Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick seek to be next winner this season

KANSAS CITY, Kans. — In a season that has had 10 winners in the first 12 races, could another new winner emerge from the front row Sunday at Kansas Speedway?

Pole-sitter Christopher Bell has yet to win this season despite being fast at times. Tyler Reddick, within a quarter mile of victory at Bristol before getting spun, still searches for his first win of the year and his career.

Should Reddick triumph, he’d be the fourth first-time Cup winner this season, joining rookie Austin Cindric (Daytona 500), Chase Briscoe (Phoenix) and Ross Chastain (Circuit of the Americas).

Bell has started eight of the first 12 races this year in the top 10, showing that his car is fast. Still, Bell has yet to win this year.

“I just try to focus on doing my job as good as I can,” Bell said Saturday at Kansas Speedway. “It’s very much a team sport. I’m only as good as my mechanics, engineer, my crew chief and they’ve been allowing me to succeed by giving me great equipment. 

“Same thing – we have had a lot of pit road issues, but we are all a team. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes on the racetrack, and I’ve never heard anyone on the pit crew come over and tell me that I screwed up. I try to just focus on what I do best and do as good of a job that I can.”

Pit road has been a challenge for Bell and his team. Sunday’s race marks the fifth different pit crew lineup the No. 20 team has had this season. Bell’s team has had four different front tire changers and three different jackmen this year.

On the track, a key aspect will be how much drivers run close to the wall. It’s a line Reddick is known for and likely will run. The key could be how much he runs up there.

“I think as we’ve gone down this path of learning about what this car can take,