Christopher Bell turning things around after rough 2016 start

The driver of the No. 4 JBL/Kyle Busch Motorsports truck posted consecutive top-five finishes at Kansas Speedway and Dover International Speedway following a rocky start to the season.

While Bell is tied with Cole Custer for the third best qualifying average (7.8) in the Camping World Truck Series, his first two starts of the season were prime fodder for highlight reels — and not for the right reasons. 

At Daytona, Bell’s truck became loose and he barrel-rolled nearly a dozen times down the front stretch. Although his truck ended up on the hook of a wrecker, Bell fortunately walked away. The following week at Atlanta, Bell clipped his KBM teammate Daniel Suarez, who was battling Matt Crafton for the lead, and collected all three trucks in the process.

A phone call from a champion

On his way home from Atlanta, the phone rang. Tony Stewart was on the other end. Stewart is well aware of Bell’s potential. He watched the 21-year-old Norman, Oklahoman excel in USAC and as well as in the Chili Bowl Nationals. At Stewart’s Eldora Speedway, he witnessed the youngster earn his first truck win in Bell's third-career start.  

The words of encouragement from Stewart — and team owner Kyle Busch — have gone a long way with the Toyota Racing Development driver.  And while Bell will likely endure more growing pains as he climbs NASCAR's ranks, his future is bright.

“Looking back over my year, I’ve been in contention to win in every race except two of them,” Bell said. “We’ve been fast almost every race except Martinsville, I struggled a little bit there, but we’ve been really fast over the beginning of the year – just haven’t had the results to show for it. 

“After the past two weeks, I’ve finally closed the deal and we’re able to get two top-fives. So I kind of expect similar this weekend and obviously it’s going to be pretty tough to beat the boss man (Busch), but if we can get out of here with a top-five and the momentum will keep going and our time’s coming.”

Bell is fortunate to have veteran crew chief Jerry Baxter in his corner. Baxter has eight wins in the truck series and has worked on every NASCAR tour from the K&N Pro Series to Sprint Cup. But having run just five races since the season started in February, Bell acknowledged it’s “really tough” building continuity within the team.

“Everyone is going through the same thing, so it’s not like I’m taking a couple weeks off and those guys aren’t, so it’s a level playing field,” Bell said. “But definitely – if you can get on a roll like I have been the last two weeks, it definitely can boost your confidence going into a break.”

Proven talent on the intermediates

Bell will make his Charlotte Motor Speedway debut this weekend, but he’s shown tremendous speed on intermediate tracks. Last season, Bell finished eighth at Texas Motor Speedway. Prior to his wreck at Atlanta, Bell led 42 laps. And two week’s ago, he posted a fourth-place finish at Kansas. 

“I think the mile-and-a-half stuff is just so different from anything that I’ve ever done in my life and pretty much any new driver that comes to a mile and a half is in for a new experience,” Bell said. “Luckily I got seven races in last year and I’m pretty sure five or six of them were on mile and a halves. 

"So I got to go to a big variety of different mile and a halves and obviously this is my first time here, but I think, I can take Kansas, Atlanta, Texas last year and it will all somewhat translate to here. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get out of here with another top-five.”

Bell continues to sharpen his racing skills outside of trucks whether he’s racing in other stock cars series, late models or midgets. Although Bell will have three more weeks off before he returns to trucks on June 10 at Texas, he enjoys the time at his new home.

“Coming to Charlotte is cool just because I think it’s everyone’s home race track and got a little bit of momentum built up after the last two weekends," Bell said. "But excited to sleep in my own bed tonight and get probably a little bit better night’s sleep than I would in a hotel and come back strong for tomorrow.”