“To Drive for JGR”: Chase Elliott Puts Joe Gibbs Speculations Down After Christopher Bell’s Slip-Up

Unknowingly spilling the beans about a certain ‘Chase’ taking over the #19 team from 2025 onwards, Christopher Bell stirred not just one, but two fandoms. While Chase Briscoe fans heaved a sigh of relief for the driver’s secured future, some Chase Elliott fans frantically wondered which ‘Chase’ Bell was talking about. And Kyle Larson’s tweet did not help alleviate their worries at all. Larson took to X to share his own humorous take on the incident. He wrote, “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“.

However, the comment Larson made was just to poke fun at Bell’s slip-up. Now that Elliott himself has cleared the air regarding his future at HMS, his fans can rest assured.

Bell’s slip-up saw even Rick Hendrick sharing memes with his driver

Unlike most of the NASCAR drivers, Elliott decides to stay away from the social media platform. He does occasionally share a post or two, but that’s about it. Therefore, when Larson tagged him on X, it seemed he might miss out on the hype train. But well, when everybody was buzzing with speculations and laughter, how could he possibly have? “Yeah, I heard about that,” the driver said in the press conference ahead of Sunday’s race, when enquired about the entire fiasco.

Moreover, he also shared a funny conversation he had with his boss, Mr. Hendrick, as the drama unfolded. “It was funny though. The boss actually sent me a message about another; I’m not sure who sent it to him or whatever. There’s all kinds of stuff. He sent me this screenshot that I was leaving and going somewhere else and was going to own a team, so been all kinds of stuff evidently going on that I didn’t know I was doing this week. So I guess I’m headed to go drive for JGR now too. I don’t think so.”

He went on to explain that Bell’s mistake was unintentional and shared his excitement for Briscoe’s future endeavors. “But I felt bad for Bell—such an honest mistake you could tell, such a genuine, like he slipped up. Excited for Briscoe, though, I mean that’ll be a really good opportunity for him, and hate that Bell was the one to break the news. I’m sure he got into trouble for that, but it’s all good; it was going to come out eventually”.

As for Briscoe, he couldn’t be more amused at the Silly Season avalanche launched by his future teammate. Revealing how Bell was left apologizing to him, the 29-year-old quipped, “He[Christopher Bell] texted me right before we went hot lap when he said, ‘Chase, I’m sorry, I messed up really bad’. But I haven’t got to see any of it yet. I can’t get nothing to load. I can’t get a text in or nothing, so I’m sure when I get back after tonight, I’ll get blown up pretty bad. But yeah, typical Christopher.”

But now that Elliott has confirmed his stay at HMS, the focus shifts to Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a racetrack where the 28-year-old has yet to register a winning result.

The Magic Mile is unlike any other racetrack

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Being the points leader, Chase Elliott would definitely be looking to pull out all the stops to retain the position. In the last six races at the track, Elliott has had solid, but not stellar results—alternating between top-10 and top-20 finishes. Hendrick Motorsports’ last win came at the track in 2012 with Kasey Kahne, and since then, Kevin Harvick has been the only Chevy driver to claim victory there. These numbers and facts definitely put pressure not just on Chase Elliott, but the entire HMS stable to perform at their best. Especially considering how uncertain and difficult NHMS can be.

Chase Elliott certainly knows how tough it can be to compete for a win on such a tricky racetrack. Sharing his insights about the unique characteristics of the racetrack, he added, “I think the toughest thing with Loudon always is the lack of banking that it has … The corner entries are flat, straightaways are long you’re going pretty fast, there’s bumps into three that can be a little unsettling so just finding that right balance and amount of comfort you are looking for in your car is really important.”

It is indeed hard to categorize the racetrack at Loudon as a short track or a mile-and-a-half venue. The 1.058 mile is rather a mix of both, with sharp turns on either side of the tracks and long straightaways. Unlike the majority of ovals, this particular racetrack only has a banking of seven degrees, making it one of the flattest tracks on the NASCAR calendar. This little banking makes it hard for drivers to engage in side-by-side racing at the turns. As a result, they end up banking on others’ mistakes to make it through.

As per his past performances, the racer has yet to clinch a victory at the Speedway Motorsports-owned track. His highest finish was in 2022 when he finished P2. On the other hand, the most talked-about driver right now (you know why!), Christopher Bell, has shown a consistent upper hand.

And not just that. Bell has experienced monumental success at the venue in NASCAR’s second division, with victories in all three of his starts (2018, 2019 and 2021) till date. This year, he will also be attempting both the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series race at the venue. And going into this different breed of ‘Double Duty’, the #20 driver couldn’t be more confident. “I’m confident that we are going to be in contention, and have a shot at it, but everything has to go right in order to win,” he said.

So, what do you think? Will Chase Elliott be able to snatch that victory to solidify his position to win the regular-season championship? Or will Bell’s expertise shine through? Let us know your predictions in the comments below!