NASCAR: How can Joe Gibbs Racing keep Christopher Bell and Erik Jones?

Joe Gibbs Racing team owner Joe Gibbs stated that he would like to retain both Christopher Bell and Erik Jones for their long-term futures in NASCAR. How can the team retain both drivers for next year?

It is no secret that Christopher Bell, who is in his second season driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series after winning the 2017 Truck Series championship driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, is widely considered the top driver who is not currently competing in the Cup Series.

This was evident last season, most notably in August when Bell himself stated that he felt ready to make the jump to the Cup Series for the 2019 season, and it is still evident, perhaps now more than ever, given what he has done since arriving in the Xfinity Series as a full-time driver last year.

The main problem for Bell is that Joe Gibbs Racing’s four-car Cup Series driver lineup does not look slated to change at any time in the near future, at least not ahead of the 2020 season.

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Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. are all set to return to Joe Gibbs Racing through at least the 2020 Cup Series season. Meanwhile, the future of Erik Jones recently appeared to be less certain, causing speculation that Bell may replace him starting next season.

However, it appears more and more likely that Jones will return to Joe Gibbs Racing as the driver of the #20 Toyota for third consecutive Cup Series season next year, as he and the team are reportedly currently working on a contract extension. With all things considered, it is hard to envision Bell being promoted to the Cup Series as the replacement for one of the team’s four drivers ahead of next season. Bell has even admitted this.

Joe Gibbs Racing team owner Joe Gibbs, however, stated that he would like to retain both Bell and Jones for their long-term futures in NASCAR. How, exactly, would the team pull this off if it involves preventing a clearly Cup Series-ready driver within their organization from being promoted to their Cup Series team for the second consecutive season?

Would the 24-year-old Norman, Oklahoma native be willing to return to Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity Series team for what would be the third consecutive season next year even after he stated last August, to the agreement of many fans, that he felt ready to compete at the Cup Series level in 2019?

Jones returning to the Cup Series as the driver of the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for the third consecutive season and Bell returning to the Xfinity Series as the driver of the #20 Gibbs Racing Toyota for the third consecutive season is by far the simplest solution to Joe Gibbs Racing retaining both drivers — on paper, that is.

In reality, however, Joe Gibbs Racing will probably have to get more creative than that to make this happen. If they don’t, they could very well lose Bell to a rival team such as the four-car Ford powerhouse team, Stewart-Haas Racing, especially given Bell’s ties to Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart.

Bell has stated that he wants to remain loyal to Toyota given the effect that they have had in terms of getting him to where he is in his racing career, but he has not committed to remaining within the organization at all costs.

Leavine Family Racing switched their engine manufacturer from Chevrolet to Toyota ahead of the 2019 season, and they formed a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing as well. Many fans expected them to sign Bell to drive the #95 Toyota since there were no seats open for him at Joe Gibbs Racing, but they opted to sign Matt DiBenedetto instead.

But now Leavine Family Racing have plans of becoming a two-car team starting with the 2020 season, in which case Bell could be promoted to the Cup Series as the full-time driver of the #59 Toyota. Even if they do not end up expanding, Joe Gibbs Racing could put additional pressure (and money) on Leavine Family Racing to replace DiBenedetto with Bell until a seat opens up at the four-car powerhouse Toyota team.

While Bell would still not technically be driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, the team will not have lost him to a rival team. Plus, he could effectively wait there for however long it takes before he is basically a shoe-in as the replacement for one of the team’s current four drivers, likely somebody other than the 22-year-old Jones given the fact that the team want to retain him for the long-term future as well and the fact that they are in a great position to do so.

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Will both Christopher Bell and Erik Jones still drive for Joe Gibbs Racing in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season and beyond? What do their futures with the team and in NASCAR in general hold? This is certainly a situation well worth following even though it is still only April.

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