NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell could have used one more lap during Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas.
One more lap and his team’s race-long strategy could have ended with a trip to Victory Lane, instead of trailing race winner William Byron to the start/finish line.
Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, decided to take advantage of the circuit’s first stage break caution periods for the first time since 2022 by staying out through Stage 1, which he captured. Most teams planned on three pit stops during the 68-lap event. Stevens wanted Bell to make one fewer stop to the pit row and by pitting later in Stage 3, he would have fresher tires for the final rotations.
“We took the points in Stage 1 and then we didn’t see another caution,” Bell said, as reported by NASCAR.com. “We talked about it all week. If we were going to jump the stages or not and we decided that if we had the opportunity to win the stages, we would take the points.”
En route to the runner-up finish, Bell was involved in two incidents, spinning out Kyle Larson on Lap 21 and Kyle Busch along Turn 1 on Lap 40. Busch angrily confronted his ex-teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing.
“The Larson deal, that was totally on me and I had no intentions of spinning Kyle out,” Bell said.
When Bell pitted on Lap 49, the No. 20 Toyota driver emerged about 10 seconds behind Byron. Over the next 18 laps, Bell continued to make up ground and trailed Byron by 2.4 seconds with two laps to go.
By the final rotation, he trailed by about a half-second and ran out of time.
Kyle Larson spins pic.twitter.com/gPVWe8Nepa
— Skewcar (@Skewcar) March 24, 2024
NASCAR National Series Weekend Schedule
Here is a list of NASCAR national series events this weekend at Richmond Raceway (All Times ET):
Friday
- 12:45 p.m.: Modified Tour practice 1
- 2 p.m.: Modified Tour practice 2
- 4:30 p.m.: Modified Tour qualifying
- 6:30 p.m.: Modified Tour Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 race
Saturday
- 8:35 a.m.: Xfinity Series practice
- 9:05 a.m.: Xfinity Series qualifying
- 10:30 a.m.: Cup Series practice
- 11:15 a.m.: Cup Series qualifying
- 1:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 race
Sunday
- 7 p.m.: Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 race
Race week is coming! Make sure you check the Fan Guide to know everything before arriving at the track.
— Richmond Raceway (@RichmondRaceway) March 12, 2024
NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 Entry List
Entry, Driver, Team, Car No.
- 1, Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing, No. 1 Chevrolet
- 2, Austin Cindric, Team Penske, No. 2 Ford
- 3, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, No. 3 Chevrolet
- 4, Josh Berry, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 4 Ford
- 5, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 5 Chevrolet
- 6, Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing, No. 6 Ford
- 7, Corey LaJoie, Spire Motorsports, No. 7 Chevrolet
- 8, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing, No. 8 Chevrolet
- 9, Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 9 Chevrolet
- 10, Noah Gragson, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 10 Ford
- 11, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 11 Toyota
- 12, Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, No. 12 Ford
- 13, Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 14 Ford
- 14, Kaz Grala, Rick Ware Racing, No. 15 Ford
- 15, Ty Dillon, Kaulig Racing, No. 16 Chevrolet
- 16, Chris Buescher, RFK Racing, No. 17 Ford
- 17, Martin Truex Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 19 Toyota
- 18, Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 20 Toyota
- 19, Harrison Burton, Wood Brothers Racing, No. 21 Ford
- 20, Joey Logano, Team Penske, No. 22 Ford
- 21, Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, No. 23 Toyota
- 22, William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 24 Chevrolet
- 23, Daniel Hemric, Kaulig Racing, No. 31 Chevrolet
- 24, Michael McDowell, Front Row Motorsports, 34 Ford
- 25, Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports, No. 38 Ford
- 26, Ryan Preece, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 41 Ford
- 27, John Hunter Nemechek, Legacy Motor Club, No. 42 Chevrolet
- 28, Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club, No. 43 Chevrolet
- 29, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, No.45 Toyota
- 30, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., JTG Daugherty Racing, No. 47 Chevrolet
- 31, Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 48 Chevrolet
- 32, Justin Haley, Rick Ware Racing, No. 51 Ford
- 33, Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 54 Toyota
- 34, Zane Smith, Spire Motorsports, No. 71 Chevrolet
- 35, Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports, No. 77 Chevrolet
- 36, Daniel Suárez, Trackhouse Racing, No. 99 Chevrolet
“I mean, he just hit me” @kamui_kobayashi on being spun by Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Kobayashi also answers whether or not he will be back in NASCAR in 2024:
📹 @WyattGametime pic.twitter.com/06a6grS4sz
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) March 24, 2024
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