Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
INDIANAPOLIS (July 3, 2020) – Leavine Family Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to media via videoconference in advance of the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 95 Rheem Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing
How special is it to have the opportunity to race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
“It’s really special. The Brickyard 400 is one of the races that everyone has circled on their calendar. It’s going to be an event that’s truly one-of-a-kind and unique for me. It was really special to be able to run my first race at Indy a couple years ago in the Xfinity Series and it hasn’t been a race track that’s been super great to me, but I’ve had success there and shown speed at times. I’m really anxious to get going. Indy has some characteristics that are similar to Pocono and Pocono was our best race this year. I’m really looking forward to seeing what we’ve got and trying to capitalize on the speed that we’ve been bringing to the race track.”
What is your comfort level going to Indianapolis with no practice?
“Typically, I like the more banked tracks more, but for whatever reason Pocono has been really good for us last week. I’ve gone really well at Kentucky. The new Texas with the ways turns one and two have flattened out, I’ve been okay. I don’t know, it seems that maybe my cars have just been really good on the flatter race tracks. Indy is definitely a unique one and we’re hoping that our Pocono notes work out pretty well.”
Do you feel the team is gaining ground?
“It’s been great. Ever since the break, we’ve been able to come back to the race track and be pretty competitive. I feel like the first four weeks were definitely disappointing, but after the break my team has been doing great, bringing a lot better race cars to the track and we’ve been able to capitalize on that. We’ve been able to run inside the top-20 consistently, get into the top-10 every now and then. We’re just looking for that next jump to where we can be a top-10 consistent car and at times in the top-five.”
How frustrating have your starting positions been due to the draw versus qualifying?
“It’s definitely been really frustrating and that’s been our number one goal has been to get to that 24th spot for the last couple weeks. I feel like we’ve been close. Talladega, we had a great car and it looked like we were going to have a great finish and then obviously we had that penalty that put us back. We had an opportunity to get into the top-24 at Talladega and it didn’t work out. Then at Pocono, I spun out and cost us some points there. That’s a big goal and it’s going to be a really big deal whenever I can have the opportunity to start inside the top-20 compared to now, I’ve been 35th plus for the last several races in a row now.”
What is the sign behind you about?
“I’m in my kitchen right now so it’s just a wall decoration.”
Do you dread Thursdays when the random draw is announced?
“Honestly, I haven’t even been paying attention to it. I go to the race track and just listen to see what the damage is when my team tells me. It’s the name of the game. We buried ourselves there those first four weeks and really, really killed our points and it’s crazy – I ran fourth at Pocono 1 and then I look at the points and I didn’t make any headway at all because I’m pretty sure (Michael) McDowell ran eighth and the guys I’m racing against in points, it seems whenever I have a good day, they have a good day too. It’s been very frustrating, but we’re just going to keep plugging on. Thankfully these races are 400 and 500-mile races and not sprint races.”
What has surprised you about competition at the Cup level?
“I would say the thing that surprised me the most and is the most difference is the length of races and the strategy inside the races. For example, an Xfinity race, you go to a typical mile-and-a-half race track and you have three, maybe four pit stops. You come in at stage one, you put tires on. You come in at stage two, you put tires on and then you split the last stage and you put tires on. Then that’s it. If a yellow comes out late, you might pit again, but that’s the strategy, there is no strategy pretty much. Then in the Cup Series, every stage you have to split stage one, pit. End of stage one, pit. Then if there’s a yellow, you pit again. There’s just so many opportunities to work on your race car, execute on pit road, no mistakes and you’re always constantly giving feedback. Guys are coming and going as guys fire-off good and aren’t good on the long run. Or if they start off the race on a green race track and as it rubbers up, they go away. It just seems like the races are way more dynamic in the Cup Series. The strategy is all over the board. Even if you go to a place like Atlanta or Homestead where you put four tires on every time you pit, there might be 10 pit stops in one race compared to the Xfinity Series, there’s guaranteed three or maybe four. That’s been very eye-opening, just how many times you come down pit road. How many times you pit. As far as competition standpoint, I knew what I was getting into in the Cup Series. The Xfinity side, you have that eightish number of competitive cars and that number gets turned into 25 on the Cup side. Whenever you look and you have Penske, Stewart Haas, Gibbs, Hendrick and all of those teams bring four race cars to the track. Right there you’re already at 16 and you’re not counting Ganassi and LFR and RCR and all these teams that are bringing ‘A’ caliber equipment. That eight number in Xfinity gets turned into 25 in Cup. All these guys are obviously talented race car drivers that are going to go out there and get the most of their equipment. It’s not that difficult to be running outside the top-15.”
In your dirt race, had you ever started on the pole and ended up in the work area?
“That was definitely a first for me. That was very frustrating two nights ago. I was really happy with Chad (Boat), he did a great job with our Sprint Car program, getting it prepared. I was pretty nervous going Sprint Car racing this week because I hadn’t raced since November. That’s the longest I’ve ever been out of the seat of a Sprint Car. We were pretty competitive all week so I was really happy about that.”
Are you feeling more comfortable in the Cup Series to allow yourself to dirt race more?
“I don’t know if comfortable is the right word. I don’t know. Going Sprint Car racing this week was definitely huge for my confidence. The first part of this year has been a struggle beyond belief and it’s been really, really hard for me to go to the race track and basically get beat down all weekend. The first four weeks were obviously horrible and on top of that, I haven’t been able to do my dirt racing. There’s been nothing to pick me up, it’s just been all beat down, beat down, beat down. I’m glad that my Cup deal is turning around. We’re starting to get some good runs and then going and running the Sprint Car this week and being competitive was huge for my confidence.”
Have you been working out more with the Cup races being longer and hotter?
“Toyota Racing Development has a driver fitness program that I’m involved in and I have been involved in it for the last number of years now. That really hasn’t changed much in the last couple years to this year.”
How comforting has it been to have Jason Ratcliff as your crew chief this season?
“It’s been huge. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) is obviously a guy that I have a lot of trust in. He’s an ‘A-caliber’ crew chief and I was fortunate enough to get my feet wet with him in the Xfinity side and I think that was kind of our goal was to train, I call it train together in the Xfinity Series and get to know each other and get on the same page. It was all about making this transition to Cup. The first four weeks were a disaster, but it seems like we’re getting going and getting a lot better here recently.”
How difficult is it to deal with these odd circumstances in your rookie season?
“Honestly, I’ve really enjoyed the no practice and no qualifying. For me, I feel like it fits what I’ve grown up doing and if you look at our performance, we’ve run exceptionally better since we stopped practicing for whatever reason that is. I really enjoy it. As a rookie going to the race track, which my starting position, I’m not starting on the pole or the front row so I’m not having to go wide open into turn one and expect the car to stick or anything. I have enough time starting in the back that we’re able to just creep up on it and I feel like I’ve done a good job of not over-stepping my limits and making sure I get to that first pit stop where we can tune the car to my liking and stuff like that. 2020 has been really weird. It started off with a pretty crazy turn of events with Donald Trump coming to the Daytona 500 and getting rained out, racing on Monday and then all of the sudden we’re taking a three-month hiatus or whatever it was. 2020 has been one to remember, that’s for sure.”
Have you talked with Leavine Family Racing about your future there?
“Bob (Leavine, team owner), obviously he doesn’t live in Charlotte so he’s not around all the time, but he was able to come to the shop over that May time period when we ran two races at Charlotte. He was around a lot and he was really proud of our group for going a lot better than what we were. He was just as disappointed as we were in the first couple weeks, but as far as next year, honestly, he hasn’t said anything about it. It’s pretty far from where we are right now so I wouldn’t say that’s our focus. Our focus is on trying to get better and do better this year and obviously the better that we do starting Sunday at Indy, the more likely we’ll be good for the future.”
Have you felt the buzz of the doubleheader at Indianapolis this weekend?
“It’s really cool to see the excitement going on. I’m really, really anxious to watch not only the IndyCar race, but the Xfinity race as well on the road course. I think that’s going to be a great show. I’m really anxious. I don’t get to go up the Indy until Sunday, but I’m going to be really anxious to watch the road course race on TV and I hope it’s a great race.”
# # #
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold nearly 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2019.
Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.
