No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry TRD News and Notes:
Bell at Auto Club Speedway: Christopher Bell will make his second NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) start at Auto Club Speedway (ACS) this weekend in the No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). In 2020, his rookie year, Bell made his first NCS start at Fontana. His day ended early when a jack bolt went through the radiator of his Camry.
NXS at Fontana: Bell has made two prior starts at the 2.0-mile oval in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS). In 2018 Bell qualified on the pole and in 2019 Bell started fourth and finished third.
Rheem Guests at Auto Club Speedway: Rheem will be hosting 50 guests this weekend at ACS. There will be guests on-site from Rheem Water Heating Division West Region as well as Raypak Commercial.
Rheem’s 15th Anniversary: The No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry TRD will carry a commemorative logo to honor Rheem’s 15th anniversary as a NASCAR national-series sponsor. Rheem has been partnered with Bell since 2019 and was on the car for his first NCS victory.
Honoring Sue Karli: Bell’s No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry TRD will carry a purple heart with the letters “SK” inside honoring and remembering Sue Karli, a founding member for the Rheem Racing program. Purple was Sue’s favorite color and the color representative of pancreatic cancer awareness. Sue passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2019 and is greatly missed.
Daytona 500 Recap: Bell started 12th and had a fast No. 20 Toyota Camry TRD. The right-side hood flap broke, but Bell still was fast and running as high as second. The No. 20 team made a repair plan for the stage one break, but Bell was collected in an accident just before the break. Bell took the car to the garage for repairs after meeting minimum speed and returned to the track to gain as many points positions as possible, finishing the race 34th.
JGR AT DAYTONA: In 89 combined starts at Auto Club Speedway, JGR has earned three NCS victories 20 top-five finishes, 40 top-10s and 1,083 laps led. The championship-winning organization has won five pole awards with an average start of 14.6 an average finish of 15.6.
RACE INFO: The Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 27, 2022. The race will be broadcast live on FOX, Sirius XM 90, and MRN Radio.
From the Cockpit:
Christopher Bell: “Auto Club is a great racetrack and one of my favorite places to go. It always puts on great shows, you can really race all over the track, from the bottom to all the way to the wall. Clean air is really important there. Auto Club is a unique facility because it’s really separated by the paving seams, it’s spelled out which lane you’ll be in, you have so many options that you can typically find a grove to get something going and get by a guy. That’s what you want as a driver, you want to be able to pass. Going there with the high horsepower and low downforce package will be a ton fun.”
About Rheem
Founded in 1925, Rheem® innovates new ways to deliver precise temperatures while saving energy, water and supporting a more sustainable future. Rheem 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. Today the company’s portfolio of premium brands include Rheem®, Raypak®, Ruud®, Eemax®, Richmond®, Splendid®, Solahart® and EverHot™ as well as commercial refrigeration brands Russell®, Witt®, ColdZone® and Kramer®, which are part of the Heat Transfer Products Group (HTPG®) division and most recently Friedrich, an industry leader in high-end air conditioning solutions.
About Joe Gibbs Racing
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is one of the premier organizations in NASCAR with four NASCAR Cup Series teams, three NASCAR Xfinity Series teams, and a driver development program. JGR is based in Huntersville, N.C., and owned by 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, winning five Cup Series championships and five Xfinity Series owner’s championships, along with more than 350 NASCAR races, including four Brickyard 400s and four Daytona 500s.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
