Martin Truex Jr’s retirement signals a shifting of the old guard at Joe Gibbs Racing. With Chase Briscoe stepping in, only one-fourth of their Cup Series lineup is now over 40. And call it life, but that sole veteran is none other than the newly minted 44-year-old Denny Hamlin.

Essentially, that would make the #11 veteran the de facto leader at Coach Gibbs’ glorious race team. But each one of his drivers will fight for their own come next season. Hence, making inferences this early serves no true purpose in the bigger picture. Still, there’s no denying that change is sweeping through Joe Gibbs Racing, with some fresh policies getting implemented that align seamlessly with NASCAR’s evolving landscape. These changes have undoubtedly put a smile on the face of their #20 driver, Christopher Bell. After all, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to reconnect with their roots, especially when they’ve received the green light from their very employers?

Coach Gibbs embraces dirt with a game-changing policy shift at JGR

The Athletic made it official on November 18th, but news has been circulating in the garages for most of this year that Joe Gibbs Racing would finally let its drivers race on dirt outside of NASCAR. Coach Gibbs’ 22-year-old trailblazer grandson, Ty Gibbs, has shown an interest in racing dirt earlier. And now, it seems like his teammates will all have their own chance as well. After JGR officially named Chase Briscoe (and no, we’re not talking about Christopher Bell’s accidental revelation at Loudon) as the driver to replace Martin Truex Jr in the #19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs addressed the issue to Lee Spencer of SiriusXM NASCAR.

He had said,

“It’s important to Christopher (Bell) and all of our drivers. So, what we’ve developed here if somebody wants to run a race, you know, outside of our Cup stuff… They just come to us. We talk. They go to the crew chief first. Then they go to our competition guys, [COO, Michael Guttilla], and then we all talk it over. And it has a lot to do with the car, the racetrack and whatever, and then we make a decision and go forward…” Joe Gibbs later confirmed his initial statement to The Athletic recently reiterating that once their competition team had everything sorted out, the drivers would be free to run an event “That includes dirt, but also potentially other forms of racing.”

For C Bell, one of the few drivers to win the prestigious Chili Bowl Nationals, aka ‘the Super Bowl of midget racing,’ indeed, that is a stellar prospect. A lifelong dirt racer hailing from Norman, Oklahoma, Bell could certainly use the extra practice. And so could Chase Briscoe, who once beat Jeff Gordon’s record to become the youngest driver ever to win a 410 Sprint car race. Both Briscoe and C-Bell grew up cutting their teeth on dirt tracks across the nation, and their racing style honed over years had translated well to NASCAR. Now, these recent developments have the pair beaming. Bell made the feelings quite clear with a retweet of the news on X, captioning his post with an empowering 8-word statement.

“See you guys at a dirt track soon…” wrote the 29-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing wheelman.

Coincidentally,

Christopher Bell was the last driver to win a NASCAR Cup race on dirt. At the very last iteration of the controversial Bristol Dirt Race in 2023, the guy used everything he learned in his younger days and led the most laps en route to victory lane. Back in 2022, he sat down with Jeff Gluck to answer his infamous 12 Questions segment and professed his love for dirt-track racing. He believed “The fan base is much less polarizing on the dirt side.” In his own words, “I feel like you’re more respected as a human being on the dirt side. All the drivers just are another guy. They’re out there commingling with fans, drinking beers with them and they’re respected as a human being.”

It might be safe to say Bell is looking forward to his new schedule with the new policy finally coming into play at Joe Gibbs Racing, Interestingly,

Kyle Larson & Brad Sweet’s High Limit Racing series replied to C Bell’s reshare and “dropped” their 2025 schedule for everyone to see, especially Bell. While this may spark a wave of fan debates down the line, the drivers in question are only just beginning to adjust to the concept in its initial stages.

Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and Ty Gibbs eye dirt-track dominance

Now, let’s make one thing clear: Coach Gibbs has

“always preferred (his drivers’) focus remain on racing in NASCAR.” However, he’s now the proud boss of two dirt track racing standouts (potentially three, if Ty wishes to go short track racing in his off-time). That makes Denny Hamlin somewhat of an outcast, although what’s to say the#11 driver wouldn’t also trade the bright lights of the Cup Series for some rough-n-tumble bullring action on the weekdays, for a little bit of extra practice?

Regardless, Christopher Bell was definitely ‘caught off guard’ by the change of policy. However, “with Chase coming on board and Ty growing an interest in dirt racing, it’s nice we have the majority of our team aligned with it now.” Bell concluded with a brighter note on the extra benefits of this fundamental shift within the garages of Joe Gibbs Racing, “It’s refreshing knowing I’ll be able to do whatever I want to do… I’m super excited to reconnect with my dirt fan base and see everybody at a dirt track soon.”

New teammate Chase Briscoe concurred with that notion. “I could tell it wasn’t a hard ‘no,’ but it wasn’t something at the time they were super thrilled about,” explained the #19 driver. “It didn’t feel like the door was shut completely; there was definitely a crack. But I didn’t know in my first year getting there, I would still be able to go do stuff if I wanted to.” If nothing else, Joe Gibbs lifting the restrictions has brought in a new air of optimism among JGR’s dirt track racers plying their trade at the highest level of stock car racing. And if things go all well, this could only benefit the organization’s trophy cabinet in the long run.