Christopher Bell won his third consecutive Cup Series race this year at the Phoenix Raceway on Sunday. As the Joe Gibbs racer continues his dominant run on the track, a throwback meme with him and his dog has gone viral on X, and his wife, Morgan Bell, supported the idea of turning the viral meme into merchandise.
Bell won the Shriners Children's 500 in the second-closest finish in Phoenix history. A three-wide photo finish saw his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin cross the line 0.049 seconds behind him, while Hendrick Motorsport's Kyle Larson finished third. This was Bell's third win of the season, after wins at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) under caution and surviving the late race wreck at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
This performance has created a wave online as the well-known NASCAR parody and meme account nascarcasm originally posted an image of Christopher Bell with his dog, Sadie. The image had Bell in a racing suit seated in a chair with the poodle resting on his lap, mocking his competitors for getting beaten thrice "in a row by Sadie’s dad".
Trending
As the meme gained traction, nascarcasm commented on the meme about turning it into a t-shirt.
"Think imma make this a shirt".
Bell's wife, Morgan, liked the idea of merchandising the meme and replied back:
"Please!"
Her response has fueled the fans' desire to turn the meme into actual t-shirts, as they couldn't stop praising the 30-year-old racer. Bell and Morgan have now been together for over ten years. They got engaged in 2018 and married in February 2020 before the Daytona 500.
Bell has had a stellar start to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series, showing consistency in his ability to finish off close races. The #20 driver currently sits behind William Byron and has won three races out of four this season. Bell started Phoenix in the 11th position and was fourth at the end of the first stage. He remained dominant throughout, finishing the second stage in first position in his Reser's Fine Foods Toyota.
Bell stayed in a good position on the inside line with option tires in the last stretch of the laps as he was chased by Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin after the caution with four laps to go. But he kept his cool and held on to the lead as Larson 'shoved' him on the finish line to edge past Hamlin. Bell himself admitted he did not know how he won as he reflected on the thrilling finish after the race.
Denny Hamlin explains Christopher Bell's win at Phoenix
While Christopher Bell became the first next-gen driver to win three Cup races consecutively, Denny Hamlin was not too happy with the way things ended for him. In his Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin Podcast, when asked about how he felt after Bell's third win, Hamlin answered:
"Let's just say we had won today. I would have said one we probably shouldn't have (won), right? So, I felt very fortunate to have a chance there at the end. It's tougher when we run like cr*p and your teammate runs really well that's where it becomes frustrating not when you get beat by 300ths of a second." [4:08 onwards]
While Hamlin was caught giving an expletive-filled response as he crossed the finish line on the car radio, he seemed more complimentary of his teammate. Hamlin, currently seventh in the Cup standings, will feel he can turn it around next week in Las Vegas, having already won there in 2021. On the other hand, Bell will look to continue his good run so far and clinch his maiden Pennzoil 400.
