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Christopher Bell recently eclipsed Denny Hamlin in Xfinity series wins but revealed something intriguing about his mindset ahead of all the races. In a candid chat with Dirty Mo Media, Bell admitted to butterflies in his stomach before each race, yet he chooses to embrace rather than fear them.
Last Saturday, Christopher Bell won the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 Xfinity race at Darlington, edging out his JGR teammate Sheldon Creed in the closing laps. The Win brought his tally of Xfinity race wins to 19, nudging ahead of Denny Hamlin's 18, but still trailing far behind Kyle Busch’s 90 wins.
He also scored a podium finish in Sunday’s Cup race, making a leap from a starting position of ninth.
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Though it could look like these achievements would boost his confidence race by race, Christopher Bell recently disclosed that he still experiences pre-race jitters every time. He said:
"Always. So, my mentor growing up, I asked him, I said, man, why do I get so nervous? How do I shake that? He said, you like the nerves. He said the day that you quit getting nervous is the day that you quit caring about it. [...] So, I live by that. Nerves are good. I get nervous for every race and that means I want it right? You want to do good."
He elaborated that the nerves are not fleeting; they persist throughout. From the moment the grand marshal commands to start the engines until the very end, the tension remains constant.
"So, pre-race is always- everyone's building the hype, which is great, right? Like NASCAR does a really good job of creating events and making sure that it feels. Like a really big show. And it create create nerves because everyone wants to do good," Bell added.
Previewing Christopher Bell at the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart race at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Christopher Bell has won three races this regular season at Phoenix, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and New Hampshire, yet his track record at Atlanta Motor Speedway presents a challenge. Out of eight starts, he holds an average finish of 18.6, including one top-5 and two top-10 finishes.
During the most recent race at the racetrack in February 2024, the second race of the regular season, Christopher Bell finished in P34 place, a slip from his P22 starting position.
In his last five appearances on the track, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has managed just one top-5 finish, which dates back to March 2023.
Christopher Bell is currently ranked second in the driver standings with 2032 points, just eight points shy of the leader, Kyle Larson. His third-place finish at Darlington recently added 27 points to his total, pushing him four spots up the leaderboard.
