By Jerry Jordan, Editor
HAMPTON, GA. – When Toyota unveiled the Supra it would race this year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in July 2018 at Daytona International Speedway, Christopher Bell immediately spoke up and said one of his goals was to put it in Victor Lane before Kyle Busch and that’s exactly what he did.
Busch is entered in three upcoming Xfinity Series races and since he has taken the checkered flag 92 times previously in the series, it’s short odds he would add to his total. And that was something Bell was aware of heading into the Rinnai 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“That’s really, really big,” Bell said, in his post-race interview. “It all just boils down to the fact that you don’t get to be a first-time winner very often. There’s a very good possibility Kyle (Busch) is going to win one of the next three (races) and I beat him to Victory Lane. I’m all smiles right now.”
Busch conceded Bell would have a strong chance at beating him to Victory Lane in the Supra and when asked during its debut if that would bother him, he seemed more bummed that he wouldn’t get to drive in as many events because of NASCAR limits on Cup Series drivers running in its
“Well, Christopher has got a heck of a lot better shot of being able to score a win before I do,” Busch said, at the time. “My races are far and few between, so obviously I think this year I didn’t run until the fourth race of the year or something like that. So, it’s disappointing that I only get seven opportunities a year to be able to go out there and run in the Xfinity Series. I’d certainly like more opportunities, especially with a new race car and a Supra coming out and being able to win in a different nameplate, that would be fun to be able to run more races. But there’s other people around here you should ask that question.”
With only one Cup Series driver, rookie Ryan Preece, Bell conceded that had to had to battle with Busch or any of the other Cup drivers he might not have finished on top. He said he felt the win was little sloppy and he needed to work on a few areas.
“Obviously, winning is great, but I wanted to be really good and we were really good until right there at the end of the race,” Bell said. “If there were any Cup drivers there, we might have gotten beaten there at the end. We’ll just have to – I’ll have to get better as a race car driver and just try and pick up on my weaknesses, that’s for sure.”
Adding a feather in Toyota’s cap, the production model of the Supra won’t even be in showrooms until later this year and it has already been in Victory Lane.