MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 13, 2025) – After a 10-race run in 2024, crew chief Philip Bell and driver Sammy Smith have a vision for the No. 8 Pilot/TMC/Allstate Peterbilt team for 2025.
Bell certainly thinks the sky’s the limit, based on the races he and Smith competed in and the fact that the duo won at Talladega Superspeedway in the waning weeks of the season. The triumph was the first for Bell as the man in charge and Smith’s second in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
“We should hit on all eight cylinders,” Bell said of 2025. “I think we got a good direction at the end of last year with Sammy and the feel he needs in the car.”
That included an offseason spent racing in other disciplines, too.
“Throughout the offseason, we stayed racing,” Bell said. “We went to the Snowball Derby and went to run the four-hour Michelin Tire race at Daytona. We ran seventh in the Derby and finished 15th in the race at Daytona.”
It also helped, Bell said, in helping to refine the process of negotiating a full 33-race season for the duo.
“We’ve worked on our processes a lot and I feel very strongly about the direction we’ve gone in,” Bell said. “Sammy is on board with all that, he is more in on the prep side, and it’s good to keep him involved and making sure everyone is pulling in the same direction.”
TEAM ROSTER: Crew chief: Philip Bell; Lead Engineer: Tyler Trebilcock; Second Engineer: Cale Lindley; Car Chief: Anthony Alonzo; Mechanic: Ritchie Snyder; Mechanic: Tommy Moran; Spotter: Frankie Kimmel; Truck Drivers: Josh Seaford, Trish Seaford
THE PLAN: Bell has always been aggressive in setting goals, and those in place for the No. 8 team are in that mold. “As for our target goals, Sammy and I sat down in December, and I would say by first Martinsville we need to have a win. That is the expectation. The way I set it up, ideally, you target winning six races. One speedway or superspeedway, one intermediate, one short track and then one in each round of the playoffs. That’s the ideal season. One area where we need to make progress is road courses. We’ve put a lot of emphasis on that. With Mexico City on the schedule, we have a lot of road courses to work on.”
LESSONS LEARNED: Entering his second season as a crew chief at JRM, Bell notes that the time pressure is significant. “The biggest lesson I learned as a crew chief is time management,” he said. “You have to delegate your time every day in all aspects. Coming from the engineering side, I spent the bulk of my time getting my engineers up to speed. Just making sure I’m not missing the time on the car with the mechanics.”
MANAGING AGGRESSION: Bell notes that Smith is an aggressive driver, and managing that from his end is key to the success of the No. 8 team this season. “He (Smith) wants the car tight so he can be aggressive. He is a very aggressive 20-year-old and he wants to be that way on the track,” Bell said. “He’s got a good attitude. It was a completely new team last year and we switched fairly late. It’s just getting to know each other. His attitude is great, he’s ready to work and build on it. His expectations are where they need to be, in my opinion. We want to go out, execute and build weekly.”
CONTINUITY ROCKS: The heart of the No. 8 team remains together, with the only new addition being mechanic Tommy Moran. That’s a plus, according to Bell. “My group is solid,” he said. “They were new last year but everyone has done a great job growing into their positions. I feel like we have the strongest group in the garage and I lean on them heavily.”
WILD CARD: “Rockingham is a wild card, but it’s also just another race track,” Bell said. “ We feel like we got a good direction at the test, learned a lot and we’re ready to go back and hit it. Mexico City is another wild card and it’s a road course.”
PHILOSOPHY: “I don’t necessarily have a certain philosophy, but the main thing we’re focused on is execution. Last year I feel like we had really good speed, we just didn’t execute as a team. That’s where we have to improve in all facets. We work hard, and I’d say that our work ethic is our biggest strength.”