Gearing Up for Bell’s First Cup Series Start in Vegas

RACE INFO: The Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 23, 2020. The race will be broadcast live on FOX, Sirius XM 90, and PRN Radio.

Christopher Bell – No. 95 Rheem-RTP Toyota Camry Preview Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

“Vegas was one of my favorite Xfinity tracks. I’m excited to see how it races with the Cup rules packages. I got my first taste of Cup racing in Daytona and it will be interesting to see how we fair this weekend in Vegas. This will be our first test of the year and I’m ready to get to Vegas.”

Vegas Bound: Christopher Bell will make his first NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) this weekend in the Pennzoil 400. Bell might be new to the Cup Series, but he has had four successful NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) starts at the 1.5-mile oval with three top-five finishes and one pole starting position. Bell also has three NASCAR Truck Series starts at Vegas, earning one top-five and two top-10 finishes.

Featured on the Car: Through their relationship with Rheem, RTP Company will be featured on the quarter panels of the No. 95 Camry this weekend at LVMS. The RTP Company is a global compounder of custom engineered thermoplastics. For more information visit: http://www.rtpcompany.com/

Rheem Guests at LVMS: Rheem will host guests from RTP Company and Mega Western Sales at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Rheem hosted over 2,000 guests at NASCAR races in 2019 and over 30,000 plumbing, contracting and building customers since becoming a NASCAR sponsor.

Daytona 500 Recap: Christopher Bell qualified 19th for the 62nd-running of the Daytona 500 but officially started the race from the back following an unapproved change pre-race. Bell and his Toyota teammates made a plan going into the race to ride around in the back of the pack, outside of trouble, for the opening stage. Rains came just 20 laps into the race and postponed the race until Monday. Once racing resumed the Toyota brigade made their way to the front following pit stops and were a dominating force. Bell found himself sitting second as the laps dwindled down, but with no drafting help. On the first over time restart Bell got shuffled back and while working his way forward sustained front-end damage from an accident that unfolded in front of him. Bell brought his No. 95 Camry to the garage four laps shy of the scheduled distance and was credited with a 21st-place finish.

Points Update: Following the first race of the season at Daytona, Bell and his No. 95 Rheem team currently sit 23rd in the points standings.