AVONDALE – Christopher Bell came into the Shriners Children’s Phoenix 500 “sad,” as he put it.
He had finished 34th and 33rd, respectively, in his last two NASCAR Cup Series races, and the last time he was at Phoenix Raceway in the Championship 4 race, the right-front brake rotor on his No. 20 Toyota exploded, ending his championship hopes.
But after driving to victory Sunday for his seventh Cup Series win and breaking his own record for the largest margin of victory in the Next Gen-car era, Bell was finally having fun.
This time, good fortune was on his side as he took advantage of Martin Truex Jr.’s pit stop for fuel and tires on Lap 272 to take the lead, then never let it get away.
“I didn’t know that I was capable of winning the race until late in stage two,” Bell said of what would become a dominant win of more than five seconds. “Once we got some separation, and I was able to move around and get cleaner air, it drove better and I was able to make passes.
“I drove a rocketship today.”
It was a dominant day for all the rockets built by Toyota.
Either Bell or one of his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammates were in the lead throughout almost the entire day, leading 298 of the 312 laps on the Phoenix one-mile tri-oval. Denny Hamlin led for 68 laps, Ty Gibbs led 57, Martin Truex Jr. led 55 and Bell led for 50. A fifth Toyota driver, Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing, led 68.
Gibbs, who overcame some pit road troubles and took home a career-high third-place finish, believes his first Cup Series win is only a matter of time.
“Everybody at JGR and Toyota, they did a great job (on my car),” Gibbs said. “In that middle section, we just struggled really bad. We got it figured out, and we had a great strategy call by my crew chief. We just got to get a little better, but I think we know where we have to get better at.”
While not as dominant as Toyota, Ford had an excellent showing too, placing five cars in the top 10, including a second-place finish by Chris Buescher. The Ford cars led the only 14 laps Toyota didn’t Sunday.
Ryan Blaney, driving the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang, finished fifth, but it was enough to lift him past Kyle Larson into the Cup Series points lead.
“A great race for us, a bit of adversity along the way, and it’s a testament to this team,” Buescher said of his race. “We were by no means perfect. We have a lot of room to make this thing better.”
Before the race, much of the focus was on a new short-track aero rules package, which debuted at Phoenix. Some racers thought there was no noticeable difference between last year’s package and the new one, while others detected one, albeit small. Either way, there did seem to be a little bit more passing than in previous races at Phoenix, something the new package was looking to address.
Toyota Racing Development CEO David Wilson didn’t think the new package had much of an impact on the outcome. Instead, he gave credit to the newly designed Camry, saying he was glad all the data gathered during testing translated to the track.
“You don’t race wind tunnels,” Wilson said. “You could be the best on paper, but unless you have the talent behind the steering wheel and the team and the pit crews to put an entire race together, the rest is meaningless.”
Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, believed that taking part in testing of the new package in December at Phoenix Raceway played a role in his team’s victory.
“That little bit of notes, and that little bit of leg up on everyone that didn’t get to participate, is a big deal,” Stevens said.
Bell and the No. 20 car have made the Cup Series Championship 4 race each of the last two seasons, but he and his team haven’t capitalized on those opportunities to win a title. With Phoenix set to host the championship race on Nov. 10, team owner Joe Gibbs is confident one of his Toyota cars can win the championship when the circuit returns to Phoenix.
“At the race shop, all of our guys, everybody knows how important Phoenix is,” Gibbs said. “I couldn’t be happier with the way today went, and I think all of our cars, like (Bell’s crew chief) Adam (Stevens) said, at some point, showed strength when we were out there, so that’s a good feeling.”
All the Toyota teams have an excellent notebook to work off of, especially Bell. While he’s already a star of the sport, Bell believes he and his team have the potential to ride the momentum of their victory in Phoenix to much bigger things.
“Everyone inside of our team has seen glimpses of the potential, but (we) haven’t really been able to live it to fruition yet,” Bell said. “I feel like this is just the beginning. Making the Final Four and winning one or two races a year is not our end goal.
“We want to be a championship contender year after year and (have) multiple race wins year after year.”