Drivers and fans expected tire wear to be a massive element of Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen but according to Christopher Bell, that was not the case. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver said that he expected a lot of tire fall-off after the practice session, but there wasn’t much of that under racing conditions.
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The #20 driver figured out early in the race that it was going to be like any other Watkins Glen race where track position meant everything and that’s exactly what happened.
Tires were supposed to drop up to three seconds per lap, at least that’s what NASCAR said would happen ahead of the race. Passing at The Glen has always been tough and this was supposed to be an answer for that.
However, the aerodynamic disadvantage of the chasing cars was just too much for the compound to overcome. Goodyear will not be happy with such a response and will have to go back to the drawing board. Perhaps the issues with the car need to be addressed more than the tires in this regard.
“Same old Watkins Glen,” Bell said in a post-race interview. “We all pre-race expected the same thing of tire wear being a huge factor and having to pit to put on tires and be able to drive up through the field and it was the complete opposite. It ended up being the same old Watkins Glen.”
The driver of the #20 car did not have the result he might have hoped for as he finished outside the top 10 in P14. However, he is still the points leader at the moment and should comfortably make it through to the round of 12 of the playoffs.
JGR star rues “worst road course race” despite leading on points
The high points tally did not do anything to console Bell as he was quite disappointed with himself at the end of the race. Perhaps the team was not on the correct strategy as they expected high tire degradation at the start of the race, but that can be said of every competitor. With one more road course race still left this season, the #20 driver will be looking to improve that part of his game in the upcoming weeks.
“That was our worst road course race that we’ve had in a very, very long time. That was disappointing, but ultimately you would have told me that I’m going to come out of here with gaining on the points to the cutline, I would’ve taken it. It wasn’t pretty how we got there, but we got there and now we can go to Bristol and relax a little bit more,” he said in a media interaction.
Bell has made it to the championship race in the last couple of seasons but has come up short on both occasions. He will hope that this time, it will finally be his year to become champion.
