Christopher Bell addresses the challenge of teaming up with Tab Boyd after Hyak fired the latter

Veteran spotter Tab Boyd was unemployed for a week before Christopher Bell’s No. 20 JGR team hired him. He was released from Hyak Motorsports last week, ahead of the Cup race at Pocono Raceway. No official reason was quoted, but it was most likely for the comments he made about Mexico City.

As things stand, Christopher Bell will have to get used to working with Boyd, which might take time. That being said, the Oklahoma native is inching closer to Saturday’s race, the Quaker State 400 at Echopark Speedway, formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Things might get challenging for Bell as Echopark Speedway is known for its high-speed, close-quarters racing, especially since its 2021 revamp. Speaking of the same during an interview with Bob Pockrass of FOX, Bell said,

“It's gonna be tough. I've listened to Tab on our replay system, but aside from that... that's all we got. It's gonna be tough for sure getting acclimated at one of the most spotter-intense races on the calendar, but Tab has a bunch of experience. We'll play it by ear, and definitely the first stage or two is gonna be a learning curve.”

Boyd is the third spotter Bell has had this season. He started the year with Stevie Reeves, who quit after the All-Star Race back in May. Matt Philpott, a former mechanic for Joe Gibbs Racing, then assumed the role. But his stint, too, ended shortly, and now, it’s going to Boyd atop the No. 20 JGR pitbox.

Fans can watch the Bell and Boyd duo in action only on TNT Sports, 7 pm ET onwards, or listen to live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Team Penske driver Joey Logano, who happens to be the defending winner of the event, will start from the pole. Bell, on the other hand, qualified 28th for the 260-lap event.

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Christopher Bell gets real about his upcoming Atlanta outing

Christopher Bell hasn’t won since Phoenix, and safe to say he is not the most confident contender as the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Echopark Speedway for Saturday night’s race. In an official release, the JGR driver said that this race had never been amongst the ones his team circled for a win.

“Atlanta's going to be tough," Bell explained (via Speedway Digest). "It's hard to pick a favorite going through Atlanta with it being a superspeedway-style race. I think you're going to see a lot of upsets in week one of the in-season tournament. Get through that one and see who's left standing.”

Notably, the in-season tournament, which is set to kick off at Echopark Speedway, will let the winner walk away with $1 million. Here is all you need to know about the 32-driver, five-round tournament.

"I'm as optimistic as you can get. Atlanta-you're going to Vegas. So, we'll go roll the dice and see what happens,” he added.

Christopher Bell won at Atlanta earlier this year, but notably, that was with his full-time spotter. As of today, he sits fourth in the driver standings with 544 points to his name. 17 races into the season, the man has amassed three wins, seven top fives, and 11 top-10s.

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Edited by Pratham K Sharma