The status of Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell has been in question all week, even after he ran the entire NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway a week ago, due to his crash at Michigan International Speedway the previous weekend.
Bell suffered a fractured wrist due to that hard crash with Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott, and because of the demands of the brand-new Qualcomm Circuit, also known as the Coronado Street Course, on Naval Base Coronado, Joe Gibbs Racing O'Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Brent Crews was named his standby driver.
Now it has been confirmed that Crews is indeed set to be behind the wheel of the No. 20 Toyota for Sunday's 75-lap race around the 19-turn, 3.4-mile (5.472-kilometer) temporary street circuit in San Diego, California.
Christopher Bell replaced for San Diego NASCAR race
However, Bell is set to start the race, so he is set to get credit for the race in the point standings, based on Crews' stage and race results. Bell is currently 10th in the standings, 70 points above the playoff cut line.
Crews is set to take over behind the wheel of the No. 20 Toyota under the race's first caution flag, regardless of when that happens. The first stage caution is scheduled to take place after lap 20.
Bell had qualified 35th in the 39-car field but is one of three drivers set to drop to the rear of the field before the green flag.
Live coverage of the Anduril 250 from Qualcomm Circuit is set to be provided by Amazon Prime Video beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET. Don't miss any of the action from the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season's final race on Prime!
Add us as a preferred source on Google