NASCAR CUP SERIES: COCA-COLA 600

May 26, 2024

Christopher Bell

Victory Lane Interview

Q. Got yourself to the front, you get to the end of the race, have the battles before the rain comes. Did you know those were the moments that that was going to be the most important battle at the end?

CHRISTOPHER BELL: I knew there was going to be a chance of it. Can the boys in the booth hear me right now? I'm literally on the couch like half asleep, and we're going through this "Radioactive" stuff, and I am already like mentally prepared to go racing. Then all of a sudden we come on, we see Mike, Harvick and Clint in the booth, and I'm like, wait a minute, what's going on, they start talking, and I'm like, what? Then the phone goes off and say they called it. What a twist of emotions. I have never been through that emotion swing before like that in my life.

Q. You've won a lot of races, but how special is this one?

CHRISTOPHER BELL: Yeah, this is everything. We had TK on the windshield, Thomas Kennedy, and unfortunately the Kennedy family just left. That's disappointing that they couldn't stay for Victory Lane. But I'm very, very proud and honored to carry their name on the windshield. Memorial Day weekend, it's not about racing, it's about honoring and remembering, and I'm just thankful that those who have served allowed us to do what we love to do on this Sunday evening. Can't thank all the guys at Rheem enough, all of our partners at Rheem, DeWalt, Toyota, Yahoo. They deserve this. It's been a heck of a trying eight weeks or so, and to get our second win of the year means a lot.

Q. How far behind you is that trying eight weeks after a night like tonight?

CHRISTOPHER BELL: It feels so good. To win or lose, just to have a great race to go off of, and a race that we led laps, we were able to pass cars. We lost the lead at times, were able to drive back to the lead and had great pit stops -- my pit crew just showed up. This is a team effort, and it was amazing to have a good race, and hopefully this is something we can build on and get back to being more consistent.