Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell recently pulled triple duty at Darlington Raceway, running all three national series races on the same weekend.
In the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, the Darlington race was the final race of the year for which Joe Gibbs Racing needed a replacement for Brent Crews, given the fact that he was still 17 years old at the time and was ineligible to compete at all ovals greater than 1.25 miles in length; Darlington is a 1.366-mile track.
Crews took over behind the wheel of the No. 19 Toyota at Martinsville Speedway this past weekend, following Bell's third place finish at the "Lady in Black", and finished 10th.
In the Craftsman Truck Series, Bell drove the No. 62 Toyota for Halmar Friesen Racing, and he finished in sixth place. He also ran one race for the team a year ago as the replacement for the injured Stewart Friesen at Watkins Glen International, but he does not have any further plans for the Truck Series for the remainder of the 2026 season.
The Truck Series did not run at Martinsville this past weekend like the Cup Series and O'Reilly Series did, but both the Truck Series and the O'Reilly Series are set to be in action this weekend at Rockingham Speedway.
Christopher Bell replacement confirmed for Rockingham
The Cup Series has off this weekend, but multiple full-time Cup Series drivers have no plans to take advantage of that time off.
One of them was initially supposed to be Legacy Motor Club's John Hunter Nemechek, who drove the No. 62 truck in the season's first two races at Daytona International Speedway and EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway).
However, it is now Michael Christopher Jr. who is set to replace Bell behind the wheel of the No. 62 truck at the four-turn, 0.94-mile (1.513-kilometer) Rockingham, North Carolina oval this weekend.
Christopher made his Truck Series debut with Halmar Friesen Racing in 2025 and placed 13th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Beyond this weekend's race, the No. 62 entry does not yet have any more confirmed drivers for 2026.
Friesen remains the team's full-time driver of the No. 52 Toyota.
Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 4:30 p.m. ET this Friday, April 3 for live coverage of the Black's Tire 200 from Rockingham Speedway. Start a free trial of FuboTV and catch all of the action from "The Rock"!
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