Christopher Bell – No. 4 Toyota Tundra NCWTS Dover Advance

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (May 10, 2016) – Coming off a season-best fourth-place finish at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Christopher Bell and his No. 4 Toyota Racing team head to Dover (Del.) International Speedway for Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 200. Friday’s event will mark the 12^th career start for Bell in NASCAR’s third division and his first at the challenging one-mile concrete oval aptly named the “Monster Mile.”

While it will be Bell’s first visit to Dover, Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) has a history of success at the Delaware track. KBM’s Truck Series drivers have produced three wins, two poles, five top-five and seven top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 9.7 across 12 starts at Dover and the team’s 680 laps led at the one-mile oval are more than at any other track on the circuit. Owner-driver Kyle Busch has collected all three victories for his team (2011, 2013 & 2014) and one of the poles (2010). The other Dover pole was earned in the 2013 event by Darrell Wallace Jr. during his rookie season in the Truck Series with Bell’s crew chief, Jerry Baxter, calling the shots. Wallace Jr. led the first 119 laps of the 200-lap event, but battled a loose-handling Tundra in the late stages and ended the day with a 10^th-place finish in the event which was won by Busch. In last year’s race, Baxter guided Daniel Suarez to a runner-up finish after starting fifth.

Last weekend’s fourth-place finish at Kansas Speedway was the first time during the 2016 season that Bell has produced a finish indicative of his performance. His average finish (16.3) across the first four events is much higher than both his average mid race position (10.3) and his average running position (9.5) this season. He was scored in the fourth position when the field took the final restart for the season-opening event at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and ended on his roof with a 16^th-place finish. At Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, he was leading with eight-laps remaining when he blew a right-front tire and was relegated to a 26^th-place finish. And although he posted his best finish of the season, he was lined up in the second position for NASCAR overtime at Kansas and ending up losing two spots over the final two laps when he got shuffled back on the final restart.

The open-wheel dirt standout was able to experience the thrill of a Truck Series victory in just his third career start last year at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio and is now in search of his first non-dirt victory in NASCAR’s third division. Bell has been ringing at the door of victory lane in three of the four races in 2016 and the determined youngster won’t be satisfied until he makes his way in.

Christopher Bell, driver of the No. 4 NCWTS Toyota Tundra:

Was the fourth-place finish at Kansas a step in the right direction for this No. 4 team?

“After disappointing results the first three races, we needed a good finish, so if you told me going into Kansas that we were going to finish fourth I would’ve been happy with that. We ran inside the top five all race long and put ourselves in a position for a win at the end of the day, so overall it was a big confidence builder for me and the team. In the end, it was a little disappointing that we were running second late in the race and ended up fourth, but we’re ready to build on that solid finish heading to Dover this week.”

Dover is another new track for you, what do you know about it heading into the race?

“It’s going to be pretty tough to pass, so track position is going to be big. Even though it is a one-mile track, the trucks are going to be pretty aero dependent. It’s pretty narrow and it is easy to get swept up into trouble. Just as we did last week, we need to stay out of trouble, finish the race and come out of Dover with another solid finish.”

You’ve been in contention for a win three times this year. What is it going to take to get over the hump and into victory lane?

“I don’t really feel like there is a hump to get over. Daytona we put ourselves in a position to win and at Atlanta we had the fastest truck and we were going to win, there was no doubt about it. We knew going into Martinsville, that track was going to be a weak link for me. At Kansas we didn’t have the winning truck, but when you’re sitting on the front row for the final restart anything can happen. So, we should’ve won once and if the stars aligned right we could’ve won three times. If we keep running inside the top five and putting ourselves in a position to win at the end of these races, eventually we are going to get one.”

Jerry Baxter, crew chief of the No. 4 NCWTS Toyota Tundra:

Is there anything you were able to take away from your test at Bristol that you can use at Dover since both are concrete tracks?

“Concrete is poured in blocks, so it is choppier than most of the asphalt tracks. We worked a lot on our shock package for a bumpy track during our two-day test at Bristol and we’ll take what we learned and incorporate it into our setup for Dover, since the two are both concrete and have some similar characteristics. Also, we are bringing chassis 19, which is the same truck that we used for the Bristol test last month.”

Christopher Bell’s No. 4 Toyota Tundra:

KBM-19: The No. 4 Toyota Racing team will unload chassis KBM-19 for Friday’s NCWTS 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. The Tundra has six top-five finishes in 10 career starts, including a win with Darrell Wallace Jr. at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway in the 2014 Truck Series finale. The chassis has not seen race action yet this season, but was the truck that the No. 4 team used for a two-day test at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in April.

Date	Site	Driver	Start	Finish	Laps	Laps Led	Status
11/20/2015	Homestead	Suarez	6	30	84/134	10	accident
11/6/2015	Texas	Suarez	7	2	147/147	0	running
8/19/2015	Bristol	Suarez	16	30	154/202	0	overheating
7/9/2015	Kentucky	Suarez	4	4	145/145	18	running
6/5/2015	Texas	Suarez	3	2	167/167	6	running
5/8/2015	Kansas	Suarez	10	6	167/167	1	running
2/28/2015	Atlanta	Suarez	4	4	130/130	1	running
11/14/2014	Homestead	Wallace Jr.	8	1	134/134	30	running
10/31/2014	Texas	Wallace Jr.	8	26	106/	51	engine
9/27/2014	Las Vegas	Wallace Jr.	2	2	146/146	84	running
Totals	10 starts, 1 Win		6.8	10.7		201

Notes of Interest:

Christopher Bell 2016:

Ranks first among NCWTS drivers this season in quality passes (212), is fourth in fastest laps run (35), miles led (72.18) and average running position (9.478) and fifth in driver rating (90.6)
Posted a season-best fourth-place finish at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City (5/6/16)
Led a race-high 91 laps, including the final 44, of the 200-lap event at Salem (Ind.) Speedway en route to victory in his first-career start in the ARCA Racing Series (4/24/16)
Picked up his eighth career Late Model victory for KBM with a win in the CARS Super Late Model Tour Orange Blossom 300 at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, N.C. (4/16/16)

Christopher Bell NCWTS Career Stats:

Year	Races	Win	T5	T10	Pole	Laps	Led	AvSt	AvFn	RAF	Miles	LLF
2016	4	0	1	1	0	646	47	7.5	16.3	3	824.5	2
2015	7	1	2	3	0	1018	111	9.3	11.9	6	1361.7	4
Totals	11	1	3	4	0	1664	158	8.6	13.5	9	2186.2	6

Christopher Bell 2015:

Claimed his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) victory at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio in just his third series start
Recorded one win, 111 laps led, two top-five and three top-10 finishes across seven NCWTS starts
Collected six victories in 15 starts behind the wheel of KBM’s No. 51 Late Model, including his first marquee win when he led 203 of 250 laps of the prestigious Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway in Kinston
Made two NASCAR K&N Pro Series starts, including a fifth-place finish in the East-West combination race at Iowa Speedway
On dirt, collected six POWRi Midget wins, two USAC National Midget wins, one USAC Silver Crown win and also collected his second career World of Outlaws Sprint Car triumph

Christopher Bell 2014

Collected an amazing 27 feature wins while competing in 108 events between Midgets (18 wins), Winged Sprint Cars (seven wins), Non-Winged Sprint Cars (one win) on dirt and Late Models (one win) on pavement
In just his fourth career Late Model start, outdueled second-generation NASCAR driver John Hunter Nemechek to win the Orange County 150 Pro All Star Series (PASS) South Super Late Model race at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, N.C.

Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 4 Tundra:

The No. 4 Tundra has collected three wins, five poles, 12 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes across 27 starts since originating in 2015
Five members of this year’s No. 4 Tundra team were a part of last year’s No. 51 team that collected two wins, 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes
Erik Jones delivered KBM its first-ever Driver’s Championship behind the wheel of the No. 4 Tundra in 2015 and also gave the organization its third consecutive and fourth career Owner’s Title

KBM NCWTS Program

Has collected a series’ record four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Owner’s Championships, one Driver’s Championship, 47 Truck Series victories and 24 poles across 285 starts since originating in 2010
47 career Truck Series victories as an organization ranks second all-time behind Roush Fenway (50)
14 victories as an organization during the 2014 season broke the Truck Series record of 12 set by Ultra Motorsports in 2001
With his win last Friday at Kansas Speedway, William Byron became the eighth different driver to win a race for KBM. Owner-driver Kyle Busch leads the charge with 29 wins, Erik Jones has collected seven victories, Darrell Wallace Jr., has five wins, Denny Hamlin produced two victories and Christopher Bell, Byron, Kasey Kahne and Brian Scott all have collected one triumph
Has collected victories at 20 of the 21 tracks on the 2016 schedule, excluding Atlanta Motor Speedway

KBM NCWTS @ Dover International Speedway

KBM drivers have collected three wins, two poles, 680 laps led, five top-five and seven top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 9.7 across 12 starts at the Monster Mile
Owner-driver Kyle Busch has collected all three of his team’s wins at the 1-mile track (2011, 2013 & 2014)
KBM drivers have led more laps at Dover (680) than at any other track on the circuit

The Book on Baxter:

Veteran crew chief Jerry Baxter is in his fourth season atop the pit box for KBM. Since joining KBM, Baxter’s drivers have posted seven wins, three poles, 1218 laps led, 25 top-five and 41 top-10 finishes across 71 starts. The California native spent the 2015 season calling the shots for KBM’s No. 51 team, which collected two wins, 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes with drivers Daniel Suarez (12 starts), Matt Tifft (six starts), Kyle Busch (three starts), and Christopher Bell (one start) behind the wheel. In addition to his seven wins at KBM, he boasts one other Truck Series win (Cale Gale, 2012) and one NASCAR XFINITY Series win (David Reutimann, 2007).

Baxter’s Truck Series drivers have posted one pole, two top-five and three top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 8.2 across four starts at the Monster Mile. Under Baxter’s guidance, Daniel Suarez finished second in last year’s Truck Series event at Dover.

Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Tundra 2016 NCWTS Box Score:

Date	Site	Driver	Start	Finish	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Driver Pts./Pos.
19-Feb	Daytona	Bell	8	16	99/100	0	Running	17/14^th
27-Feb	Atlanta	Bell	3	26	122/130	42	Accident	25/21^st
2-Apr	Martinsville	Bell	14	19	255/255	0	Running	39/22^nd
6-May	Kansas	Bell	5	4	170/170	5	Running	69/14^th