Joe Gibbs racing driver Christopher Bell said he is “just trying to finish” the NASCAR Cup Series race in Kansas after struggling with the tires.
When ultimately winner Kyle Larson turned down his pace in front of the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Bell began closing him quickly with the #20 Toyota Camry.
This brought Ryan Branny into the #12 Pensuke Ford, and the trio was eventually separated in under a second following a 267-lap race at Kansas Speedway.
But despite his close to victory, Bell doesn’t think his own race race pace shot passing Larson to win the lead in the AdventHealth 400, citing his struggle with the Camry.
The Oklahoma native said he owes the sixth podium of the season for his impressive performance in qualifying.
“(Larson) was surprised he gave up and pulled down the last couple’s few laps, but I was struggling just as hard as he was, so I was about to get to the end. I know Ryan was really strong.
“Overall, going home second at many stage points is something we need in the past few weeks and this Reser Camry wasn’t what we needed.
“Our day was qualifying, good pit stops, good reboots and nothing took us out of it. Whenever the long green flag ran, it looked like we were backing and there were a few guys we could drive.
“I’m really happy to get out of here second, and hopefully we can get a little stronger when we come back.”
Bell won four of his 12 pole positions for Kansas but did not score a register victory with a 1.5-mile Tri-Oval.
However, Sunday’s podium finish lifted him from sixth to third in the championship standings, behind Hendrick Motorsports’ duo Larson and William Byron.