Christopher Bell during NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series action at Watkins Glen International. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade | Nigel Kinrade Photography)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — When a NASCAR Cup Series driver comes down to a lower series, like the Xfinity Series or Craftsman Truck Series, they usually have one goal in mind. That goal is to dominate and win. But this weekend, the cards for Christopher Bell were a little different.
The 30-year-old JGR driver is known for driving the famed No. 20 car in the Cup Series every weekend, jarring for wins and fighting for championships in Phoenix. Bell had a different role on Friday, one that most drivers are not thrown into regularly.
Stewart Friesen, the part-owner and full-time driver of the No. 52 Halmar Toyota Tundra in the Truck Series, sustained serious injuries over the past week from a dirt modified race, putting him on the sidelines in a recovery state for the rest of the season.
With that being said, Halmar-Friesen needed a driver to fill in this weekend for their trip around the twists and turns of the Glen, and Bell was just the driver to do that. The veteran Cup Series driver qualified the No. 52 on the front row for the Mission Foods 176, which was extremely impressive because Bell has not been in a truck since early in the 2024 campaign at Las Vegas.
The speed that was shown by Bell in practice and qualifying also showed up in the race, as the HFR Tundra paced the field for a total of 30 laps throughout the 81-lap event. Friesen had a win in the season before his injuries and had race-winning speed in his No. 52 all season. But with a driver like Bell behind the wheel, that completely changed the game for the Halmar-Friesen group. It was win or go home trying yesterday.
Christopher Bell (front) turns a corner fighting for position with Connor Zilisch (back) during the Mission 176 at the Glen (Photo: Nigel Kinrade | Nigel Kinrade Photography)
Unfortunately for Bell, several late race incidents forced the No. 52 to come down pit road with a few laps remaining in the show because of the strict fuel strategy his team was on. They had just enough fuel to make it the scheduled distance, which was originally 72 laps. But with multiple overtime restarts, nine laps were added onto an already long and tiring race for the Truck Series field.
But with the chaos that ensued on those restarts, Bell was able to use his Cup Series talent to move up through the field and finish 4th when the checkered flag waved. Corey Heim marched to his sixth victory on the season.
Even with a massive tire advantage at the end, Bell didn’t have the time to catch Heim, but he thought he could have gotten there. “Certainly, I had a 30-lap tire advantage on him there. It’s just the way racing plays out,” said Bell in his post-race comments. “It is what it is. He (Heim) did a great job, he had a great truck, and they had the right strategy for how the race outcome played out.”
Bell was not ecstatic about a top-five result, but Halmar-Friesen will probably take the result after the disqualification of Friesen at IRP a couple of weeks ago and the loss of their team owner for the rest of the 2025 schedule. HFR will field the No. 52 with playoff contender Kaden Honeycutt behind the wheel for the remainder of the Truck Series season, while Bell will run his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE car this Sunday in the Go Bowling at the Glen.
