Last season ended on a poor note for Joe Gibbs Racing. Christopher Bell clinched the last victory for the Toyota team at New Hampshire in June. After that, there was a downward trend. Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. barely made it into the Round of 16. Denny Hamlin could not replicate his Bristol glory. And then Bell himself drummed up controversy with his ‘wall ride’ pass at Martinsville.

2025 kicked off on a poor note initially, as most JGR drivers got caught in smoking crashes at Daytona. However, they flipped the script wildly at Atlanta. In a 39-car field, JGR racers qualified 25th, 32nd, 36th, and 37th. Yet Christopher Bell soared to the front by the end – bringing smiles to Joe Gibbs’ face.

Christopher Bell overcomes huge odds to win

The entire Toyota garage seemed to be at a disadvantage entering the Ambetter Health 400 race. Bubba Wallace’s 14th-place starting position was the best. Joe Gibbs admitted that he did not remember the last time his drivers qualified so badly. Yet after 50 lead changes among 15 drivers, 11 caution periods, and a wild overtime finish, Atlanta lent the reins to Gibbs’ Oklahoma star. Christopher Bell stormed past the chaotic traffic from the 32nd spot and became a force to reckon with only at the end. He cracked the top ten only until 30 laps remained. Then he made the most out of the last caution flag, edging Carson Hocevar and Kyle Larson to grab the victory.

This marked Joe Gibbs Racing’s resurgence after a drab streak following New Hampshire. According to Joe Gibbs, it showed Christopher Bell’s resilience but also that of the entire team. JGR underwent several changes in the off-season, like making Chris Gabehart the director of competition. Gibbs reflected on this touch-up: “We made changes. I think many times in pro sports, you analyze your year and where you are. In our case, we felt like we needed to reorganize some things and do things a different way. Last year we led a lot of laps. But we didn’t win races like we should. And so we went to work in the off-season – moved Chris up…kind of redid the 54 car and we made some other changes.” 

JGR was also hit with sponsorship troubles. FedEx, a two-decade-old partner of Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota, exited the team. So Joe Gibbs hailed the remaining sponsors like DeWalt, which helps Christopher Bell‘s No. 20 team. “For us, you gotta have great partners to be able to race. DeWalt has been with us for a long time, it’s been great getting them in the winner’s circle. Rheem, JR – appreciated them. I wound up calling Mark Reeser…So we got a great team of sponsors on that car.” Gibbs recently signed a partnership with Saia LTL Freight, which will sponsor Ty Gibbs’ No. 54 car.

Christopher Bell paved the way for JGR’s resurgence. But he also marked a personal milestone.

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Bell is slowly becoming more versatile

Well, nobody can doubt the talents of Christopher Bell. His ten Cup Series victories stand as testimony to his racing prowess. However, Joe Gibbs‘ taciturn star can find superspeedways a little tricky. In all his superspeedway starts Bell owns just four top-five finishes. Last weekend at Daytona International Speedway, he was caught in a crash and ended his day in 31st place. Atlanta Motor Speedway is a superspeedway-intermediate hybrid, but it was enough for Bell to prove his mettle. He led for only one lap in the 260-lap race and grabbed the trophy – proving that the No. 20 Toyota can conquer drafting tracks as well.

As this win marked Christopher Bell’s first victory on a drafting track, the 31-year-old racer was ecstatic post-race. “I’ll be the first to tell you, ‘I love superspeedways…I don’t know, but this style of racing has always been a little bit of a struggle for me. Throughout the beginning of the day, obviously today we were just stuck way in the back. But [crew chief] Adam [Stevens] and these boys just did an incredible job of getting this thing fixed up so I could just hold my foot down and you’ve got to be able to just stay in the throttle and that last half of the race we ran our best.” 

He added with glee, “I’ll tell you what, that right there is what you dream of. To be able to restart on the first or second row on a restart at a speedway, you never know how those things are going to play out.”

Evidently, Christopher Bell ushered forth a winning atmosphere in Joe Gibbs Racing. Here’s to hoping that this would pave the way for more wins ahead.