Christopher Bell made it to the championship race in the last two Cup Series seasons and he will be looking to do the same this year. A good start to the round of 12 would help the Joe Gibbs Racing driver out but Kansas is not an easy track to navigate. Yes, compared to the last three races, the element of unpredictability is lesser, but that doesn’t mean things are going to be easy. Considering the track layout, things can go haywire at any point.
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The straights at the Kansas Speedway have a lot of real estate, from the top of the track to the apron. However, that’s not the case when you get to the turn. That’s where the grip is really near the fence and drivers have to go over to that part of the track to avoid being passed by several cars. This can cause chaos on restarts when all the cars are bunched up together. However, to gain position, drivers will have to be aggressive on those restarts and get ahead of the pack as soon as possible.
“The thing that stands out about Kansas is the restarts, the track is so wide, and on top of the track being wide you have the apron that adds real estate,” Bell said in a recent press conference. “Then all of a sudden you get to the corner and don’t have the grip to be four or five wide, so the restarts are always crazy there and there’s a lot to be gained and there’s a lot to be lost. The reward is really high to be aggressive on restarts.”
The driver of the #20 car has been in good form so far this season, winning three races and usually finishing inside the top 15. After the championship race heartbreaks for two seasons straight, he only has one goal in mind, winning the title. He is one of the favorites but will have to overcome stiff competition to get the job done come November.
JGR star full of praise for Hendrick counterpart after Bristol
Bell has never won a race at the Kansas Speedway but has been in pole position thrice so far in his career, He won the pole in each of the last two Cup Series races held at the venue. However, he finished P6 and P8 in those races. His best finish at the track was a P3 in the 2022 season. The JGR star has a good points tally as he sits second on the table but he still cannot afford to take any race lightly.
The #20 driver finished P5 in Bristol last weekend but was full of praise for race winner Kyle Larson who had completely dominated the rest of the field. “The 5 (Kyle Larson) was the class of the field and everyone else was kind of racing to be best of the rest, good day for our DeWalt Toyota team. Hopefully, we can go to Kansas and have a nice solid day and set us up good for the round of 12,” he had said.
It will be interesting to see if Bell can win his first-ever race at the Kansas Speedway on Sunday. It will give the 29-year-old a lot of confidence heading into the round of 8. Also, he can take it easy in the rest of the round of 12 races.
