After Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell is arguably the best dirt racer in the NASCAR Cup Series garage. Unlike the HMS star, Bell wasn’t allowed to participate in non-NASCAR races in his team. Historically, Joe Gibbs Racing has limited its driver’s participation in dirt racing. Their concerns were simple, they didn’t want their drivers to sustain injuries that would hamper their weekly output at NASCAR races.

This is something Rick Hendrick had to deal with when Alex Bowman got injured mid-season, competing in the sprint car at a High Limit Racing event. However, something’s changed at Joe Gibbs Racing, as Bell hinted that he would be returning on dirt tracks. “See you guys at a dirt track soon 😎.” Even the veteran team gave his permission, provided the conditions set by the team were met. “If they get approval from everyone they need on our competition side, then they are free to run the race.”

As it turns out, it’s not just dirt racing; the JGR drivers are also allowed to race in other disciplines of racing. But it makes you wonder why Coach eased the restrictions on his drivers. And it seems like his grandson, Ty Gibbs, might be the reason behind these changes in the team.

Ty Gibbs is the key behind Christopher Bell’s return to dirt racing

Now we all know Bell is a top-class dirt racing driver. He won the iconic midget race event, the Chili Bowl, in 2017 and repeated this feat twice in 2018 and 2019. Thus becoming the only third driver to reach this milestone. However, since his arrival at JGR, Coach Gibbs has kept a close watch on his star driver, and he hasn’t competed in a dirt car since 2022.

However, with another passionate dirt racer, Chase Briscoe, joining the team, the momentum shifted in favor of the driver. But the deciding factor, in this case, could be Joe Gibbs’ grandson, Ty Gibbs, who’s recently grown fond of dirt racing. His passion for dirt racing alongside Bell and Briscoe could’ve been a deciding factor for Coach to allow his drivers to compete on dirt.

Justin Fiedler, on his YouTube show, shared the details on Ty Gibbs’ latest development and involvement in dirt racing. “Ty Gibbs has been racing micros at Millbridge since July, driving for Chad Boat. Boat is an easy connection since he uses TRD power in his midgets and has campaigned cars for Bell and Larson in the past.”

Fiedler also stated that Ty could be preparing for the Chili Bowl Nationals appearance with Chad Boat. It’s also known that the driver of the #54 JGR car was testing a 410s sprint car a few weeks ago in North Carolina. And guess what? HMS star Kyle Larson was in attendance to see Ty churn out some laps, potentially preparing for his big race in January.

Well, it’s tough to guess if Christopher Bell will be competing at the Chili Bowl to contest for his fourth crown. But the fact that he got permission from his team owners was something he didn’t expect.

Bell and Briscoe were surprised to see Joe Gibbs allowing them to compete on dirt tracks

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Apart from Denny Hamlin, all three current JGR drivers are fond of dirt racing. Ty Gibbs is slowly but steadily picking up pace in trying to get up to speed in a non-NASCAR set-up. Meanwhile, you have Bell and Briscoe, who are seasoned race car drivers who could use some seat time in a NASCAR era where practice sessions are pretty much non-existent.

Reacting to this new development, Bell, while speaking to Jeff Gluck, stated, “I was definitely caught off guard by the change of policy. I was super shocked, but 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.”

Although Bell was caught by surprise by this new change in policy, Chase Briscoe felt that he knew something like this wasn’t out of his reach at JGR. “I could tell it wasn’t a hard ‘no,’ but it wasn’t something at the time they were super thrilled about. 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.”

None of the two JGR drivers confirmed that they were going to compete at the Chili Bowl. But, with more than two months left for the event, the prospect can’t be ruled out completely. Imagine the likes of Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe, and Ty Gibbs competing at the Chili Bowl Nationals. The fans inside the SageNet center would be treated to a thrilling show of NASCAR drivers battling out on the dirt track.