NASCAR: 10 drivers who won’t be back with their 2020 teams
By Asher Fair
Drivers moving on after 2020: Christopher Bell
With Leavine Family Racing shutting down after the 2020 season, Joe Gibbs Racing made the decision not to let Christopher Bell get away from the organization simply because they didn’t have room for him.
While they didn’t want to get rid of Erik Jones either, that is the tough decision they had to make with their three veteran drivers performing at a high level and being under contract on multi-year deals. As a result, Bell is set to replace Jones behind the wheel of the #20 Toyota this year.
Bell, who was promoted to the Cup Series in 2020 with the Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated Leavine Family Racing after two seasons in the Xfinity Series during which he won a combined 15 races for Joe Gibbs Racing, by far a series-best, had a solid rookie year after a tough start.
After finishing outside of the top 20 in each of his first five starts, Bell was able to turn his season around. He finished in 20th place in the championship standings, although on points alone, he would have ranked 19th — ahead of Rookie of the Year Cole Custer.
He finished in fourth place at Pocono Raceway and went on to better that with a career-high third place finish at Texas Motor Speedway later in the year, and he ultimately finished the season with seven top 10 finishes.