RACE: Kansas Lottery 300
TRACK: Daytona International Speedway
START: 11th
FINISH: 6th
LAPS: 120
A strong sixth-place finish for Bell at the season opener for the Xfinity series after starting 11th and leading four laps.
Bell Finishes Sixth at Season Opener
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-30)
- Bell started 11th, finished eighth.
Over the course of the first stage
- Bell started to lose a little grip in his No. 20 Rheem Supra, but reported back that the overall handling was not an issue.
- Bell pitted for two tires and fuel at the stage break and won the race off pit road.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 38-60)
- Bell started first, finished sixth.
- After a fast pit stop at the stage break, Bell led the field to the green to start stage two.
- Bell held the lead for a short time before the bottom line was able to make a move.
- After the green-checkered waved for stage two, Bell pitted for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 68-120)
- Bell started ninth, finished sixth.
- With 20 laps remaining Bell was scored 14th, but found some drafting partners and was able to steadily advance through the field to earn a top-10 finish to start off the 2019 season.
Additional Notes
- Bell led for a total of four laps
- The sixth-place finish is Bell’s best finish in the season-opening race at Daytona
How was your first race in the Supra?
“It was really good. I feel like our Supra, or at least the speedway Supra, was a lot better than our speedway Camry, so that’s a good start. I’m really excited to see how the Supra is on our downforce package going to Atlanta and all the 1.5-mile and short tracks.”
Could you get anything to develop there on that last lap?
“Not really. I tried to just go low, but nobody else went, so I didn’t have a car to tow off of. That was that.”
Next Up: The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Rinnai 250. The race is scheduled for Saturday, February 23, with television coverage at 2 pm on FS1.
