In life, resiliency is a trait that most times can’t be taught. It’s a mindset that has to be learned through the toughest times of adversity. In sports, resiliency can make or break a team and athlete’s pursuit of glory.
For Christopher Bell and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team, resiliency was on full display during Sunday’s 4Ever 400 presented by Mobil 1 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Bell entered the event three points below the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff cutline. While that wasn’t a major deficit, mistakes were not an option.
The No. 20 Toyota showed promise in Stage One, but faded to 22nd by the end of Stage Two.
The stage break caution allowed Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, to dial up a new adjustment. From there, Bell took off.
Charging to the front when it mattered, Bell swiped the point away from playoff competitor William Byron with 15 laps to go and led to the checkered flag, locking into the Championship 4 for the second consecutive year.
As Bell reflected on the incredible feat he and the No. 20 group accomplished, he felt it says a lot about the mindset of the team.
“Wow, I mean, today was just a whirlwind, for sure. To be able to overcome and to be in that bad of a spot… I mean, I was what, a quarter straightaway from going a lap down,” Bell said after the race. “It was just incredible the difference a couple pit stop adjustments will do to your car.
“I’ve always been one that says that the car is everything. The driver’s job is to maximize the car. If the car is fast, you do good. If the car is slow, you do bad. I think today was the epitome of that,” Bell continued.
“We were really struggling. I was the slowest car on the track at one point in the race. A couple good adjustments later, we became one of the fastest ones.”
Bell’s race wasn’t for the faint of heart. If anything, it could be categorized as a tidal wave.
First came the calm.
“It was just insane the difference that the car was,” Bell explained. “So even from Stage One to Stage Two, it’s no secret that this is not my favorite race track in the world. I’ve had my fair share of struggles here. But Stage One, we took off, and I was able to advance and move forward. I started in the teens and I was able to drive into the top 10 to get stage points. There were a couple other guys coming back to me. OK, I feel really good. I felt like we were a small adjustment away from being really competitive.”
All of a sudden, a storm-like change crept into the picture.
“Then, geez, it just completely fell apart in the second stage,” Bell said. “I took off and the balance was not good at all. The long run was terrible. I completely died on the long run, almost went a lap down. I’m sure everybody on the 20 team was extremely frustrated, were ready to throw the towel in.”
Though the storm passed, prompting calm waters and a picture-perfect Florida sunset to appear.
“A couple good adjustments and a big, big break with the yellow flag, for sure,” Bell said. “If that yellow flag doesn’t happen, I certainly don’t win, and I probably don’t even sniff the top 10. We did catch a huge break in the third stage.”
That helped propel Bell near the front, and he wheeled his No. 20 to the point from there.
Ironically, last year’s playoffs featured not one, but two game seven-like moments from Bell. Needing a victory to advance at both the Charlotte (N.C.) ROVAL and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, the 28-year-old rose to the occasion.
While Bell admits he’d rather cruise through the playoffs not needing a hail mary, he’s embracing the moment.
“But I do live for those moments,” Bell said. “I love being great or trying to be great, I should say. Yeah, I love it.”
Bell and fellow dirt racer Kyle Larson are the only drivers locked into the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway with one race remaining at Martinsville.