journalist Bob Pockrass, Christopher Bell revealed that they had not faced a valve spring breakage for many years now.

"We broke a valve spring yes, we haven't had valve spring problems for a long period of time."

Recalling the last time Bell's car broke a valve spring, Bell said,

"I think it was in 2022, we had a rough go with the valve springs but we haven't seen that in a period of time now. I think and they (the #20 team) think too that it was just a random part failure and we're not expecting any more."

Nevertheless, Bell felt good about the fact that they were able to sweep both stages and score 50 points in the race. With 11 races to go till the end of the regular season, he stands 8th in the Cup Series standings with 437 points.

"We had a great day, and we were still able to salvage a lot of points out of it so yeah, I am confident that we can move past it," he added.

Moreover, Christopher Bell led a combined 170 laps over the last two weeks, which is more than what he has led (125) throughout the past 13 races of the season. His next race is at Sonoma Raceway. In last year's Cup race at Sonoma, Bell finished 9th after starting 4th.

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Christopher Bell could be a Championship threat, says teammate Denny Hamlin

Christopher Bell recently won this year's rain-shortened Coca-Cola 500. The following week, despite the mechanical failure, Christopher Bell managed to record a solid top-10 performance. Seeing his speed around the corners on the intermediates, Denny Hamlin referred to Bell as a championship threat.

In a recent episode of Actions Detrimental, Hamlin recalled Bell's run:

"When I saw he finished seventh, I was like, ‘Oh wow!' He limped it home, but I think the field was so spread out that moment... He was still running really fast through the corners.

This is the second track in a row, these mile flat tracks where (Bell) has really shown a lot of speed. If he can make it to Phoenix, he’s gonna be a threat."

Bell is looking forward to winning his first career championship, and so is Denny Hamlin. Bell has appeared in the coveted Championship 4 in the past two seasons. Hamlin, on the other hand, has made four appearances in the final 4 with a pair of P3 finishes in 2014 and 2021 being his best as of yet.

Action resumes on June 9 as NASCAR arrives in California for the 16th point-paying race of the season. The Toyota Save Mart 350 can be watched live on FOX and heard on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR radio.