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“You have to be f****** kidding me,” Christopher Bell radioed in anger as he crossed the end line at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After main 155 of 267 laps, he finished second — just 0.662s shy of winning the race and an robotically advancing into the NASCAR Cup Collection Championship 4.
However there’s nothing the motive force of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota did unsuitable. He by no means made a mistake. His pit stops have been quick and he maintained a bonus over William Byron and Alex Bowman by way of the ultimate cycle of green-flag stops. However that did not cease Joey Logano from stretching the gasoline and stealing the win out from beneath him anyway.
“I don’t know, and I don’t assume I’ve come to phrases with it but,” stated Bell in his instant post-race response.
“Only a bummer. Everybody on this group did all the pieces good at this time. This factor was clearly on rails, the pit crew did a tremendous job, Adam (Stevens, crew chief) referred to as a tremendous race. We did all the pieces we wanted to place the Camry into victory lane, and sadly, it wasn’t meant to be at this time.”
Whereas the way in which he misplaced could also be completely different, this is not precisely a brand new feeling for Bell leaving the Spherical of 8 playoff race at Vegas. He began from pole in Sunday’s occasion and led essentially the most laps. Final yr was an identical story, ranging from pole and remaining in competition for a lot of the day. Within the remaining moments, he ran down Kyle Larson and was actually touching his again bumper as they took the checkered flag, shedding by 0.082s. Again then, he stated it felt like he missed out on the ‘golden ticket’, which possible aligns together with his emotions after Logano’s victory final weekend.
Kyle Larson being chased by Christopher Bell within the run to the end line in 2023.
Photograph by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Pictures
However in 2023, Bell didn’t crumble after such a agonizing loss. No, he stepped up and received the very subsequent week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. As he goals to make the Championship 4 for the third consecutive yr, might we see historical past repeat itself but once more at Homestead?
“It’s a complete new race subsequent week,” stated Bell. Regardless of final yr’s success, he was hesitant to say that issues will go the identical manner they did one yr in the past. “This monitor means nothing for subsequent week, and fortuitously, we have been in a position to go and win in Homestead final yr, however nothing is assured. Simply because I ran second this week, doesn’t imply I’m going to complete wherever subsequent week. I believe the factors look fairly good, which is a constructive, however you’re by no means protected on this deal. We would have liked to win at this time, and sadly, we didn’t. We are going to go on to the following one.”
The excellent news for Bell is that he has extra factors than any of the seven playoff drivers not but locked in after Vegas, holding a 42-point buffer. However as we have seen in recent times with this spherical, a win from the very succesful drivers beneath the cut-line can and can erase that deficit. The NASCAR playoffs are all in regards to the ‘win and also you’re in’ system, and it is by no means extra necessary than it’s on this spherical — much more so than the finale.
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