Christopher Bell has made it clear that he will take a different approach to Sonoma Raceway than he did last weekend at Naval Base Coronado.
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He has no plans to exit the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry during the road course race in Northern California as he continues to recover from a fractured wrist.
"I'm not getting out of this one," Bell told media members at Sonoma Raceway in a video captured by Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass.
As Bell explained, he felt "really, really good" in the No. 20 Toyota while driving around Naval Base Coronado during practice and the initial laps of the Cup Series race.
He still exited the car during the first caution and gave way to relief driver Brent Crews. He said that the team wanted to emphasize risk management.
Naval Base Coronado, unlike Sonoma Raceway, was a purpose-built course with walls on both sides of the racing surface. Contact with these walls, as many drivers showed, did not deliver a pleasant feeling.
Sonoma is a natural road course. It has long, sweeping turns lined by dirt. Missing a turn could lead to a trip through the dirt and possible contact with a tire barrier.
This California road course is also a track where Bell has made five starts in the Cup Series and has posted three consecutive top-10 finishes. He knows the turns much better than he did at Naval Base Coronado, a track that NASCAR visited for the first time.
Bell will still have Crews available as a reserve driver during Sunday's race. The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series rookie will already be at the track while continuing his full season in the secondary series.
Bell just doesn't expect to see Crews get any time behind the wheel of the No. 20 Toyota Camry on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.
"I don't know. I'm going to try and race it," Bell said.
