DOVER, Del. — In Christopher Bell‘s mind, it had been a distant memory since the last time the No. 20 team had speed capable of contending for a race victory. He had that in bunches during Sunday‘s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.
“It‘s refreshing to have speed again,” Bell said after the race. “We haven‘t had pace and today we were able to lead laps, get stage points and won a stage.”
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Bell led 67 laps, the most laps he‘s led since dominating the spring event at Phoenix Raceway (105). He won Stage 2 at Dover by a country mile, putting multiple seconds on Alex Bowman. But a pair of restarts turned out to be costly for the three-time winner in 2025 during the final stage.
Restarting as the leader, Bell bottomed out entering Turn 3 — Bell had an incident in the same corner during qualifying last year at Dover — and spun in front of the entire field. The No. 20 car avoided contact, needing a fresh set of Goodyear rubber before resetting at the tail of the lead-lap cars. On the next restart, Bell charged to the lower teens but couldn‘t motor through the field at an aerodynamic deficit.
Through a cycle of pit stops during the middle of the final stage, Adam Stevens, crew chief of the No. 20 Toyota, went off strategy, leaving Bell out on the track longer than the bulk of the field. A small rain cell hit the “Monster Mile” at Lap 336, with Bell scored as the leader. Austin Dillon was the only other lead-lap driver who had yet to pit.
Fellow Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was the only lead-lap car that didn‘t pit during the caution. A bigger rain cell hit the track during a caution brought out by Ross Chastain with 17 laps remaining. The race was red-flagged with 14 laps remaining, with Bell scored in second position.
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After a 56-minute red flag, the race resumed with the JGR duo on the front row. Bell knew he needed to get the lead, or in his mind, he wasn‘t going to be able to win. On Lap 392, the No. 20 car spun again, this time off Turn 4 while battling side-by-side with Hamlin for the lead. Noah Gragson and William Byron were innocent bystanders a few rows back.
“Denny was on my outside and we‘re both pushing hard,” Bell stated. “You know, whoever gets clean air and wins that restart is going to win the race. I wasn‘t going to let him go, that‘s for sure.”
With another restart wreck, Bell jumped to 18th in the finishing order. He tallied 38 points for the afternoon, 19 of which were scored through the opening two stages. It‘s his fourth finish outside the top 15 in the last five events. Bell scored only one stage point in the previous month of competition, dating back to Pocono Raceway.
“Made two mistakes,” Stevens said. “We were able to recover from one of them just with good fortune, more than anything, with the weather. Not the second one. That‘s the way it is. We all make mistakes — I‘ve had plenty of race-enders myself, so has the pit crew. It‘s part of it.”
While the finishing position will tell a different story, Bell is pleased with the overall performance. It‘s something he believes the No. 20 team can carry into upcoming events.
“If we keep bringing speed like that to the race track, then we‘re going to be just fine,” Bell added. “It‘s been a long time coming; I haven‘t scored stage points in a long time, let alone win a stage.”