Christopher Bell's crew chief set to return to his pit box after missing 4 NASCAR races due to surgery

Christopher Bell's crew chief Adam Stevens returns to his pit box this week at Atlanta Motor Speedway after missing the previous four races due to knee surgery.

Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports posted a video of his discussion with Bell on Stevens' return from NASCAR's recent Playoff Media Day on his X account.

In the video, Bell expresses his appreciation for Stevens being back and being able to have the team unite at full capacity, but added that not much has been different in the weeks during Stevens' absence.

"One thing that has been a little bit different is just our post-practice debriefs are having to be done through the phone," Bell said in the video. "I think there is a little bit of like body language that gets lost whenever you don't have somebody in the room with you, so I'm excited about that aspect. I've been really proud of the team for coming up and not losing anything while he's been gone."

Stevens won't be at the track for this race weekend's entirety, however, as Bell said he'll only be atop the pit box for race day on Sunday. Bell expects Stevens to be back for a full race weekend next weekend at Watkins Glen, a place where Pockrass said in the interview that tire falloffs could be crucial.

"I think we have more tires and more practice at The Glen," Bell said in the interview. "It's almost like a new track where. ... It's a new tire. It'll be a little bit different and it'll be important to have him there."

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Stevens missed four races due to an injury sustained while on vacation

During the NASCAR Cup Series' two-week break in between the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis and the Cook Out 400 at Richmond, Stevens suffered a double knee injury on vacation that required surgery. Stevens said in a statement released by the team that he was still attuned remotely with everything involving the team.

Bell, a nine-time Cup winner, has piloted his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to three victories this season. His first win came in the fourth race of the campaign at Phoenix Raceway. He went on to win the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway over Memorial Day weekend. Bell's third win of the season came in an overtime finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway towards the end of June.

Bell has made it into the Championship 4 in the previous two seasons. In 2022, Bell finished 10th in the season finale race at Phoenix and had to settle for third in the final standings behind runner-up Ross Chastain and the 2022 champion Joey Logano. Last year, Bell suffered a brake failure on lap 108 of the season finale race's 312-lap event, which ended his title hopes. Ryan Blaney went on to win the championship.