Christopher Bell comes clean on the ‘shocking’ Jimmie Johnson occurrence after JGR driver’s ‘every win’

Christopher Bell spoke about how seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson sends the JGR driver a congratulatory text every time he wins a race. This happened during a recent press conference at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, ahead of this year’s Pennzoil 400 powered by Jiffy Lube.

Last week, Bell won his third race in a row at Phoenix Raceway. With that, he became the first Cup driver to record a three-peat with the Next Gen car.

Like every time, Johnson didn’t forget to text Bell, lauding him for the win. Getting a text from Jimmie Johnson, that too after bagging a win, has always been special for the Cup Series regular. Speaking of the same, Bell told the reporters (9:30 onwards),

“It's still the coolest thing in the world to me that I have Jimmie Johnson in my phone. He has talked to me; he sent me a text message after every win so far. I'm just shocked every time I see his name pop up.”

Jimmie Johnson is arguably one of the biggest ambassadors of the sport. He isn’t a full-time driver anymore but makes sure to race the No. 84 Toyota Camry from time to time. He is currently on a part-time schedule with Legacy Motor Club, which he co-owns.

“I respect the heck out of him,” Bell continued. “It’s an honor to know that he thinks of me after the race to shoot me a text message. That's so cool!”

Bell’s next race, i.e., the Pennzoil 400, is scheduled for Sunday, March 16. Fans can watch him in action on Fox Sports 1, or listen to live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio from 3:30 pm ET onwards.

---

“That is definitely a goal”- Christopher Bell reveals points goal for 2025

Christopher Bell currently sits second in the driver standings with Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron topping the list. Byron doesn’t have as many wins as Bell this year, but what he has and Bell doesn’t is those precious playoff points that he picked off of winning stage points.

After winning the Daytona 500 earlier this year, Byron placed 27th at Atlanta. However, he did bag 15 stage points; thanks to his top five run all day. Over the next two weeks, Byron picked a P2 at COTA and a P6 at Phoenix, collecting 22 stage points in all.

“I’m content with the point system and understand the reason why I’m not leading the points is because I haven’t scored stage points,” Christopher Bell said in a statement (via Matt Weaver, Sportsnaut). “I think it will sort itself out once we get more races into the regular season.”

Christopher Bell knows how important winning stage points can be. After all, winning stages pays playoff points. Winning a race pays three, thanks to which, Bell owns 16 playoff points as of now.

“Certainly, after race 26, the regular season points championship is one of the goals we’ve had the last couple of years, and we have fallen short. I have never won the regular season championship – but that is definitely a goal. The 15 points are a really big deal,” he added.

If Bell wins the regular season championship, he will get a 15-point advantage into the postseason. Last year, Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing pulled off the feat for the first time in his career.