Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Iowa Speedway – July 27, 2018
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media at Iowa Speedway:
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Ruud Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What would it mean for you to win your third consecutive Xfinity Series race tomorrow at Iowa?
“It would definitely be very special. To be able to go two in a row at Kentucky and Loudon, which are two race tracks that are extremely different is something that I’m proud of for our team. They’ve been working really hard and we’ve been fast pretty much every style race track that we go to. Glad that I was able to win those two races to prove that to everybody. I think we’ve got a good shot at it. We’ve been really fast here at Iowa. Iowa has been a great race track for Joe Gibbs Racing as a company so we’ve got a really good shot at it. We’ve just got to go out here, capitalize on a really fast race car and see if I can go 250 laps without screwing it up.”
What is the difference between the two Xfinity Series races here at Iowa?
“The biggest thing is probably going to be the weather. It’s beautiful this weekend, so I’m really thankful for that because it was really hot last time. I think it’s probably going to be 20 degrees cooler tomorrow so the temp is going to be way down. That will make it race different for sure. It will be more like a night race. The biggest difference is just the weather and thankfully it will be a lot more comfortable in the cars for us.”
What’s been the key for you to be able to advance through the NASCAR ranks so quickly?
“The whole key has just been driving great race cars and race trucks. Toyota Racing Development (TRD) has created an awesome foundation and an awesome driver development program and one thing that they’ve done really well with me is just keep putting me in the best equipment. A race car driver is only as good as the race car underneath of him and so driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports the last couple of years and now driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, I’ve always had great equipment and that’s been the key to my success. You’re only as good as your race car, so I’m thankful that I have really fast race cars to drive.”
How are you feeling going into the rest of the year?
“I’m really excited. We started out the year really strong. We went to Daytona and kind of threw that one away, but that’s okay. And, then Atlanta, Vegas, California, I was able to win the poles, run upfront. Phoenix was mixed in there and we ran top-fives a lot. We were really fast and we never won, but fast, competing for wins. Then, I feel like we’re breaking through now. We’ve been able to win the last two races at two totally different style race tracks, which was really big for us. We’re coming back to Iowa, which is a great race track for us. I’m feeling really good about things. Road course racing is an unknown for us but thankfully, it doesn’t relate to anything. I’ve just got to make sure that if we go to the road course races and struggle that I don’t get down on myself and we should be able to keep rolling on here.”
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