By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
After wrecking on the first lap at Kansas Speedway two weeks ago, Christopher Bell was hoping to come into the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway swinging and contending for a race win.
However, that was not the case.
On the first lap of the race, Bell was sitting in the second position when his car got loose in the middle of Turn One. Luckily, the No. 20 Toyota did not receive any significant damage.
By the end of the first stage on lap 45, Bell had worked his way to the fourth position. By Lap 93, Bell was the race leader for the next 35 laps.
During a caution period near Lap 126, Bell made his way down pit road for adjustments, tires and fuel.
The day for Bell ended on lap 133. Austin Cindric was on the inside of Bell in Turn 4, but he couldn’t hold the bottom lane. Cindric slid up the racetrack into Bell and sent the No. 20 for a spin until the outside SAFER Barrier.
“It’s just oddly similar to what happened at Kansas. Just driving along and get poked in the left-rear and around you go. Got away with one spin earlier in the day, just didn’t quite get away with the other one later on.”
With the accident, Bell finds himself in a must-win situation next weekend at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. He sits seventh out of eighth drivers in the Playoff standings, 34 points below the cut line.
Bell understands that he must win the race at Phoenix if he wants a shot to win the championship.
“It doesn’t matter. This format, it’s very tough and it creates a lot of drama. I’ve always been proud of myself for winning races and I’ve won six races this year and I’ve got a chance to win two more. I’m going to go out there and try to win races. I’ve never been a points racer and my results show for that. I’m either up front or crashing. I’m going to go out and try to win two more races.”