RICHMOND, Va. – Christopher Bell may not have quite had the end to the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season that he hoped to have, but he’s hoping to put that recent rough patch behind him and chase his second-straight NASCAR national series championship.
That quest starts this weekend, conveniently at a facility where Bell has positive recent memories.
Bell and his Xfinity Series rivals invade Richmond (Va.) Raceway on Friday night to kick off the playoffs, marking the first time that the run for a championship will begin at a short track.
That’s good news for Bell, however, as he won the most-recent race at the three-quarter-mile oval in April. On that night, Bell led 120 of 250 laps and held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Noah Gragson to win his first race of the season and the second of his young career.
Bell returns to Richmond this week with plenty of optimism, as well as a brand-new paint scheme on his No. 20 Rheem Toyota. The heating and cooling manufacturer will debut a black-and-white playoff paint scheme for Bell this week ahead of Friday night’s Go Bowling 250.
“I’m really excited to get the playoffs started on Friday night in Richmond. We won at Richmond back in the spring, so I think we will be in really good shape. This Rheem team does a really good job of building me fast Camrys each week, so I’m excited to see how the next seven races play out as we try and win a championship.
“Rheem will debut another slick looking paint scheme this weekend, and it would be really cool to get that Camry in victory lane and the playoffs started off on the right foot on Friday night.”
Bell’s regular season ended on a bit of a down note, as he struggled to challenge the frontrunners and finished – by his standards – a disappointing fourth at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.
Even still, the Norman, Okla., driver earned four wins, three poles, 14 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes in the first 26 races of the season, seeding him second for the run into the playoffs despite his down day in Sin City.
“I knew these last few would be really tough for me because after I won the three races in a row, there were road courses and Darlington was a place I’ve never been to before,” noted Bell. “I knew that would be a tough stretch.
“We were just a fourth or fifth place car (on Saturday). We could never really get going on the short run,” he continued. “I could start making up a little bit of time late in the run, but it was just never enough to get up there and contend for the lead.”
Looking ahead, while it’s a track he struggled at early in his Xfinity Series career, Bell noted that he likes coming to Richmond now and hopes that he’ll be able to convert his success from the spring into another strong day – especially considering the track isn’t the easiest to master, according to Bell.
“I feel really good. Richmond wasn’t my best track last year but this year our Camry was really fast there,” Bell explained. “It’s pretty slick. It takes a lot of patience there and you have to make sure you hit your lines and marks there. I think that plays into my wheelhouse.
“Vegas was probably the first week of the year where we just got flat out beat. For the most part, we always contend for wins,” he added. “I am really happy about that. I like where we are.”
