Christopher Bell Accidentally Confirms Joe Gibbs’ Secret Replacement for Martin Truex Jr

It is done. Martin Truex Jr. will retire from full-time racing at the end of the season. With the veteran JGR driver departing, the team was on a hunt for a new face. But nothing was official until the cat was out of the bag in a recent media interaction. It looks like Joe Gibbs Racing has already decided on the replacement for the No. 20 driver.

Christopher Bell accidentally spilled the beans on the team’s new driver. Ahead of the Sunday race, Bell slipped a name while answering questions. Whose name did he mention?

C. Bell was asked about his role as a leader on the team after the departure of MTJ. In trying to explain his role, he accidentally revealed Birscoe’s arrival to the team. “I don’t think that there really is a leadership role in that aspect. And whenever Chase (Briscoe) comes in….[Opps. Laughs Bell].”

He even tried to backtrack his words, with a smile on his face, “Whenever, whenever we have a new driver.” But the entire room and the NASCAR community now knew that Briscoe would head to JGR at the start of the 2025 season. However, because Bell didn’t mention the driver’s last name, Kyle Larson decided to poke some fun at the situation and brought up Chase Elloitt’s name.

“Man totally blind sided by this news! Wishing @chaseelliott the best on his new adventure at @JoeGibbsRacing. Have enjoyed you as a teammate! Good Luck #d19,” he wrote on X and left everyone in splits.

Bell’s revelation potentially puts a stop to the speculation surrounding Chase Briscoe’s next team and defines his place for 2025, or maybe for a longer period, depending on the terms of the contract with Coach Gibbs and the team. For a long time, he was linked with a move to Wood Brothers Racing, but now it looks like a done deal.

This makes the picture regarding other SHR drivers’ futures clearer, as Gene Haas is set to retain one of the charters, and the driver for that one charter remains uncertain. However, a recent comment by Cole Custer gave a few hints. “It would be a dream come true to run that Cup car.” Seeing him in the Cup Series racing in 2025 for Gene Haas might not be surprising since his father, Joe Custer, will be the president of the Haas Factory Team. However, nothing is official yet.

Amid such confirmations and speculations around drivers securing a seat in 2025, it is good that Chase Briscoe is set to align with one of the best teams on the track. Not only that, but it also ignites a domino effect for other teams and drivers to start plotting their moves, who were stalling the process awaiting an announcement like this.

What could happen to the rest of the SHR drivers?

Rookie SHR driver Josh Berry would be the happiest man in the NASCAR garage after Bell’s muck-up and unofficially confirming Briscoe’s future at JGR as he eyes for that one seat in Haas’s team. But, given how unpredictable the silly season has been, nothing can be said for certain. This means that Berry does have a shot at getting a ride with HFT.

Josh Berry even had a huge sigh of relief after the announcement dropped, “I feel way better now than maybe I did a couple of weeks ago.” But this could be a reaction to things now falling into place for him to make a move with another team. This is where Front Row Motorsports comes into the frame. With two empty seats to fill before the start of the 2025 season, Berry now has a huge chance to get into one of the FRM cars. And who knows, Rodney Childers and the entire #4 team could transition at FRM, continuing with a Ford car.

Noah Gragson’s links with Richard Childress Racing have been floating around for some time now. But again, that move entirely depends on RCR’s ability to acquire a third charter. It is highly unlikely to see them offload either of their two drivers, Kyle Busch or Austin Dillon. RCR is also looking to take a different route in bagging a third charter, trying to avoid the bidding war for the two remaining SHR charters. So it will be interesting to see where Gragson lands. Do not count him out of the race at FRM and HFT just yet.

Ryan Preece, unfortunately, could be spiraling down to the Xfinity Series. And that entry could open up at Haas Factory Team with their two rides. For him to make that switch, though, he would need Cole Custer to make his move back to the Cup Series.

Wood Brothers Racing is still an option now that Briscoe is confirmed at JGR. However, they would rather consider either Gragson or Berry for the seat over Preece. So the only possible opportunity on the cards for the Connecticut native driver is in the Xfinity Series.

This is all but an attempt to solve the scrambled jigsaw puzzle that the silly season, as well as Tony Stewart, have put on the table. While all this is going on, Tony Stewart is busy with NHRA. Now only time will tell where SHR drivers land. What do you think?