Bell will be driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 20 car this season in his first full season behind the wheel of a Xfinity car. He made his first start in the Xfinity Series last year in May at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Hisense 4K TV 300. He finished that race 4th overall, in his first of 8 Xfinity races in 2017.
In his eight races in Xfinity last season, Bell finished with five top 10 finishes, three top fives, and one win, coming at Kansas Motor Speedway in October. Despite the success in his short stint, Bell believes there is much room for improvement.
“For myself, making the transition from dirt cars to pavement cars, learning how to run the longer distance races, that’s been my roadblock. I seem to have crashed quite a bit in my short NASCAR career. So I still have to overcome that and get that crashing problem fixed, but that’s been my roadblock.”
Crashing cars is something that has held back drivers coming up in the NASCAR ladder in years past. However, with the pure talent and skill that Bell shows on the track and focus on self-improvement that he shows, it Is almost sure bet that he will continue the climb.
In 2015 Bell participated in four races in the CARS Super Late Model Tour and won three of them. Then in 2016, he raced in five Arca races, finished two in first and all five in the top 5. In the same year, he ran his first full season with the Camping World truck series under Kyle Busch Motor Sports and had one win along with 17 top 10 finish’s on his way to a 3rd place finish in the series.
Then came the 2017 season, where he captured the Truck Series Championship. He won 5 races and finished in the top 10 seventeen times. A second place finish in the final race of the season at Homestead Motorspeedway sealed the championship for him at just 22 years old.
Throughout his journey, Bell has been surrounded by premier mentors and talent in the business.
“It’s really good for me to be able to continue to move up the ladder, that’s what every driver wants to do. The best thing about my situation is, I’ve been from Kyle Busch Motor Sports, which is the premier truck series team, to now Joe Gibbs Racing which is one of the premier Xfinity teams. Not only Xfinity teams but cup teams as well. So for me hopping into this great equipment is huge for me.”
“I’m really thankful for that opportunity that I get to continue my learning process in equipment that hopefully can showcase my talent if I do a good job behind the wheel. I’ve got a great opportunity. Hopefully, I can make the most of it.”
Bell will get the season started this Saturday at Daytona International Speedway in the PowerShares QQQ 300 to kickoff 2018.
