There’s just no pleasing some guys. Christopher Bell ran a strong race, was beaten fairly by Shane van Gisbergen, and came away with an excellent runner-up finish in Sunday’s race at Mexico City. But that wasn’t enough for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
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Bell was disappointed that he didn’t earn his fourth win of the season, but rather had to “settle” for his third runner-up finish of the year.
“He was really good,” Bell said of van Gisbergen to FOX Sports. “I felt like Ty (JGR teammate Ty Gibbs, who faded late to finish 11th) was really good (but) the yellow flag (a late caution) bit him and we walked away with second.
“So, both days, in the Xfinity car (in Saturday’s race) I was a third-place car. Today, I felt like I was a third-place car. I think more than anything it was just me. I need to do a little bit more homework and figure out where I can be better to keep up with these guys.”
Probably 99 percent of Cup drivers would love to have three wins, three second-place finishes and one third-place showing in the first 16 races. But not for Bell, who moved up one spot in the standings to third place after Sunday’s race.
“The Joe Gibbs Racing group brought an amazing Mobil 1 Camry. I can’t really say that it was my car that was lacking. I think it was on me this weekend,” Bell continued to lament — even though he had absolutely nothing to be upset about.
Despite disappointment, Bell credits SVG
Still, Bell, who has been locked into one of the 16 playoff berths since much earlier this season, gave credit to van Gisbergen. Up until Sunday, SVG had endured a dismal season, entering the weekend a lowly 33rd in the Cup standings. Now, he leaves with an assured spot in the upcoming 10-race Cup playoffs.
“I’m happy for Shane,” Bell said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of pressure on him to come out here and perform well in these road course races and he sets the bar for us.”
Bell and company will now head back to the States for next weekend’s race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
