DARLINGTON, SC.: Christopher Bell enters the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff tied for 12th in the standings, sporting the five Playoff points he earned by winning the second race of the season at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.
Accordingly, Bell is a long shot to win the championship in his sophomore season—and his first in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. But Bell remains undeterred by his underdog status.
“You should bet on me because the tracks in the Playoffs are all really good race tracks for us,” Bell said. “That’s number one. Number two, we’ve definitely been getting better over the course of the season. We haven’t put it all together yet to be a championship-caliber team, but I think we’re definitely headed in that direction.
“Looking at Round 1 of the Playoffs, that should be a really, really good round for us. Darlington, Richmond, Bristol—we’ve been to two of those race tracks so far this year, and they’ve been two of our best races this year, and Bristol’s a great race track for Joe Gibbs Racing and a great race track for me.
“Looking forward, then we have the Charlotte ROVAL (cutoff race in the Round of 12), a road course that we should be extremely strong at. Then Texas, I almost won at Texas last year in the Cup Series. I think the path is there. We just have to see if we can execute and continue to get better.”
Source: Reid Spencer/ NASCAR Wire Service
