"I hope that I can make this the best year ever": Christopher Bell hopeful of convincing JGR of 'the right thing' following internal policy change

Following Christopher Bell's win in Atlanta on Sunday, Joe Gibbs was asked about his decision to let him race on the dirt circuit in 2024. After years of not allowing his drivers for dirt racing, Coach Gibbs allowed Christopher Bell to take part in dirt races during the off-season.

Bell raced in the World of Outlaws, and High National races after a two-year hiatus from dirt racing. And after he won in the second race of the Cup season, his team owner, Joe Gibbs, was asked how difficult it was for him to allow Bell to race and whether he watched any of his sprint races.

"No, I didn’t watch them, but I think as much as anything, we have three of our guys are heavily involved in dirt stuff coming up. I felt like that the thing that I probably made the decision on, they’re really focused just on racing. They love it, and they talked about the offseason, being able to get a chance to race some dirt stuff would help fill their time and get them excited about things. We’ll kind of see where he leads, but I made that decision, and we’ll kind of see what happens with it," Joe Gibbs said.

During his interaction with the media, Christopher Bell was also asked about the role of dirt racing ahead of the 2025 NASCAR season in improving his craft.

Bell claimed that this is 'the best' he has ever felt as a racecar driver, and that some part of it is because of the off-season he's had.

"It’s a dream come true to be able to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing in these Cup Series cars, and I’m honored and privileged to have some fun outside of the Cup Series cars now. I hope that I can make this the best year ever and prove to the company that it’s the right thing for me to do to be out there racing," Bell described.

Adam Stevens justifies Christopher Bell racing in dirt races ahead of the 2025 NASCAR season

Adam Stevens, the crew chief of Christopher Bell was asked whether his driver winning dirt races in the off-season helped his mentality and his start in NASCAR. The crew chief said that Bell participating and winning dirt races in the off-season helped the #20 driver in one key way.

The first was in helping him in staying sharp, because being a racecar driver, 'he needs to drive a racecar', something the simulator work doesn't really cut.

"You wouldn’t ask a professional golfer to lock his clubs in the closet for three months over the winter and show up at the first tournament. I bet he wouldn’t play very well," Stevens elaborated.

Stevens mentioned that Christopher Bell loves all things racecars, be it racing them, working on them, or watching them. And when the driver from Norman, Oklahoma has downtime, that is what he wants to do.

And while the crew chief agreed that dirt racing in off-season has it's own risks, the benefits are there for everyone.