The #20 Toyota Camry XSE of Christopher Bell was the most dominant car on the field this Sunday in Kansas. It helped him lead 122 laps after qualifying to start the race from the pole but a couple of errors on the driver’s part ultimately cast him down to a seventh place finish. The disappointing outcome shined the light on what has been an issue for Bell for a long time.
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The 29-year-old has won 12 poles in his Cup Series career so far and not once has he converted them into wins. From the eyes of former racer Kyle Petty, this puts him along the lines of Kyle Larson and Kasey Kahne who had a similar “conversion” issue early in their careers. Petty recently analyzed the Kansas race for NASCAR and gave his thoughts on Bell’s performance.
3-straight Kansas poles for Christopher Bell.
He has 4 top ten finishes here in 5 Next Gen starts.#NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/NuYHFbbRGc
— Eric Estepp (@EricEstepp17) September 29, 2024
He said, “If you’re that fast you gotta get Ws out of it. You’ve got to make something happen. We saw him again yesterday. He’s in the mode of a Kyle Larson. He’s in the mode of Kasey Kahne. We’ve heard it all along. And that’s exactly right because it took those guys time to learn how to close and Christopher Bell cannot close. He can be fast but he can’t close. That’s his weak spot.”
Starting from pole, Bell led 71 of the opening 72 laps. When William Byron got close to him with 8 laps to go in stage one, he got loose in the middle of Turns 1 and 2. This allowed the #24 driver to pass him, while Bell finished the stage in fifth position. He was later racing for the second stage win with four laps remaining when he smacked the wall once again off Turn 4 and dropped to 16th.
Bell leaves a lot on the table in Kansas
Bell lingered outside the top 10 in the final stage. The final restart of the day helped him race to seventh place and conclude his day there. He now sits third on the playoff grid, 28 points above the elimination line. He couldn’t help but lament at the missed opportunity to secure a Round of 8 spot in Kansas.
He told NBC Sports, “At one point, I thought we were going to finish a lot worse than seventh, so we got out of here with a pretty decent points day. But it sure feels like we left a little bit on the table.” On the brighter side, this isn’t going to be the last time that Bell had the most dominant car.
The #20 crew consistently puts together great cars for him. Kansas was the sixth time in the last 17 races that Bell led at least 80 laps. He won two of those, in Charlotte and New Hampshire. The driver will now readjust his focus and set his sights on the challenge that awaits him in Talladega.
