Christopher Bell dispelled the idea that he should have punted Kyle Larson out of the way to win last weekend’s Cup playoff race in Las Vegas.
Bell closed in on Larson on the final lap, but lost by a margin of 80,002ths of a second.
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Bell lamented that he did not win the race and was unable to earn the “golden ticket” that allowed him to compete in the championship race for the second consecutive year. Instead, he was two points below the cut line and faced questions about why he didn’t put more effort into Larson to win the race.
“Every time I got out of the car, I had no idea what other moves to make to win the race,” Bell said this week. “I’m not going to overtly destroy someone, and I don’t think I really had an opportunity to overtly destroy him. It’s not like I was happy coming to the checkered flag. I didn’t back off the gas and he My run wasn’t much because I didn’t piledrive the
“Certainly, I think if (Todd Gilliland’s) No. 38 car hadn’t been in last place, it probably could have gone inside and been put next to (Larson). But even if it was, I don’t know if I will,” I brushed him off. ”
Bell said the situation reminded him of one of only about five movies he’s ever seen. Bell is focusing on the movie “Sully,” in which Tom Hanks played Captain Sully Sullenberger, the pilot who landed a commercial plane in New York’s Hudson River, saving all 155 people on board.
“Honestly, it reminds me a little bit of the movie ‘Sully,’ where everyone criticizes her and says she should have done this, she should have done that,” Bell said. “He was like, ‘Look, this is reality, this is my decision at this point.'” Where I was at this moment, I made the choices I made and did what I had to do. Ta. If I had had 18 chances, I probably could have won the race, but I didn’t win the race because I had one chance and made a split-second decision. ”
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Immediately after exiting his car on the frontstretch, Larson praised Bell’s actions on the final lap.
“Thankfully Christopher always runs a very clean race,” Larson said. “He could have been crazier than he was coming to the start/finish line. So I thank him for racing with respect.”
As a result, Bell became the only driver this season to remain in the playoffs without multiple wins. His only win came at the Bristol Dirt Race in April.
Last weekend’s second-place finish gave Bell a two-point lead over Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin for Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. They have the final transfer slot in the Round of 8 playoff race (coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on NBC).
However, Bell is not counting points with two races left.
“From my standpoint, I think all three of these races (in the Round of 8) are basically must-win races,” he said.
But Bell hasn’t had the best record at Homestead. His best result in a cup race was 8th place out of 3 races. He also only had one top-10 finish out of the three times he started Xfinity at the 1.5-mile track in South Florida.
“To be honest, I wish it was a different course,” Bell said of this weekend’s race. “I wish I had gone to some of the other racetracks. But that being said, Homestead is certainly a place where you can control your own destiny. If you get there and get there early, you can have a great day.” Yes, if I went there and took it easy, I would have a really bad day.
“My track record there is full of ups and downs. So this is not the track I have the most confidence in.”
Bell advanced into the title race last year after winning the final two playoff cutoff races, so he knows anything is possible.
“We need to replicate what we did in Las Vegas in Homestead, and if we want to build Phoenix, we need to replicate it in Martinsville,” Bell said. “Frankly, if I’m a championship driver and we’re a championship team, that’s what we need to do anyway.
“I felt like that was the moment (in Las Vegas) to get to the top four. It was the moment to get to the top four, but I don’t think it was the only moment to get to the top four.”