Christopher Bell lists out JGR-Toyota Camry’s failures’ that made 2023 ‘disappointing’ for him, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin
Christopher Bell made it to the Championship-4 for the second time in 2023.
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Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. (Via IMAGO)
Joe Gibbs Racing was the most promising team in the Cup championship battle this season, till their cars started encountering issues in the final races of the season. The JGR team, led by Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., and Christopher Bell had a solid 2023 season that saw them being competitive throughout the year before falling off the championship battle one by one.
Martin Truex Jr., who won the regular season title, was the first to experience struggles as his team had a disastrous playoff campaign, that saw them crawling their way to the R-8. Engine woes played a major role in this poor run. For Denny Hamlin, it was the steering wheel issue in the R-8 that ruined his season.
Christopher Bell was the unluckiest driver, as his No:20 Toyota Camry’s brake failed in stage two of the 2023 season finale. By listing these car failures, Bell argued that the 2023 season has been disappointing for the whole JGR team. But Bell is already over the disappointments and is getting ready for a challenging 2024 season.
I mean, it was certainly disappointing, but it is what it is. Denny Hamlin had a steering failure at Homestead that probably took him out of it, Martin Truex (Jr.) had an engine failure at Homestead that probably took him out of it, and that’s just in my group. I’m sure that everyone has those problems that have hindered them, and unfortunately, mine came in the championship race.Bell told NASCAR.com.
Christopher Bell is the only Toyota driver to make it to Championship-4 in the Next-Gen era
The 2023 season finale witnessed Ryan Blaney winning the title holding back the challenge from Hendrick Motorsports Kyle Larson and Willaim Byron. Blaney repeated what his teammate Joey Logano did in 2022, the debut season of the Next-Gen car.
Bell is the only driver to be part of Champioship-4 and witness the triumph of both Logano and Blaney. He is also the only Toyota driver to make it to the finale, despite being among the youngest in the TRD grid. His veteran teammates Truex Jr. and Hamlin are yet to make it past the R-8.
Going into the 2024 season, Bell will be hoping to get to the Championship-4 as he has done in the last two seasons and get over the bad luck that has been stopping him from winning the ultimate prize, the Cup series title.
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Justin P Joy
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