NASCAR: Christopher Bell’s 2020 series hinges on Erik Jones

Whether Christopher Bell returns to the NASCAR Xfinity Series or is promoted to the Cup Series hinges on Erik Jones’s contract with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Christopher Bell is set to return to Joe Gibbs Racing in the 2020 NASCAR season for what is set to be his third consecutive season driving full-time for the team. However, what remains unclear is whether he will do so as a full-time Xfinity Series driver for the third straight year or if he will do so as a rookie Cup Series driver.

Rumors have been circulating about the situation of the 24-year-old Norman, Oklahoma native, who many fans feel is the best driver currently not competing in the Cup Series, for pretty much the entire season.

With Joe Gibbs Racing’s Cup Series team at maximum capacity with four drivers, the driver of the #20 Toyota Supra would have to replace one of these drivers in order to make the move to the Cup Series next season.

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Kyle Busch isn’t going anywhere. He recently signed a contract extension to continue driving for the team likely through the 2022 season. The details of Denny Hamlin’s current contract are less clear, but he has no other plans but to be back next season.

As for Martin Truex Jr., you might as well pencil him into Joe Gibbs Racing’s lineup for a second season next year, and probably beyond. Through the first 16 races of his first season driving for the powerhouse team, he is tied for the series lead in wins with Busch with four, and he has earned all four of his victories in the last eight races.

That leaves Erik Jones, who is the only Joe Gibbs Racing driver not in the top six in the championship standings, and he sits all the way down below the playoff cut line in 18th place. His current contract, just like the contract of primary sponsor Stanley Black & Decker, Inc./DeWalt, ends after the 2019 season.

Jones has earned just one victory in 52 starts since replacing Matt Kenseth as the driver of the #20 Toyota Camry ahead of the 2018 season, his second season as a full-time Cup Series driver, as he won the July race at Daytona International Speedway last season. He qualified for the playoffs last season for the first time in his career but was eliminated in the round of 16.

Earlier this season in the midst of what has been a struggle for the 23-year-old Byron, Michigan native, Jones stated that he was not worried about signing a contract extension to continue driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. Earlier this month, Alan Miller, Jones’s attorney, stated that he believes Jones will be back for what would be his third season driving for the sport’s premier Toyota team next year.

Christopher Bell is poised to drive the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the 2020 NASCAR season once again, but will he continue to drive the Supra in the Xfinity Series, or will he replace Erik Jones behind the wheel of the Camry in the Cup Series?

The answer to this question hinges on Jones’s future with the team, as if he returns, Bell is set to continue driving in the Xfinity Series. If he doesn’t, there is simply no other driver who the team would sign to replace him other than Bell.