Christopher Bell still believes his Joe Gibbs Racing team is underperforming and it will take more than a NASCAR Cup Series victory to change his mind.
“I don’t think it’s about winning races,” Bell said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “Certainly, that is an important part of it, but if I were consistently leading laps and in position to win, then I never would have been frustrated. The fact of the matter is that I haven’t been in a position to win races. I haven’t led laps.
“My teammates are leading, it seems like, almost every lap, and they’re getting the results out of it. It’s less about winning races and more about being in position to do well, and we haven’t had that.”
The latest bout of frustration came after last weekend’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway. Bell finished seventh in the second race of the opening round of the postseason, but wasn’t happy about doing so. After crossing the finish line, he exploded on the No. 20 team radio.
“We just [expletive] ran seventh with the best car on the track,” Bell said. “Every [expletive] week it’s the same [expletive]. We’re the last car to pit road. I’m over it.”
The reference was to running long on a fuel cycle before pitting. Bell, in his comments on Friday explaining his frustration, didn’t hold it against crew chief Adam Stevens because he acknowledged there has been past success in doing the same thing, like the three road course races Bell and company have under their belts.
But it didn’t stop Bell from returning to a phrase he’s used in the past about his race team underperforming or underachieving their capabilities, especially with cars he feels are as fast as he’s ever had in his career. He finished seventh in St. Louis while teammates Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe finished first and second.
“I think it was definitely a buildup of frustration, not performing up to our standards and not getting the results that I think that we should get,” Bell said. “Well, not even think, should. We should get better results, and we haven’t been doing that. It was frustration.”
Saturday night at Bristol will determine the 12 drivers moving into the second round of the postseason. Bell is in a position to do so with a 32-point advantage of the cutline. He hopes a spark has been provided for the team, which carried over into a conversation this week.
“You’re not going to say that (on the radio) and be done,” Bell said. “We talked about it, and I think we’re in a really good spot, and we’ll hopefully perform better.”
The JGR driver is not concerned that his tirade hurt the feelings of anyone on his team because it’s the nature of a competitive environment. With a common goal across the board, Bell does not believe anyone takes the outburst personally. Despite how he felt a week ago, or how he feels the results haven’t been what they should, he still arrives at the racetrack each week with optimism about leading laps and winning.
However, there is no denying that seeing his teammates win has added to the frustration. There hasn’t been a win since early March. Hamlin and Briscoe have won four of the last 12.
“Well, yeah, that’s definitely part of it, and I’m happy for my teammates, but that’s the barometer,” Bell said. “If your teammates are out there winning races and leading laps, that shows that the cars are capable [and] we have the equipment. I haven’t been leading laps, and I haven’t been winning races, so there is obviously something going on that’s keeping us from doing that.
“The teammates are just a barometer, and the fact that they’re having success and doing what needs to be done means that I should be there, and I haven’t been.”
