- Christopher Bell led 67 laps and won Stage 2 in a breakout performance for the No. 20 team.
- Two spins in the final stage, including one while battling Denny Hamlin, ruined a potential win.
- Despite finishing 18th, Bell and his crew chief believe the team has turned a performance corner.
For the first time in weeks, Christopher Bell had a race car capable of winning, and he made the most of it for most of the afternoon at Dover Motor Speedway.
“It’s refreshing to have speed again,” Bell said. “We haven’t had pace and today we were able to lead laps, get stage points and won a stage.”
Bell led 67 laps in Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400, the most he’s led since Phoenix earlier this season. He dominated the second stage, pulling away from the field and leaving Alex Bowman trailing by several seconds. But just when it looked like the No. 20 Toyota might be headed to victory lane, two costly spins in the final stage spoiled the day.
The trouble began after Bell restarted in the lead. Entering Turn 3, the car bottomed out — the same corner where he crashed during qualifying at Dover a year ago — and looped around in front of the field. Fortunately, he avoided contact, pitted for fresh tyres, and rejoined at the back of the lead lap.
He climbed back into contention, but clean air proved elusive. Crew chief Adam Stevens tried a bold strategy by leaving Bell on track longer than most during green-flag pit stops. When a rain shower hit on Lap 336, only Bell and Austin Dillon had not pitted, leaving Bell at the front when the caution flew.
Denny Hamlin, who also stayed out, restarted alongside Bell after a second rain delay led to a 56-minute red flag. With just over 10 laps to go, the JGR teammates knew the next restart could decide the race.
“Denny was on my outside and we’re both pushing hard,” Bell said. “You know, whoever gets clean air and wins that restart is going to win the race. I wasn’t going to let him go, that’s for sure.”
But coming off Turn 4 on Lap 392, Bell spun again, this time collecting William Byron and Noah Gragson. Bell’s hopes of winning disappeared, and he eventually crossed the line in 18th.
“Made two mistakes,” Stevens said. “We were able to recover from one of them just with good fortune, more than anything, with the weather. Not the second one. That’s the way it is. We all make mistakes – I’ve had plenty of race-enders myself, so has the pit crew. It’s part of it.”
Despite the tough result, Bell scored 38 points overall and finally added 19 stage points, a significant improvement after more than a month without any.
“If we keep bringing speed like that to the race track, then we’re going to be just fine,” Bell added. “It’s been a long time coming; I haven’t scored stage points in a long time, let alone win a stage.”
It wasn’t the finish Bell wanted, but the performance proved that the No. 20 team is once again a threat, and that might be more important as the playoffs draw closer…
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