Christopher Bell blazes around the toughest and most challenging tracks in the country in his No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE. The Japanese carmaker has been a pillar of support throughout his career, playing a significant role in his current stature as a contender in the NASCAR Cup Series. It all began with a choice Bell made at the start of his journey.
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Bell was on the verge of stepping into NASCAR in 2015, with a major decision to make. He could either remain with Toyota or move to Ford’s camp with Roush Racing.
Joining Roush would have provided a clear path to the Cup Series, beginning with a year in the ARCA Menards Series, followed by stints in the Truck Series and Xfinity. Toyota couldn’t offer him this kind of assurance.
“The Toyota guys, they didn’t have that path available for me. The only thing that they could tell me is that, ‘We are not going to let you down. We don’t know how it’s going to work out, but as long as you perform, then we’re not going to let you down,'” Bell narrated in an interview last year.
So, in 2015, Bell had the choice of either running a full-time season in the ARCA Menards Series or staying with Toyota and competing in 10-15 late model races. The second option also included an assured entry into the Truck Series race at the Eldora Speedway. He ended up choosing to stay with Toyota, and the rest, as they say, is history.
“That’s what it ended up being. I went with Toyota because they gave me the late model races and that truck race at Eldora,” said Bell, who ended up winning that race, driving the No. 54 truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports. That firmly planted him for a full-time season in 2016.
Bell spent a couple of years driving trucks full-time and moved to the Xfinity Series in 2018. In 2020, he joined Leavine Family Racing in the Cup Series and then his current team, Joe Gibbs Racing. Toyota had promised that it wouldn’t let him down as long as he kept performing. And Bell has managed to keep his end of the bargain well in the past decade.
