A win is a win! That’s what Joe Gibbs Racing and Christopher Bell must have told themselves after emerging victorious last week. It may not have been a pretty win, but how does that matter, especially in a crown jewel race like the Coca-Cola 600?
With Bell now inching toward the top 10 in the NASCAR Cup Series, there is a belief that consistent results could guarantee the #20 JGR team a spot in the final four. Could this win be a stepping stone for Bell in the second half of the NASCAR season? The 29-year-old certainly seems to think so.
Setting the bar high for upcoming races
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Christopher Bell’s win at Phoenix earned him 6 playoff points, while his win at Charlotte earned him 7. That doesn’t change the fact that the rest of the races were nothing but missed opportunities. Despite qualifying on the pole in Kansas, the Charlotte hero and his team were found lacking in the race, finishing 6th. Next, at Texas, Bell finished third in qualifying but finished 17th in the race. Then, at North Wilkesboro Speedway, he qualified third but finished 17th in the All-Star race.
But, with the lows came the highs, right? Bell has four top-five finishes and seven top-ten finishes this season. The JGR team seems to be optimistic that things could finally take a turn for the better for the 29-year-old in the second half of the season.
In a video uploaded to Instagram by Joe Gibbs Racing, Christopher Bell said: “This whole company is really firing on all cylinders right now. And the biggest thing is every single week, it doesn’t matter what the racetrack it is, we are gonna have four bullets in the chambers. All of our cars are running so well right now, and it’s no secret that the #20 car has been on a little bit of a slump in the last couple of weeks. But the thing that really hit me this week is, literally any weekend, any weekend we go to the racetrack, we can win.”
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Pit road blunders for Christopher Bell and Joe Gibbs Racing
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Like many other drivers on the grid, Christopher Bell and Joe Gibbs Racing have suffered from pit lane mistakes that have cost them many positions during the race. There are several parameters that NASCAR officials must adhere to, to keep racing fair. After all, an advantage in the pit lane could help a driver gain a more favorable position on the track, making it all the more important to follow the rules.
As there are no speedometers in the cars, drivers are forced to rely on the RPM reading on their tachometers. Recently, Shane van Gisbergen was handed a penalty at the Circuit of the Americas for not slowing down in the pit lane. It’s all the more impressive how Christopher Bell and JGR have turned the corner in recent weeks.
The team has won the Pit Crew Challenge with the fastest time at North Wilkesboro Speedway and could build on that for the rest of the season. It’s an encouraging sign for fans that Christopher Bell could finally get his act together and rack up more wins in the second half of the 2024 NASCAR season.
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Do you think Christopher Bell will make the playoffs? Let us know in the comments!