Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE News and Notes

• BELL AT DARLINGTON: Christopher Bell had one of his strongest NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) runs at Darlington a year ago when he qualified on the pole and led 40 laps. Overall, Bell has one top five and two top-10 finishes in his previous 10 starts at Darlington Raceway.
• DOUBLE DUTY: Bell will be driving the No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing in Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200. This is the second NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) start for Bell this season. Bell ran double duty at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and swept the weekend.
• BELL NXS AT DARLINGTON: Bell has three NXS starts at Darlington Raceway. Bell narrowly missed qualifying on the pole in 2018 and 2019 and most recently competed in 2022 where he started in the back and crossed the finish line seventh.

• DAYTONA RECAP: Bell started 27^th and skillfully drafted his way forward to end a caution-free stage one 15^th. Bell suffered some minor damage in incidents during the rest of the race but overall was able to keep the No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE intact, surviving two green-white-checkered attempts to earn a third-place finish at Daytona.
• RHEEM GUESTS AT DARLINGTON: Rheem is hosting over 60 guests this weekend in Darlington. All guests on site are distributors and contractors from the Southeast Water Heating Division (WHD).

• JGR AT DARLINGTON: JGR has claimed 10 NCS victories at Darlington. In 128 combined starts at the 1.366-mile oval, the organization has tallied 38 top-five finishes, 71 top-10s and 2,994 laps led. The championship-winning organization has four pole awards with an average start of 13.3 and average finish of 12.4.
• TUNE IN: Coverage of this weekend’s race at Darlington Raceway begins Sunday, September 1, at 6:00 p.m. ET on USA, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

From the Cockpit:

Christopher Bell: “Darlington is all about execution, putting the race together and not making mistakes. Darlington is probably the most unique track on the schedule from the way that you drive the track, how narrow it is, the risk vs reward is completely different than most of the other tracks, you are basically forced to put your car right up against the fence to have any sort of pace at all. You have to be on point all 500 miles and up against the fence, so you have to be comfortable putting your car in that position and driving hard when it’s time to drive hard and you can’t make mistakes.”

Bell NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Darlington Raceway

Bell 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats

Bell NASCAR Cup Series Career Stats

About Rheem

Founded in 1925, Rheem Manufacturing is a global leader committed to delivering innovative products that save energy and support a more sustainable future. Rheem is the only manufacturer in the world that produces heating, cooling, water heating, pool & spa heating and commercial refrigeration products, and is America’s #1 water-heating brand with products available in more than 80 countries. Paloma Co., Ltd. of Nagoya, Japan, acquired the iconic Rheem brand in 1988, and today the company’s portfolio of premium brands include Rheem®, Ruud®, Friedrich®, Raypak®, Sure Comfort®, WeatherKing®, Eemax®, Richmond®, IBC™, Intergas®, Splendid®, Solahart®, EverHot®, and MHG™, as well as commercial refrigeration brands Russell®, Witt®, ColdZone® and Kramer®, which are part of the Heat Transfer Products Group (HTPG®) division.

About Joe Gibbs Racing

Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is one of the premier organizations in NASCAR with four NASCAR Cup Series teams, four NASCAR Xfinity Series teams, an ARCA Series team, and a driver development program. JGR is based in Huntersville, N.C., and owned by 2020 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Joe Gibbs, who also earned his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was named as one of the NFL’s top 10 coaches of all-time with a winning career that included three Super Bowl Championships as head coach of the Washington franchise. JGR has competed in NASCAR since 1992, capturing more than 400 wins over that span. No team has more combined wins across the sport’s three national series in the history of NASCAR. In addition, JGR has won five Cup Series championships along with four Xfinity Series driver championships and six Xfinity Series owner’s championships. The organization also has captured four Daytona 500 titles, considered to be NASCAR’s premier event each season.

-JGR-