Christopher Bell’s gave a good run for the winner Chase Elliott at Road America than anyone else in the race.
Such is the dominance of Hendrick Motorsports these days that coming second in the races looks like a feat for other drivers. And especially, in road courses, with Elliott so dominant in those races, it is hard to see anyone winning over him.
Nonetheless, Bell had a good run despite receiving a penalty and was on par with race winner Chase Elliott towards the end of the race.
“I think we were close, closer than anyone else was to (Elliott). That was good. At the end of the race everyone was telling me that I was matching if not a little better lap times,” said Bell, who finished 5.7 seconds behind Elliott.
“I never had track position to start up there with him and see what we had against the whole run. I’m sure he was saving a little bit (of fuel) to make sure if there was a restart there or something, but that was a lot of fun.”
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Bell hasn’t had the best of seasons for far, with the second-place finish his first top-five since April race at Richmond. It was also only his third top-five this season. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver knows that more is expected from him.
“It’s been a trying last two months, but we feel like we’re getting back on track. There’s no reason why we can’t be running up front every week,” Bell, 26, said.
“Last week at Pocono we had a car capable of finishing in the top-five. It didn’t happen. Besides that, Nashville we were okay. Aside from that, I don’t know, we just haven’t been very fast.
“Here the last couple weeks, I’ve been really proud of the progress we’ve made. Excited for the future. I know there’s more to come.”
Nonetheless, he is the only driver to win a road course this season besides Hendrick Motorsports drivers. With a win and a second-place finish in another, Bell is proving to be a good road course driver himself.
“I wouldn’t have expected my first win to come at a road course, that’s for sure. Last year in the Cup Series, the road course races were probably my best races speed-wise,” Bell said.
“I feel like we have been bringing really good Camrys to the road courses and it’s definitely a good package for JGR right now.”