For Christopher Bell, road courses used to be the equivalent of stepping on a Lego barefoot, painful, frustrating, and best avoided. In an era where more road course races are being added to the NASCAR schedule, sticking to just ovals wasn’t going to cut it. The likes of Chase Elliott, A.J. Allmendinger, and Tyler Reddick quickly caught on the new trend. But for Bell, he had to overcome a few shortcomings.

COTA marked a turning point not just for Bell but for Toyota as well. The same manufacturer that struggled last season with a new tire compound managed to turn the tables, leaving Chevrolet and Ford scratching their heads. It wasn’t just about speed; it was about strategy, adjustments, and a little bit of redemption.

Ideally, the Chevys and the Fords are the usual suspects who come out on top of the road course events. But Toyota and JGR have curated a new formula, which was developed on the backdrop of past disappointments on tracks like Watkins Glen.

Overcoming Road Course Woes: Bell’s Breakthrough Moment

Although COTA is relatively a new road course track on the schedule, Watkins Glen has been a historic venue. The last Toyota driver to win a race at the Glen was Martin Turex Jr. back in 2017. This is where Toyota knew that they would have to revamp their strategy on road courses and identified Bell as the ideal candidate. But, NASCAR threw a curve ball at them with constant changes in the tire compounds and the JGR driver struggled with the new Goodyear rubber during the 2023 season.

“The big change for us has been that tire. So if I’m not mistaken, the first time we ran that tire was Watkins Glen and the whole Toyota camp, JGR included really struggled at a track that is normally really good for us.” Bell explained in an interview with Kevin Harvick. From consecutive top 10 and top 5 results since 2021, the No. 20 team finished the 2023 race in P14. So they needed to get a better understanding of how the new tire compound could fare up at COTA next year.

“So we showed up at COTA with this Watkins Glen tire and once again it was a struggle throughout practice and qualifying. Going back to being proud. Adam Stevens the engineering team on this 20 car did so good at making the car more competitive. From practice one to practice two, they made great adjustments… Adam made great calls all week long to make the car more competitive and I felt like I did my part of studying and driving the car better on Sunday.” Bell explained further.

Well, the #20 team did have the tire game on point. They made a sound strategic call to pit 2 laps late after leader Kyle Busch pitted, and that advantage worked out in their favor. Apart from the tires, the set-up on the No. 20 Toyota Camry really shined through as the driver was able to fend off Willian Byron and Tyler Reddick on the final few laps.

Bell wasn’t the only Toyota driver showing promise. Tyler Reddick, who had been Toyota’s go-to road course guy in 2023, was once again in the mix. Although he didn’t take the checkered flag, his performance reinforced the fact that Toyota had made major gains. It was Reddick and his teammate Bubba Wallace who snagged the front row during the qualifying rounds.

After three race weekends, Christopher Bell and his team have two wins in their bag. With the playoff seat all but confirmed, the #20 team is in a good spot that could stage a big comeback after the disappointments of last year.

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Christopher Bell has all the motivation he needs to excel in 2025

The Oklahoma native is the most consistent and successful driver in the Next Gen era. Yeah, you can bat out for the likes of Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney in the same conversation, but you just can’t ignore Bell’s rise in the past few years. In the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he had back-to-back appearances in the championship race in Phoenix, finishing 3rd and 4th. And he was within a touching distance of making in three years in a row last year at Martinsville Speedway.

But, we all know that race manipulation tactics and the hail-melon 2.0 spoiled the racing on the night. Bell had to suffer a disqualification for the wall ride and just like that he couldn’t get a chance to compete for the Bill France trophy. Well heading into the Phoenix race weekend, the driver has an opportunity to bag three wins in a row, something that hasn’t been done in the Next Gen era.

“Just super proud for everyone on this DeWalt No. 20 team. We didn’t count last week. Last week was a speedway. We didn’t have that one circled. We definitely had this one circled. I’m ready to keep adding to it.” Bell said after the COTA win. There are multiple reasons for him to add to this winning run and with a three-peat he surely would become the driver to beat this season.