Christopher Bell Makes Startling Kansas Admission: “We Were Going Backwards”

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell has revealed the struggles he faced during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.

Despite crossing the line in second place behind Kyle Larson, Bell explained that he was “just trying to get to the end” as he battles with tire wear. He commented after the race:

“I was surprised that [Larson] kind of gave up on the top those last couple laps and pulled down. But I was struggling just as bad as he was, so I was just trying to get to the end. I know Ryan was coming on really strong there.

“Overall, to get home second with a lot of stage points was something that we needed after the last couple weeks, and this Reser’s Camry was just not quite what we needed.

“I feel like our day was kind of a product of qualifying well, having good pit stops, having good restarts and nothing really took us out of it. Whenever the long green flag runs came, it seemed like we were going backwards and there were a couple guys that could drive by us.

“To walk out of here second, I’m really happy with, and hopefully we can be a little bit stronger when we come back.”

Larson also had the same struggles. He stated after the race, as previously reported by Newsweek Sports:

“I was trying really hard to pace myself because I believe that was our longest run of the day.

“I’ve been struggling a little bit at the end of the runs. Chase [Elliott] was really good so I felt like I just needed to try and be better on my end. I don’t know if it was paying off at the end. I was still struggling.

“I don’t know if the right front was starting to wear a lot or what but I was starting to lose a lot of grip and then I was vibrating really bad. I was afraid a right rear or something would let go. But yeah, great car and great execution today from our team.”

Bell is currently third in the Cup Series drivers’ standings with 384 points. Kyle Larson tops the leaderboard with 469 points and William Byron follows in second with 434 points.

NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas Speedway full results

1. Kyle Larson – Running
2. Christopher Bell – Running
3. Ryan Blaney – Running
4. Chase Briscoe – Running
5. Alex Bowman – Running
6. Josh Berry – Running
7. Ryan Preece – Running
8. Chris Buescher – Running
9. Joey Logano – Running
10. John H Nemechek – Running
11. Austin Cindric – Running
12. Todd Gilliland – Running
13. Corey Heim – Running
14. Noah Gragson – Running
15. Chase Elliott – Running
16. Zane Smith – Running
17. Tyler Reddick – Running
18. Ross Chastain – Running
19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Running
20. Shane van Gisbergen – Running
21. Kyle Busch – Running
22. Austin Dillon – Running
23. Michael McDowell – Running
24. William Byron – Running
25. Cole Custer – Running
26. Carson Hocevar – Running
27. Riley Herbst – Running
28. Ty Gibbs – Running
29. Jesse Love – Running
30. Cody Ware – Running
31. Justin Haley – Running
32. Erik Jones – Out
33. Bubba Wallace – Out
34. Daniel Suarez – Out
35. Ty Dillon – Out
36. Denny Hamlin – Out
37. Brad Keselowski – Out
38. A.J. Allmendinger – Out