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LOUDON, N.H. – Christopher Bell had what he described as a “good … no, great” truck after his second-place finish in Saturday’s UNOH 175 Camping World Truck Chase opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
If Bell’s No. 4 Toyota Tundra was “good … no, great,” his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate William Byron’s race-winning No. 9 entry was great … no, incredible.
“All day long, we couldn’t run with him and we had 175 (laps) to get it done and we didn’t,” Byron told NASCAR.com on pit road after the race. “I think he was fading there at the end and lapped traffic was not doing him any favors, so open race track (I probably couldn’t have caught him), but the way it was, I maybe had a shot at it.”
The dominant showing in which KBM trucks led every single lap — 161 for Byron, 11 for Bell and three for Cody Coughlin‘s No. 51, which ran out of gas late – may very well clue us into half the battle contestants we’ll be looking at in less than two months at Homestead-Miami Speedway when four drivers compete for the inaugural Camping World Truck Series Chase crown. Based on what we saw Saturday, you’d be hard-pressed to find a reason to not include the streaking Byron and Bell tag-team among the quartet.
Byron no longer has to sweat the Chase wild card that looms at Talladega next month in the Round of 8 as he’s clinched his berth to the next series of races, while Bell’s next-best result puts him in good position to move on should a rare – for him – hiccup occur. In the following Round of 6, it could be the No. 4 driver’s time to land in Victory Lane for the second time this season.
Bell picked up his second career Camping World Truck Series victory earlier this season at Gateway Motorsports Park and showed his strength at the “Magic Mile,” two tracks similar in length and build to the penultimate race at Phoenix International Raceway.
“(The similarities between here and Gateway) kind of, maybe (helped),” Bell said. “Gateway was not a race track that I had circled on my schedule that I thought I would have a possible win at, so to come here and be as good as we were, I think it’s just a testimony to my crew chief, Jerry (Baxter). He does an awesome job, especially at these flat tracks where he has it all figured out.”
And don’t expect the nerves to get in the way, as the 21-year-old was unfazed by any pressure that came along with Saturday marking the landmark first-ever Chase for the series, approaching it like any other race.
“I think it was probably pretty similar (to what I was expecting). You just gotta treat these things the same,” Bell said. “All these races are important; you never come out here to finish second.
“Just gotta keep digging and pay attention and not make mistakes.”