Christopher Bell qualifying for the 2025 DAYTONA 500. (Photo Credit: Donald Jenney | The Podium Finish)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It has been a tough break for Christopher Bell in recent years with his uphill battle in the Daytona 500 since his NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2020.
Since joining the five-time NASCAR Cup Series championship program at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2021, Bell has had mixed results overall, especially after crashing out early and finishing 34th in the 2022 running of “The Great American Race”, which saw eventual Daytona winner Harrison Burton become the first flip in the Generation 7 car.
Bell has finished third in the last two consecutive years in the rearview mirrors of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 2023 and defending DAYTONA 500 champion William Byron in 2024.
The 30-year-old Norman, Oklahoma, native is coming off of a 2024 campaign in which the driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry claimed three wins, including the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, and a fifth place points finish after his late race move at Martinsville Speedway failed and prevented him from advancing to the championship race at Phoenix Raceway.
Bell has shown solid speed throughout the duration of Speedweeks as he has been inside the top 20 in speed in both practice sessions, along with an eighth-place qualifying effort in Thursday night’s qualifying session. Bell capped the week off with a 10th place finish in Daytona Duel No. 2, which resulted in a 20th place starting spot in Sunday’s big race.
Bell was asked in a press release on Wednesday during DAYTONA 500 Media Day about how his preparations for the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on February 2nd helped him get into the rhythm of chasing his first career DAYTONA 500 victory in his sixth attempt.
“Well, I didn’t expect it to be long, but it ended up being a freaking Cup race length, but I mean, I think the conditioning is good,” Bell said. “Whenever you get into June, July – you’ve been doing these races – it feels normal and it feels, I don’t want to say easier, but you know what to expect. The start of the year, certainly, Daytona is a speedway, Atlanta is a speedway now too. By the time you get to COTA, Phoenix – those are races that get your attention, so the Clash was a good acclimator and yes, last night was too.”
The nine-time NASCAR Cup Series winner also expanded on his thoughts and mindset ahead of the DAYTONA 500.
“The Daytona 500 is a huge event. It is a huge race. Running all of my other races that I’ve got to do, everyone talks about this race. It is all about Daytona. I’m honored, and I’m thrilled, and I’m blessed to be in this opportunity to compete in another Daytona 500, but with that being said, the race itself is a lot of luck. We’ve come out on the good end of it the last couple of years now, and we will go roll the dice again.
“The racing has kind of homed in on the fuel conservation and strategy of how the green flag cycle works – that is going to be super important. Hopefully, we are on the winning side of it, and we are going to try to do our best to control what we can control and miss the wrecks and be away from the wrecks. It is going to be an exciting one – it always is.”
Christopher Bell (No. 20) competes with Corey Lajoie (No. 01) and Noah Gragson (No. 4) in the second Daytona Duel Race. (Photo Credit: Donald Jenney | The Podium Finish)
Bell also was enthusiastic about the question of working with other Toyota’s in the draft, including his new teammate in the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Chase Briscoe.
“Yeah, and then he [Briscoe] comes over here and we are going to have the most we’ve ever had. It’s not going to be a fair shake for Briscoe. We’ve been telling him about how bad speedway racing is on the Toyota side, and now we almost have a third of the field, so that is really good. Hopefully, it means that this race will look different for us. We’ve always kind of blamed it on numbers, and now we don’t have that excuse – we are going to have the numbers.”
The 30-year-old has a huge background in the dirt racing community and has made a name for himself in both the dirt racing community as well as the stock car racing community. He explained about how excited he is to come back to other forms of racing this weekend.
“It has been refreshing. The dirt racing is so raw, and it feels like the driver makes a difference – more so on asphalt. I’ve enjoyed that, because you go asphalt racing and you feel like your hands are tied to the equipment, to the car, and dirt racing, you are able to overcome that. The good drivers usually shine.”
Bell has also described about how he has been feeling ahead of the big race on Sunday and if the pressure is playing a role.
“I mean, not any more pressure than what it is. The Daytona 500 is the granddaddy of them all. I’m well aware of that, and I’m excited about the opportunity. We all know how this race goes, so we try to take it with a grain of salt once it is over, and certainly, preparing for it, we know that it is a big deal.”
Bell wrapped his media appearances up explaining how important a Daytona 500 win would be for himself and also for his team and manufacturer.
“You hit it big there. Toyota winning the Daytona 500 is a big deal. I just go back to 2016, when they ran 1-2-3 – they were in position to run 1-2-3-4 on the white flag lap. That is what we are striving to get back to. The Next Gen car has definitely changed the way that Daytona is, and the way that it races. Toyota, frankly, we haven’t been performing on the superspeedways, so we are putting a big effort in trying to improve our superspeedway performance.”
Christopher Bell is looking to bring home Joe Gibbs Racing’s fifth DAYTONA 500 victory on Sunday, February 16th.
