Bell “disappointed in myself” after spinout from lead fight

Christopher Bell led 67 laps at Dover on Sunday, scoring 19 stage points and winning Stage 2. But that doesn’t mean he had it easy — as Bell ultimately finished 18th after spinning twice during the race.

Starting the final stage while leading the race, Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota spun out. Somehow, the entire field avoided him and he was able to rejoin at the back of the cars still on the lead lap.

While Bell did a great job slicing back through the pack, he gained a lot of track position by staying out longer than most other drivers and catching a well-times caution.

After an hour-long rain delay, he found himself restarting on the front row with teammate and eventual race winner Denny Hamlin. Neither driver gave an inch, but Bell got loose on the bottom and ended up spinning wildly out of Turn 4. Again, no one hit the No. 20 as he spun in front of the field, but his chances of winning at the ‘Monster Mile’ were officially over.

Nobody was lifting

“I definitely wasn’t going to lift and I knew he wasn’t going to lift either,” Bell told NASCAR on TNT. “We were gonna race really hard, and I just spun out. Dover and spinning out — I’ve got a problem with that. It’s a bummer.

“The guys did a really good job. I’m honestly proud of the effort that this team has put into trying to improve. The intermediate stuff has been a little hard for us, and the guys on this #20 team did a really good job bringing really good pace this weekend. I felt like we were as strong as any of them. We restarted on the front row with under 10 to go and had a shot at it. It didn’t work out, but we got a playoff point. Hopefully, we can keep bringing that speed and I can be in contention more often.”

In the end, Bell was happy to see another JGR driver win, but he was obviously furstrated with himself over what could have been.

“I’m glad that JGR still won the race,” said Bell. “Denny did a great job, obviously. He always does, closing these things out. Chase [Briscoe] got a good finish, and yeah, great day for company. Disappointed in myself for making so many mistake, but our speed was really good.”

Along with a 1-2 finish by Hamlin and Briscoe, Ty Gibbs also managed to advance into the finals for the $1 million bracket challenge, where he will face Ty Dillon.