NASCAR: 3 drivers who haven’t been formally confirmed for 2022

Drivers who haven’t been formally confirmed: No. 2 – Christopher Bell

Among the three drivers on this list, Christopher Bell is probably the one you’d least expect to be only classified as “expected to return” for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season at this point.

But confirmation is really just a formality.

While it is surprising to see Bell on this list, this lack of formal confirmation isn’t a surprise, considering the organization we’re discussing. Just look at the Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series team.

Everybody knows that Joe Gibbs’s grandson, Ty Gibbs, is slated to compete full-time for the team in 2022 after winning four races in a part-time effort in 2021, yet several months after this became obvious, the team have still not yet officially announced it.

With that being said, it is worth noting that all three of the team’s other Cup Series drivers, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., have been formally confirmed for 2022.

But there is no reason Bell wouldn’t be back. He advanced to the round of 12 of the playoffs in his first year behind the #20 Toyota in 2021, and he earned his first career victory in just his second start with Joe Gibbs Racing at the Daytona International Speedway road course.

While he didn’t win throughout the rest of the year, his consistency picked up, and he recorded two separate stretches of four consecutive top eight finishes in the second half of the season alone.

Don’t think for one second that Bell won’t be back behind the wheel of the #20 Toyota in 2022.