No. 20 Rheem-Smurfit Kappa Toyota News and Notes
Heading West: Coming off an impressive performance last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell and his Rheem team head West this weekend as the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) makes the first of two stops this season at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) on Saturday afternoon. Bell will be making his first-career NXS start this weekend at LVMS, but is no stranger to success at the desert track, having three starts with one top-five, and two top-10 finishes to his credit in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Atlanta Recap: The NXS took to the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend for race two of the 2018 season. Looking to bounce back from the season opener in Daytona, Bell and his No. 20 Ruud team went out on Saturday morning and ran a blistering-fast lap of 30.600 seconds around the 1.5-mile speedway, good enough for Bell’s second-career pole award in 10 NXS starts. After leading the field to the green Saturday afternoon for the 163-lap event, Bell went on to lead 12 laps, and crossed the finish line in the third position, earning his first top-five finish of the 2018 season. With his finish, Bell was the highest finishing NXS regular in the field.
Joe Gibbs Racing at Las Vegas: JGR has 44 NXS starts at LVMS and has earned one win, 12 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes. The championship-winning organization has won three poles with an average start of 10.6 an average finish of 14.7.
RACE INFO: The Boyd Gaming 300 at LVMS begins at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 3, 2018. The race will be broadcast live on Fox Sports One, Sirius XM 90, and PRN Radio.
Bell’s Career NASCAR Xfinity Series Stats at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
- Starts --
- Wins --
- Top 5 --
- Top 10 --
- Poles --
- Laps Led --
- Avg. Start --
- Avg. Finish --
Bell’s 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Season Stats
- Starts - 2
- Wins - 0
- Top 5 - 1
- Top 10 - 1
- Poles - 1
- Laps Led - 12
- Avg. Start - 7
- Avg. Finish - 12
Bell’s Career NASCAR Xfinity Series Stats
- Starts - 10
- Wins - 1
- Top 5 - 4
- Top 10 - 6
- Poles - 2
- Laps Led - 168
- Avg. Start - 6.3
- Avg. Finish - 13.4
From the Cockpit
“I’m really excited to get back on the track and behind the wheel of my Rheem Camry this weekend in Las Vegas. We had a really strong run last week in Atlanta, so hopefully we can go out and duplicate that effort on Saturday. Las Vegas is a different mile-and-a-half track from Atlanta, so we will have to be on top of game once again to have a solid run. While we only have two starts under our belt, this Rheem team is really coming together and I’m looking forward to getting our West Coast swing off to a good start Saturday afternoon.”
Founded in 1925, Rheem is the only manufacturer in the world that produces heating, cooling, water heating, pool/spa heating and commercial refrigeration products. Rheem is headquartered in Atlanta, and it has an international presence in 14 countries. The company’s premium brands include Rheem, Raypak, Ruud, Eemax, Richmond, Aquamax, Solahart and Splendid, as well as commercial refrigeration brands Russell, Witt, ColdZone and Kramer, which are part of the company’s Heat Transfer Products Group (HTPG) division. To learn more, visit www.Rheem.com.
