Kevin Harvick believes Joe Gibbs has his team's future secured "when Denny Hamlin is not at JGR anymore"

Kevin Harvick spoke about Christopher Bell emerging as a leader at JGR following his win at COTA. The #20 driver, who recently grabbed another checkered flag at Phoenix, his third win in a row, is believed to be the top driver under Coach Gibbs' organization in the near future by Harvick.

Bell's third win in a row also meant that he has won 7 of JGR's last 12 wins.

Speaking on an episode of the Happy Hour podcast, Harvick raised the question of where he sees Bell as the team leader at JGR. He claimed that it 'surely seems to be developing' into a leadership role for Bell as a 'lead driver', with Hamlin, 44, currently in the final third of his career as a driver.

"It's not the #54 and it's not the #19. Denny's whole scenario has changed and so with the performance and the continuity and everything being consistent for that #20 team, it just seems like as they go forward they have found a new leader of their team when Denny Hamlin is not at JGR anymore," Harvick described. [37:20]

This prompted Mamba Smith, the podcast's co-host to remark that it's been a long time since a #20 driver was 'the leader' at JGR. Smith recalled the time of Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart as instances when that was the case.

"Christopher Bell is a dog certified and you look at the top of the points Blaney's up there and Byron's up there and now we're talking about the same guys potentially back in the final four," Smith added.

Kevin Harvick's co-host credits Christopher Bell's crew chief as a big factor behind his success

Speaking about the elements behind Christopher Bell's success this year, Katleyn Vincie pointed to his crew, Adam Stevens. She claimed that Stevens is a 'big part of that.' It's worth mentioning that Adam Stevens has been Christopher Bell's crew chief since 2021.

Vincie revealed that she had a conversation with Stevens ahead of the race at COTA, where he emphasized the aspect of continuity within his team.

"It's all the same road guys, same pit crew. He was like, 'Honestly that's kind of undervalued, when you have that exact core group for years on end,' he said, It's hard to do ... I've been able to keep my people which he said to me was a big part of it," Vincie described. [38:40]

Kevin Harvick then drew a contrast between Bell's current scenario and Denny Hamlin's.

The former SHR driver said that the #11 team got off to a great start at the Clash and the Daytona 500. But Harvick claimed they've had a lot of changes, which becomes a factor when the schedule goes to different types of racetracks and it becomes 'a different ballgame.'