Christopher Bell comments on Denny Hamlin’s Martinsville supremacy after losing out to JGR teammate

Christopher Bell, who started the race on pole, commented on losing to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin at Martinsville Speedway. He admitted not being fast enough to beat Hamlin and applauded his teammate for a strong drive.

At the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, Bell drove the No. 20 Toyota Camry to a second-place finish, crossing the line 4.617 seconds after Hamlin. His teammate dominated the short track race and led for 274 of 400 laps as compared to his 25 laps.

In an X (formerly Twitter) post by NASCAR Insider Peter Stratta, Christopher Bell argued that Denny Hamlin would still win the race even if he built a gap at the front.

"He (Denny Hamlin) beat me by almost five seconds, so even if I had cleared him, I don't think that I would have stayed in front of him for the whole run. He drove away pretty good and I was hanging on there in the end," Bell said. [0:05]

The 30-year-old was asked about his thoughts on racing Denny Hamlin at Martinsville Speedway, where his home hero teammate won six times (four in Gen 5, one in Gen 6, and one in Next-Gen).

"He has an amazing feel for this race track. Certainly, the Gen 6 car was his bread and butter, it seems like Gen 7 is a little bit different," Bell said. [1:54]

Christopher Bell added:

"Our company overall hasn't been as competitive here at Martinsville as we should be. But whenever a Toyota is up front at Martinsville, it will be Denny."

With Denny Hamlin's Martinsville triumph, Joe Gibbs Racing further solidified its position as the winningest team in the 2025 season. The Toyota-affiliated team has won four of the first seven races, three of which came from Bell's hat trick (Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas, and Phoenix).

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"I'm honored to get to pay tribute to him": Christopher Bell on tribute paint scheme for racing mentor at Darlington

NASCAR heads to Darlington Raceway for the eighth race of the 2025 season. As part of the annual Throwback Weekend, Christopher Bell will honor his late racing mentor, Rick Ferkel, with a pair of tribute liveries for his Xfinity and Cup entries.

Bell will feature a silver greenhouse area on his Darlington cars for a sprint car wing-like appeal, a nod to his dirt racing days with Ferkel's team. He will also run around the 1.366-mile track with his mentor's name and "0" racing number.

In a press release, the Oklahoma native said (via Joe Gibbs Racing):

"Rick (Ferkel) really helped put me on the national scene by giving me my first opportunity in a full-blown sprint car [...] He hired me to drive a sprint car when I was a 16-year-old kid. I moved in with him and his family for a while."

"After I left Rick Ferkel Racing, he became a life mentor, a driver coach, and someone that I would lean on every week for advice, and he’d check in to see how I was doing. Rick always preached to me to make sure I drove as hard as I could at all times, and I’m honored to get to pay tribute to him at Darlington," he added.

Christopher Bell will enter the Xfinity Series race driving the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra on April 5 before capping off the weekend in the Cup Series race, piloting the No. 20 Toyota Camry the following day.