Christopher Bell would like to move from the NASCAR Xfinity Series to the Cup Series in 2019. For which team will he end up driving and in which series?
After winning the 2017 NASCAR Truck Series championship in his second full-time season in the series driving the #4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, Christopher Bell was promoted to the Xfinity Series as the driver of the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Through the first 25 races of this season, the 23-year-old Norman, Oklahoma native sits in third place in the championship standings with four victories and 24 playoff points. He has racked up 13 top five finishes,15 top 10 finishes and three pole positions. His win total is second best among all Xfinity Series drivers, and his playoff point total is tied for the best among all Xfinity Series drivers.
Bell has stated that he does not feel as though he needs to spend another season in the Xfinity Series and that he would prefer to be promoted to the Cup Series with a Toyota team since he gives Toyota a lot of credit for getting him to where he is in his racing career.
But while Bell certainly has the talent to make the jump from the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series, he also acknowledged the fact that there may not be room for him to make that jump ahead of next season. That said, there is still certainly a chance that he could do so.
For which team will Bell end up driving in 2019 and in which series? Here are five possible landing spots for him.
Leavine Family Racing
With Furniture Row Racing set to shut down after the 2018 season comes to an end, Joe Gibbs Racing, the team with which they have had a technical alliance since the 2016 season, may try to form a technical alliance with another team. If they don’t, they will be the only Toyota team in the sport with any full-time drivers.
Leavine Family Racing are the team with the highest chance of forming a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing. Kasey Kahne is the full-time driver of their lone car, the #95 Chevrolet, but he is set to retire at the end of the of the season, which would mean that the team would be looking for a driver to replace him behind the wheel of what would become the #95 Toyota
With rumors that Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. is set to replace Daniel Suarez behind the wheel of the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota next year, Suarez is the favorite to sign with Leavine Family Racing to drive the #95 Toyota if Joe Gibbs Racing and Leavine Family Racing form a technical alliance.
However, this is by no means a guarantee, meaning that Bell would certainly be in the mix to land a ride with the team if this technical alliance ends up happening.
But even if Suarez does sign with Leavine Family Racing, there is a chance that they could field two full-time entries much like Furniture Row Racing did last year for the first time by fielding the #77 Toyota for rookie Erik Jones, who has since replaced Matt Kenseth behind the wheel of the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, in addition to the regular #78 Toyota for Truex Jr. This would make Bell a candidate to drive what would be the #59 Toyota given the fact that Leavine Family Racing have run the #59 Chevrolet before.
But assuming Bell does not sign with Leavine Family Racing for next season, for which other teams might he end up driving?
Joe Gibbs Racing (NASCAR Cup Series)
Because of the fact that Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. has been tipped to replace Daniel Suarez behind the wheel of the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota next season with Furniture Row Racing set to shut down once the 2018 season comes to a close, the odds that there will be a seat open for Christopher Bell at Joe Gibbs Racing next year are not the greatest.
Considering the fact that Joe Gibbs Racing’s other three drivers, including Kyle Busch, Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin, are all set to return to the team next year, Bell would have to replace Suarez if he ends up driving for the team in 2019, which is what Truex Jr. seems to be lined up to do.
However, Truex Jr. has not been officially confirmed as Suarez’s replacement. Seeing as how Joe Gibbs Racing may form a technical alliance with Leavine Family Racing for next season, it may be in their best interest to have him sign with Leavine Family Racing given the fact that he has had so much success driving for Furniture Row Racing over the last three seasons.
Furniture Row Racing have had a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing since the 2016 season, and there has been arguably no driver better than Truex Jr. since this alliance began. After all, he is the defending Cup Series champion and has a great chance to repeat as champion given his success so far this year that has put him in third place in the championship standings to start the playoffs.
If Truex Jr. gets sent to Leavine Family Racing to continue driving for a Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated team like he has done in each of the last three seasons, this would open the door for Bell to be promoted from Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity Series team to their Cup Series team, which would leave Suarez looking for a ride unless Leavine Family Racing field a second entry for him.
But if Bell drives in the Cup Series next year for a team other than Leavine Family Racing or Joe Gibbs Racing, which team would that be?
Stewart-Haas Racing
Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart, like Christopher Bell, has a dirt racing background, so it is hard to believe that he hasn’t at least considered offering Bell a contract at some point in the near future.
What makes this even harder to believe is the fact that recent rumors suggesting that Kurt Busch will not return to Stewart-Haas Racing next season have emerged. If true, this would mean the #41 Ford would need a replacement driver, and Bell is one of several drivers with a chance to drive the #41 Ford next year.
Bell would likely to stick with a Toyota team given the fact that he gives Toyota a ton of credit for getting them to where he is in his racing career. But he also does not feel that he needs to spend another season driving in the Xfinity Series, meaning that he may have a huge decision to make during this offseason or perhaps even before this season ends.
If no seats are open at a Toyota team in the Cup Series next season and Bell opts to prioritize landing a Cup Series ride over continuing to drive for a Toyota team, it is hard to see him passing up the opportunity for one of the sport’s top teams, even if that team is a Ford team.
But if this opportunity does not present itself in the form of Stewart offering Bell a contract to replace Busch behind the wheel of the #41 Ford and Bell cannot land another ride in the Cup Series next year, what would his best option be?
Joe Gibbs Racing (NASCAR Xfinity Series)
Christopher Bell is in just his first NASCAR Xfinity Series, so while him returning to Joe Gibbs Racing as the driver of the #20 Toyota next year is probably his most likely option despite the fact that he wants to compete in the Cup Series, it may also be his best option so that he is not rushed to NASCAR’s highest level of competition.
Bell spent two seasons in the Truck Series before he was promoted to the Xfinity Series, so spending at least two seasons in the Xfinity Series certainly wouldn’t do him any harm in the long run in terms of his Cup Series goals even though he is already 23 years old, which is older than several other drivers who have competed in the Truck Series and Xfinity Series and now compete in the Cup Series.
In Bell’s first Truck Series season, he won one race and racked up nine top five finishes and 17 top 10 finishes in 23 starts en route to a third place finish in the championship standings. The following season, he won five races and racked up 15 top five finishes and 21 top 10 finishes in 23 starts en route to winning the championship.
While Bell has earned four victories so far in the 2018 Xfinity Series season, he is not the leader of the championship standings because of the fact that his consistency has not been on par with the consistency that some of the other drivers have had. His average finish of 10.9 is 2.2 positions lower than the average finish of JR Motorsports’ Elliott Sadler, whose average finish of 8.7 is the best among full-time drivers.
But if Bell cannot land a Cup Series ride and he does not want to continue driving in the Xfinity Series, what would his other option be?
IndyCar
The odds that Christopher Bell will completely abandon NASCAR in the 2019 season and compete in IndyCar for the first time in his career are probably smaller than the odds of Danica Patrick returning to the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 for another “Danica Double”.
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But over the course of his racing career, Bell has proven that he can drive pretty much anything on wheels. He has a dirt racing background and has won several dirt racing championships. His success in NASCAR’s second and third highest series is only a fraction of the success that he has experienced.
Even if Bell does not get an offer to compete in the Cup Series for Joe Gibbs Racing or a Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated team, it isn’t likely that he will give up his Xfinity Series ride to compete in IndyCar in 2019 even if the opportunity exists for him to do so, which it very well might given the fact that there are several teams that are seeking to join IndyCar next year.
However, the possibility exists that Bell would at least begin to explore the option for the future since he certainly does not want to continue to wait around for multiple seasons in the Xfinity Series for a Cup Series ride with a Toyota team to open up.
Plus, consider the fact that Bell’s dirt racing background has caused him to be likened to other Cup Series drivers such as Kyle Larson and Tony Stewart. Larson has aspirations to compete in the Indy 500 one day, and Stewart, who has competed in the Indy 500 five times already and has an IndyCar championship to his name from back in the 1996-1997 season, has admitted that he wants to return to compete in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.
Don’t rule out Bell getting in the cockpit of an IndyCar at some point in the future to, at the very least, make an attempt to get his likeness sculpted on the Borg-Warner Trophy.
For which team will Christopher Bell drive in 2019, and in which series? Will he stay in NASCAR in the Xfinity Series if he doesn’t land a Cup Series ride or will he try something completely different such as competing in IndyCar?