Information By: TOYOTA RACING – LAS VEGAS, NV – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media on Saturday after winning the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
It is Bell’s third pole of the season, second consecutive at this event and 13th of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
What is it going to take to win from the pole for the first time tomorrow?
“A lot of execution. Las Vegas, and all of these Cup races, are just really long races and there is a lot of things that go on between the green flag and the checkered flag that dictates the outcome of the race. I’ve sat in this position many times now, and I’ve yet to win the race on Sunday starting from that first position. We’ve come close several times, and this is a great race track for me. I’m optimistic about it and I felt really good in practice. Sometimes that means more than you see in qualifying. I think we have the car to do it, and hopefully, I’m up for the job, our team executes well, and we are able to put it all together.”
What lessons have you learned racing Kyle Larson over the years?
“Don’t lose the battle off pit road (laughter). In all reality, I think that race came down to that pit stop. Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and I actually talked about what we were going to do if we were in this position, and what pit stall we were going to choose. Last year, I had that number one pit stall, and I couldn’t quite accelerate out of it, and I lost a couple positions in the drag race to the camera that last pit stop. I think if a couple things go differently at the end of that race, the outcome might have been different. The 6 (Brad Keselowski) was able to sneak by me, and it took several laps to get by him and I lost precious ground to Kyle (Larson). There is no doubt – he’s the favorite here. Kyle is. I think he’s won about every race and every stage in the history of the Next Gen car here, so he is going to be fast tomorrow, but I promise you will be right there with him.”
Do you intend selecting the number one pit stall this time?
“I’m going to leave that up to Adam (Stevens, crew chief).”
Do you have any memories with Wayne Auton?
“Yeah, I definitely do. Wayne (Auton) is an amazing race director. He’s one of the only ones that have given young drivers, myself at the time, advice. I remember him telling us that you have to practice getting out the right side of the car, and that is stuff is so valuable and stuff that I took with me the rest of my career, when I got to the Cup Series, and then with the car change, figuring out how to get out of the right side of the Next Gen car. He’s an awesome person that really looks after the racers and makes sure that they are doing well.”
What track would you compare Las Vegas to?
“I would say that it really is a cross between Kansas and Charlotte. Kansas, the track is probably a little bit slicker than Vegas, where Charlotte probably matches up a little bit closer on grip level, but the bumps here in (turns) one and two, are unlike Kansas. Kansas doesn’t have any bumps, and Charlotte does have bumps. Kansas, here and Charlotte are all really similar race tracks, and places that we’ve performed really well at. Certainly, excited about this and I’ve been excited about this whole round. Here, Homestead and Martinsville are all tracks we are going to run really well at, and on the flip side, all of the competition is going to run really well at too. It is going to be a really, really tough round, and the guy that wins this race is going to be walking out of here feeling really good.”
Do you wish you had more attention on you or do you like that you quietly perform?
“You know, I’ve been asked this about 18 times today (laughter). I don’t care. I just don’t care. I’m going to do my deal, whether I’m headlines or I’m not headlines. I’m going to be frustrated whenever I lose, and I’m going to be happy whenever I win, no matter what the headlines say. I don’t care if you guys talk about me or not. I’m going to try my hardest to win the race, and that is that.”