Christopher Bell joins elite list of drivers featuring Dale Earnhardt, Jimmie Johnson, and Richard Petty following New Hampshire win

Joe Gibbs Racing star Christopher Bell has joined an elite list of NASCAR legends, including seven-time Cup Series champions Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, and Jimmie Johnson. Bell secured his third win of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday.

In recent seasons, Joe Gibbs Racing has seen departures of key racing figures such as Kyle Busch, and now, Martin Truex Jr. However, one driver who has been on a steady rise and has quietly been making a name for himself, is Christopher Bell.

A product of the now-defunct Kyle Busch Motorsports, Bell won the Truck Series in his second full season in 2017. The Norman, Oklahoma native was fast-tracked to the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Busch's then team, Joe Gibbs Racing. After back-to-back Championship 4 field appearances in the Xfinity Series, Bell secured his move to NASCAR's big league, the Cup Series.

After spending his first full season with Levine Family Racing, Christopher Bell returned to JGR in 2021 and has been a crucial cog of the team ever since. Despite being one of the younger drivers of a team consisting of superstars like Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin, Bell has displayed his prowess on the racetrack.

The 29-year-old made back-to-back Championship 4 appearances in the last two campaigns, coming close to capturing the Cup title on multiple occasions. Now, in his fifth full-time season in the Cup Series, Bell has already amassed three wins in 18 races.

His recent triumph at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this past Sunday not only added another victory to his record, but also saw him achieve a significant feat. Bell became the first driver to score 50 top-10 finishes with the NextGen (7th generation) car, which was introduced in 2022.

This accomplishment places Bell in the company of some of NASCAR’s most revered figures. Lee Petty, Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson were the first to attain the same milestone with previous generations of NASCAR vehicles.

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What did Christopher Bell say after the New Hampshire double?

In what was a rain-affected outing at NHMS, Bell emerged victorious on Sunday. Mastering the Cup Series' first race that concluded with cars running on rain tires, Bell pulled away after a 2-hour, 15-minute weather delay to beat both darkness and the field. He also swept the weekend at New Hampshire with a victory in the Xfinity Series on Saturday.

Speaking to the media following his win, Christopher Bell reflected on the unique challenges posed by the rain-affected race. He said (via ESPN):

"Hopefully that was entertaining because it was something different, something new, and nobody knew what to expect and what to do. The guys that figured it out the quickest were the most successful."

Commenting on the race conditions, Bell added:

"It was dark. It was very, very dark. That was creeping up in a hurry to being too dark to race," Bell said. "Certainly there were dry parts on the track, but there were still a lot of wet parts on the track, too. I can't tell you how far away it was, but in my opinion I didn't think it was ready for the dry tires yet."

Christopher Bell is ranked sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. He has 555 points to his name.