Salvaged second a testament to No. 20 team's strength - Bell

Christopher Bell finished second on Sunday at Kansas Speedway despite feeling like his Joe Gibbs Racing Camry wasn’t very good.

Bell came up short to Kyle Larson, who dominated the afternoon. The race restarted for the final time with 49 laps to go, and Bell fell to over two seconds behind Larson at one point during the run. The margin of victory was significantly closer as both drivers worked to manage their tires to get to the checkered flag.

“I think that is a testament to how good this team is,” Bell said after the AdventHealth 400. “I was surprised that he kind of gave up on the top (lane) those last couple laps and pulled down.

“But I was struggling just as bad as he was, so I was just trying to get to the end. I know Ryan [Blaney] was coming on really strong there. Overall, to get home second with a lot of stage points was something that we needed after the last couple of weeks, and this Reser's Camry was just not quite what we needed.

“I don't know - I feel like our day was kind of a product of qualifying well, having good pit stops, having good restarts, and nothing really took us out of it. Whenever the long green flag runs came, it seemed like we were going backwards, and there were a couple of guys that could drive by us. Yeah, to walk out of here second, I'm really happy with, and hopefully we can be a little bit stronger when we come back.”

The No. 20 team qualified second, which was their first top-five starting position since winning the pole at Martinsville Speedway last month. On that day, Bell also finished second. Sunday, however, was his first top-five finish in the previous four races. He also had an average running position of third during Sunday's race.

“I’m sure I’ll be a lot happier about it tomorrow and later in the week,” he said. “But I just didn’t feel like we were very good, and we were still right there.”

Bell and Larson are now tied with a series-leading three victories.