There’s nothing more dangerous than a ticked-off driver – and that’s what Christopher Bell has been for the last week.
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Bell lashed out at his team over the radio following last Sunday’s race at Gateway, bemoaning his seventh-place finish when his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe, finished 1-2 in that event.
“We just f***ing ran seventh with the best car on the track,” Bell said to his crew members at Gateway. “Every f***ing week, it’s the same s**t. We’re the last car to pit road. I’m over it.”
There’s actually a good reason for Bell having been so upset at Gateway: earlier this year, he won three races in a row. But since then, zip, nada, zilch.
Bell carried his anger around with him – both figuratively and literally – throughout the week, and when Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway began, the Oklahoma native was not going to be second-best to anyone, winning his fourth race of the season and assuring his advancement to the Round of 12 quarterfinals, which begin Sunday, Sept. 21, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“We just know that any given week, it could be us,” Bell said after Saturday night’s win. “And it hadn’t been us for a long time. But Bristol baby, tonight it’s us.”
Long known for being one of the best drivers to get a quick jump on restarts, Bell lived up to his reputation on the final restart of the race. Like being shot out of a cannon, he quickly made it clear that this would be his win and there would be no denying him – or being ticked off – anymore.
“I was nervous on the choose (to decide whether he’d get the high or low lane on the restart),” Bell told USA Network during a post-race interview on the frontstretch at the start-finish line. “I didn’t know if I wanted to be on the bottom or the top. And whenever Brad (eventual runner-up Brad Keselowski) picked the top, it really didn’t give me an option and (I) had to pick the bottom.”
After Bell passed him, Keselowski tried to push Bell out of the way on the closing lap, but the strategy backfired and it actually wound up pushing Bell even further ahead, putting the win out of reach for Keselowski.
“All night long, I don’t know, old tires just really pushed up in the middle of the corner. So I was hoping that those guys on old tires would push up and they did, and I was able to get by or get underneath of them.
“It wasn’t pretty there at the end, but we got her done.”
Bell then grew solemn, dedicating the win to Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed during a speaking engagement earlier this week in Utah.
“Most importantly, this week’s obviously been a very tough week and there’s a lot on our mind, and this one’s for Charlie (Kirk),” Bell said somberly, bringing about thunderous applause in response from the fans in the stands.
