Christopher Bell – No. 20 Rheem-Smurfit Kappa Toyota Camry TRD Preview – Texas Motor Speedway

By:
On:
In: NASCAR Cup Series News

No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry TRD News and Notes:

  • BELL NCS AT TEXAS: Christopher Bell will make his fourth NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) start at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) this weekend in the No. 20 Rheem-Smurfit Kappa Toyota Camry TRD for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). Bell’s last two runs at TMS resulted in back-to-back third-place finishes.
  • HOMETOWN TRACK: Bell is originally from Norman, Oklahoma, which is just over two hours away from TMS.
  • NXS HISTORY AT TEXAS: Bell has made five prior starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) at TMS. In 2019, Bell found his way to victory lane in the fall after qualifying third and leading over half the laps. In addition to his win, Bell has earned two poles, three top-five and four top-10 finishes at Texas.
  • TEXAS TRUCK SUCCESS: Bell has five Truck Series starts at TMS and found his way to victory lane in 2017.  In addition to the win, Bell has two top-five and three top-10 finishes at TMS. 
  • RHEEM GUESTS AT TEXAS: Rheem will host over 75 guests at Texas this weekend, including those from: Smurfit Kappa and the Water Heater Division’s Southwest and Mountain Regions.
  • RUUD GUESTS AT TEXAS: Ruud will host over 55 guests from INSCO Distributing this weekend at Texas.
  • SMURFIT KAPPA – FEATURED ON THE NO. 20: Smurfit Kappa is one of the leading providers of paper-based packaging in the world, with operations in 23 European countries and 13 countries in the Americas. For more information visit: https://www.smurfitkappa.com/ 
  • INSCO – FEATURED ON THE NO. 20: Just by doing business with Insco Distributing you already have an advantage. Insco’s services, incentives, training and support help to set you apart from the competition. Insco has 35 branches throughout Texas and in Oklahoma City and employ over 250 personnel. For more information visit: https://www.insco.com/   
  • HONORING CANCER HEROES: Bell will have Mikel and Kim riding along with him Sunday at Texas through the Martin Truex Jr. Foundations “Honor a Cancer Hero” fundraiser with The NASCAR Foundation. Mikel and Kim have been friends for years. Kim is a three-year survivor of Cholangiocarcinoma and Mikel has been fighting metastatic breast cancer.
  • CBELL’S MICRO MANIA: Bell partnered with TMS for the inaugural CBell’s MICRO MANIA event on the renovate’ Lil’ Texas Motor Speedway 1/5-mile dirt track. The four-day event, which features Micro Sprint race cars, will open with practice Wednesday and culminate with mains and finals on the evening of Saturday, Sept. 24th.
  • BRISTOL RECAP: Bell finished fourth Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway after starting eighth. Bell finished second in stage one and first in stage two. Bell led 143 laps but a flat tire cost him some track position late in the race, he was able to pit for tires and earn a top-five finish. 
  • JGR AT TEXAS: Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) owns nine NCS victories at TMS. In 128 combined starts at the 1.5-mile track, JGR has racked up 35 top-five finishes, 60 top-10s, five pole awards and 2,212 laps led. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, and Tony Stewart have all driven JGR entries to victory lane in Texas.
  • RACE INFO: The Auto Trader EchoPark Automotive 500 at TMS begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 25, 2022. The race will be broadcast live on USA, Sirius XM 90, and PRN Radio.

From the Cockpit:

Christopher Bell: “The two ends of the track are completely different. We have the All-Star race under our belt with the NextGen car and turns 3 & 4 have lots of throttle time, tons of banking, and lots of grip with the repave and turns 1 & 2 have lots of grip but they don’t have the banking to hold you. Drastically different corners for sure. Long runs are where we’ve been really good and I’m excited to kick off the next round of the Playoffs at my home track.”

JGR PR

Speedway Digest Staff
Follow Me
Latest posts by Speedway Digest Staff (see all)
Post Views: 119