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Christopher Bell hold up a broom after winning the NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sunday, June 23, 2024, in Loudon, N.H. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
AP SPORTS
Joe Gibbs driver Christopher Bell emerges as a NASCAR championship contender
Christopher Bell hold up a broom after winning the NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sunday, June 23, 2024, in Loudon, N.H. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
by: DAN GELSTON, Associated Press
Posted: Jun 24, 2024 / 09:37 AM EDT
Updated: Jun 24, 2024 / 09:37 AM EDT
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LOUDON, N.H. (AP) — Joe Gibbs has fielded Cup cars for Denny Hamlin since 2005, got a decade out of Tony Stewart and is about to replace Martin Truex Jr., who has driven for the team for the last six years of a 21-year career. The Hall of Fame football coach and NASCAR team owner knows how to coax all the miles and years he can out of his elite drivers. Gibbs just might have a long — real long — contender in place to stick inside the No. 20 Toyota.
Christopher Bell isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
“We can ride him for 20 years,” Gibbs said.
Why not? The 29-year-old driver from Oklahoma stamped himself a legitimate contender to win the Cup Series championship this season after he navigated the wet weather at New Hampshire on Sunday to win for the third time for Joe Gibbs Racing. That total matched Kyle Larson, William Byron and Hamlin for most in the series this season. Bell has won multiple races each of the last three seasons and has 11 top-10 finishes in 18 races in 2024.
Should he maintain that kind of consistency as NASCAR enters the second half of its season, Bell could find himself among the four drivers racing for a championship in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
“I just think Christopher, he’s gifted, and the further he goes, we all just really appreciate it,” Gibbs said. “I think he’s a real talented, young guy. I’ll tell you, he’s the all-American guy. Sponsors love him. He’s just a kid that everybody loves.”
Even after Bell hoisted the traditional lobster in victory lane, he still couldn’t completely let go of some of the wins that slipped away from him this season. He rattled off a missed opportunity at Circuit of the Americas when he couldn’t quite catch Byron over the final two laps and another close call at Richmond. As stout as 2024 has been for Bell and the Gibbs team, it’s hard for him not to think that it could have been better.
