The name’s Bell — Christopher Bell — in case you forgot.
That was the joke the Joe Gibbs Racing driver made to the media on Saturday at Kansas Speedway after winning the pole award for Sunday’s AdventHealth 400, the 12th points race of the NASCAR Cup Series season.
“My name’s Christopher, for those who have forgotten,” Bell quipped.
It been a slow four-week stretch for the 29-year-old, who’s best result in the last four races was a 17th-place finish he salvaged at Texas Motor Speedway in early April. Aside from that, he’s been 35th at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, 38th at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and 34th at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway last week — a frustrating record that prompted Bell’s humorous reminder on Saturday.
“We’ve all just been in the dumps, man. After Martinsville, we had a tire issue that lost us multiple laps. Then we go to Texas and I spin out. Then at Talladega, we get caught up in a crash. Then at Dover, I spin out in qualifying, get caught up in a crash in the race. It’s just been one thing after another,” Bell said.
The Monday debriefs at Joe Gibbs Racing have also grown increasingly vexing.
“After Martinsville, it was like, ‘Ah, it’s fine, we’ll get them next week.’ And then after Texas, it was like, ‘Man, this stinks. We’re two in a row, but we’re still alright.’ We go to Talladega and have a wreck, and it’s like we’re on this snowballing, downhill and this one was bottom of the barrel after Dover. It was bad,” Bell said.
Consequently, being able to break out a pole-winning lap at Kansas Speedway was more than rewarding for Bell as the No. 20 team navigates through their slump. His 29.491-second lap at the 1.5-mile track on Saturday was enough to secure his 11th career pole award, which is the most of any driver in the Next Gen era.
“It’s nice to have success, but what happens on Saturday has no dictation on what happens Sunday,” Bell said plainly. “Honestly at this point, I’m not looking for a race win. I’m literally looking to see the checkered flag. And I know my car has great capabilities. If I just see the checkered flag with a clean car, we’re going to have a solid day and that’s what we’re after tomorrow.”
Despite the hardships, there have been a few positives for the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team to find encouragement in over the last few weeks.
“Every single time we go to the race track, we know that our cars are going to be fast and we’re going to have capability in our team,” Bell said. “We knew going into Dover, that could’ve been the week that it turned around. Obviously, it wasn’t, but it could be this week. We don’t know what’s going to happen in 267 laps, but whatever happens in 267 laps, I know that when we go to Darlington, we have another opportunity and I’m going to have a fast car underneath me.”