As Daytona 500 arrives, Christopher Bell wants to keep 'bringing the heat' in fourth NASCAR Cup season
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Christopher Bell has a new sponsor on the car and a new teammate in the garage, but most everything else is the same for the Norman native as he enters his fourth year as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver.
One thing Bell would like to change from last year is the final season result.
With a strong playoff run that included a pair of wins in must-win situations, Bell earned his way into the Championship 4, finishing third in the title race at Phoenix Raceway last November, but he has even bigger goals in mind for 2023.
“Looking at the end of last year, there were a couple races that weren’t great, but outside of that, I felt like we were competitive and bringing the heat every week,” Bell told The Oklahoman.
Bell would also like to switch up his luck on NASCAR’s superspeedways, and he’ll get that shot in the Daytona 500, which kicks off the season at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, televised by Fox.
More:Unpacking NASCAR's need for Bubba Wallace, how sport is changing heading into Daytona 500
How has Christopher Bell fared racing at NASCAR superspeedways?
While Bell has shown strength as a racer at a variety of tracks, his lack of strong results at the superspeedways — Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta — still gnaws at him.
In his Cup career, Bell has an average finish of 23.4 at superspeedways, despite an average starting spot of 12.8. He has one top five finish and one top 10 in 12 races.
Those results are quite the opposite of what he has done on a regular basis on the rest of the Cup schedule. Last season, he finished with three wins, 12 top fives and 20 top 10s in 36 races.
“One thing I’ve tried to become as a driver is a guy that is good at every style of track,” Bell said. “But the one place I need to continue to improve on is the superspeedways. I’ve never enjoyed that style of racing, but there are guys who somehow perform better at it than me, so I need to continue to improve on that and get to where I’m a contender regularly in those style of races.
“In my opinion, it’s mostly a luck thing, but other people do it better than me and have better luck than me, so I need to study it and figure out how to quit crashing.”
If the Duels at Daytona on Thursday night were any sign, maybe Bell is figuring it out. He took second in his duel, narrowly edged by Joey Logano for the win.
Christopher Bell driving No. 20 Toyota in Daytona 500
One of the most important developments of Bell’s 2022 season was his strength in qualifying. NASCAR temporarily did away with the pre-race competition to set the order of the field in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But with the return of qualifying last year, Bell saw his starting spots improve. His average starting spot was 10.1, which he believed helped him in more ways than the obvious.
“Not having qualifying, I felt like that really hindered our overall performance and results in those two seasons,” Bell said. “Qualifying has definitely been something I’ve always excelled at.
“And depending on the track, pit selection is a huge deal, and pit selection is done off of qualifying time and position. Being able to start up front and having that great pit stall really helps you excel on pit road.”
Now 28 years old, Bell will have the neon green paint scheme and Interstate Batteries logo on the No. 20 Toyota for five races this season. Over the past several years, the Interstate paint scheme has been synonymous with Kyle Busch, who drove the No. 18 for JGR until parting ways over the offseason.
Busch’s spot on the four-car JGR roster was filled by Gibbs’ grandson, Ty Gibbs, a rookie who will be running the No. 54 car this season.
Still teamed with veterans Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., Bell feels at home with JGR and he’s ready to take the next step in the progression of his young career this season.
“It would be nice to keep working on our consistency to get where we’re week-in and week-out, we’re a top-10 car, which I think we’re really close on,” Bell said. “If we can continue that, I’m feeling optimistic about everything.”
How to watch the Daytona 500
1:30 p.m. Sunday at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Fla. (Fox)
More:How to watch NASCAR in 2023: Dates, times and TV networks for all Cup Series races
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Christopher Bell eyes Daytona 500 win in 4th NASCAR Cup Series season
