RACE: Camping World 300
TRACK: Chicagoland Speedway
START: 5th
FINISH: 3rd but disqualified resulting in 38th
LAPS: 200

Post race inspection resulted in disqualification despite strong running and crossing finish line third.

Bell’s Third-Place Finish at Chicago Disqualified Following Post-Race Inspection

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-45)

• Christopher Bell earned the fifth starting position Saturday morning during single-car qualifying at Chicagoland Speedway.
• Bell reported back that his No. 20 Rheem Supra had “pretty good balance” and by lap 15 he cracked the top three.
• Bell remained in third to close out the opening Stage.
  At the Stage break Bell came down pit road for four tires and fuel to prepare for Stage 2 at Chicago.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 51-90)

• Bell started third, finished second.
• The balance on the No. 20 continued to be good over Stage 2 as Bell continued to work different lines on the track.
• Bell worked his way up to second to close out the second Stage before coming down pit road for four tires and fuel.

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 129-250)

• Bell started seventh, finished third.
• Bell took the green flag seventh, but quickly maneuvered his way into the top five.
• During scheduled pit stops over the closing Stage the No. 20 just needed tires and minor air pressure adjustments for handling.
• Bell made his final pit stop of the day under caution on lap 175 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Returning to the track to restart fifth with 21 laps remaining.
• Bell drove his way to third before the checkered flag fell on lap 200.
• ***The third-place finish was disqualified by NASCAR after the No. 20 was found to be too low in the front during post-race technical inspection.

What did you need more of to get the win today?

“I don’t really know. Our Supra was really good and really balanced. It was a little tight early and loose late. Drove really good and really the motto of our weekend. I felt really good yesterday in practice. We were just lacking a little bit on the 00 (Cole Custer). They’ve been the class of the field at Homestead the last couple years and they were really good here at Chicago too. We know we have to go back and work on it a little bit. Really proud of all of our guys on this Rheem Supra. They’ve been working hard. We’re close. We have a good group of guys here in the Xfinity Series and we’re all pretty tough.”

Did you learn anything today to make you more confident to run the higher groove at other tracks?

“I survived 200 (laps) of them on the top. That was a big thing, just building confidence up to run up there without hitting the wall.”

Did the track change much during the race?

“It was pretty consistent. Once it rubbers up, it stays the same.”

Were you able to make a lot of adjustments to the car during the race?

“We didn’t really try a bunch just because my car was really good and we were really close on balance. We knew a couple things we could do to fire off speed and I feel like our long run kind of matched the 00 (Cole Custer), he just was a lot faster than us to take off. We’re close, we just need a little bit more.”

Up Next: The Xfinity Series heads back to Daytona International Speedway for the Circle K Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola on Friday, July 5, 2019. Coverage will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, SIRIUS XM Channel 90 and MRN radio.