“It's inherently frustrating”: Christopher Bell’s crew chief reflects on overcoming Gateway outburst with a solid Bristol win

NASCAR Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol - Qualifying - Source: Getty
Christopher Bell - NASCAR Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol - Qualifying - Source: Getty

After a thrilling win at Bristol Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell's crew chief, Adam Stevens, addressed the JGR driver's radio outburst at Gateway. He explained how it's in the nature of the sport to let 'frustrations build up.'

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Despite a top-10 finish at Gateway, Bell wasn't pleased with his crew, and he called out the team's pit strategy live on the team radio. He later admitted that his race weekends were underwhelming in comparison to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe.

However, the No. 20 team has seemingly found their footing at the half-mile concrete. After a ninth-place start, Bell and his team survived a caution-filled race and won the 500-lap event with just 12 laps led. During a post-race interview, Stevens reflected on Bell's radio outburst at Gateway and said (via X/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

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"You just got to take everything for what it is right, and sometimes frustrations build up and they get let out with just a pinprick."
"That happens in professional sports, and it's inherently frustrating when you're only going to win five or six or seven of these if you do your best job and you're going to lose about 30 of them, so you know it's inherently frustrating, so it's part of the sport and something you got to get past," he added.
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Saturday's race was all about tire management that led to varying pit strategies. Christopher Bell had to make 12 pit stops to grab his first win at the high-banked oval. Brad Keselowski came in second after leading 33 laps, and many of the playoff drivers lost out on a top-10 finish.


Christopher Bell comments on the 'tire fiasco' at Bristol

Christopher Bell shared his take on the excessive tire wear during the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Goodyear brought softer compounds for the weekend, but Friday's daytime practice showed no signs of degradation.

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However, cooler temperatures prevailed during the night race, and the tires spewed loose marbles across the outer lanes, making the bottom the only fast groove available.

"I never in a million years would have thought that my first win at Bristol would come with the tire fiasco like we had tonight. It's a lot of luck involved whenever the tires go off like that, and especially whenever you have all the yellow flags, it's just kind of about catching the timing right. Fortunately we did," Bell said in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR radio.
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Christopher Bell's post-race interview with SiriusXM. Source: X/SiriusXM NASCAR
Christopher Bell's post-race interview with SiriusXM. Source: X/SiriusXM NASCAR

The race was in stark contrast to the spring Bristol race early in the season. A lack of tire falloff led to minimal passing and a dominant 411-lap lead by race winner Kyle Larson. This time around, Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe led the most laps but ended up at the bottom of the top 10.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua
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