Bell: ‘Two less tires and a few more laps’ prevented Phoenix three-peat

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Split tire strategies and a few laps prevented another threepeat from happening in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Christopher Bell came up short in his bid for three spring Phoenix wins with a second-place finish in Sunday’s race. Bell led a race-high 176 laps and collected 19 stage points, including 10 for winning stage two, but lacked track position when it mattered most.

Bell started 12th but picked through the field to finish second to Ryan Blaney in the first, 60-lap stage. He then jumped to the lead with a fast pit stop on lap 66 and mostly commanded the race until a caution on lap 289 of 312.

In shades of what teammate Denny Hamlin went through when he dominated in the fall until a late-race caution, Bell’s crew chief Adam Stevens called for four tires on the No. 20 car — while seven other teams called for two tires. That put him in a quagmire on the restart, which finally broke with a quick caution.

Although the caution allowed him to reset, it also cycled the tire temperatures — lessening his advantage. While he found himself in second in the closing laps, Ryan Blaney had too good of a car and made Bell settle there.

Christopher Bell came up just four tenths of a second short of getting his third spring Phoenix win. Bell controlled the race, leading a race-high 176 laps, but Ryan Blaney gained track position at the right time with just as fast of a car.

Blaney won the first stage and led just 28 laps but troubles on pit road kept him from leading more laps. Although he lost a net total of 20-plus positions on pit road, he raced through the field and routinely found himself back up front.

“Two less tires. A few more laps, I would’ve gotten there but I held him off on two tires so he wasn’t going to be an easy pass,” Bell said. “Adam made the call for four tires and I was in total agreeance whenever he made that decision that I’d be able to get back up through there. Then whenever so many cars took two and we had that immediate yellow, that was a bummer.”

While Bell didn’t win, he earned 19 stage points and moved from 24th to eighth in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings. The effort put him 119 points behind leader Tyler Reddick, a gain of eight points.

On top of it, Bell believed they passed the first true test of the new season.

“We had a process change to try and improve our car performance and I’m super happy with where we’re at now. Just need to keep doing this,” he said.

Bell also praised the new 750-horsepower package.

“I thought it was great. The horsepower is really necessary. I hope we keep bumping it up. It really puts it in the driver’s hands and the team’s hands… The cream really rises to the top,” he said.

The NASCAR Cup Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next Sunday, March 15. The next race with the new horsepower package is March 22, at Darlington Raceway.

While Bell has never won at Darlington, JGR swept last year with Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe.