“Something going on”: Christopher Bell candidly reflects on teammates’ success and his struggles after the radio outburst at Gateway

NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 - Qualifying - Source: Getty
Christopher Bell - NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 - Qualifying - Source: Getty

Christopher Bell addressed his radio outburst at Gateway and acknowledged the frustration of watching his teammates win with a 'capable' car, while he has been held back. He was vague about his setback, but outlined how the usual 'run long pit later' strategy doesn't work in his favor on the ovals.

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Bell had a reasonably good weekend at Gateway, logging a P7 finish and coming away with 32 points above the playoff cutline. While the JGR driver isn't at risk of a playoff elimination yet, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe, have both made it to the Round of 12 with a win at Gateway and Darlington, respectively.

For Bell, this seemingly got under his skin, as he blasted his crew for losing out on places by pitting later than the frontrunners. He did pit seven laps later than Denny Hamlin during the final green flag pit cycle at Gateway, in line with his comments.

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During Saturday's qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway, Bell reflected on his angry radio outburst and said (via X/Bob Pockrass):

"If your teammates are out there winning races and leading laps that shows that you know the cars are capable, we have the equipment and I haven't been leading laps and I haven't been winning races. So you know, there's obviously something going on that's keeping us from doing that."
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He then broke down the pit strategy that let him down, adding:

"Every road course race that I've won has been on that run long pit later have fresher tires and advance through the field strategy, but certainly on the ovals it feels like the cars have gotten closer together."
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Christopher Bell placed his No.20 Toyota on the fifth row for Saturday's Bass Pro Shops Night Race. He qualified ninth, while Denny Hamlin starts three spots ahead. However, Chase Briscoe had a poor outing with a 31st-place run.


NASCAR insider breaks down Christopher Bell's frustration

During a recent Door Bumper Clear podcast episode, NASCAR insider Jordan Bianchi weighed in on Christopher Bell's frustration with the No.20 team's pit strategy. He pointed to a previous occurrence of the same and explained [21:14 onwards]:

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"It's indicative of what happened a year ago at Las Vegas. This team lost a race at Las Vegas, they should have won. And that was because of pit strategy....and they lost that race and it really put them out of the championship four."
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Bianchi mentioned how the Las Vegas incident probably triggers Christopher Bell's concerns. Nonetheless, Bristol's lack of a tire falloff will definitely affect the team's pit strategy. Most drivers go long with their tire stints, and passing is especially difficult under similar tire wear. It'll be interesting to see how Bell's crew chief, Adam Stevens, adapts to such conditions.

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Edited by Samya Majumdar
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