TALLADEGA, Ala. – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) playoff contender Christopher Bell will leap to a full-time NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) contender next season, Joe Gibbs Racing announced Friday morning.
Before making his mark on pavement, 22-year-old Bell was crowned the United States Auto Club (USAC) National Midget championship in 2013 and accumulated 26 feature wins on dirt in 2014, including the Turkey Night Grand Prix Midget race.
“I can’t express how excited I am about the opportunity to drive full time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the XFINITY Series,” said Bell. “This has been a tremendous year for me and obviously I remain focused on finishing the Truck Series season strong and hopefully bringing a Championship to Kyle, Samantha and everyone at Kyle Busch Motorsports.
“I don’t think I could ask for a better place to take the next step in my racing career. I’m already comfortable with everyone at JGR and I think the experience I have with them this year should help me at the start of 2018.”
The Norman, Okla., native is currently running full-time in Trucks for Kyle Busch Motorsports and remains in contentions for this season’s championship. Entering Saturday’s fred’s 250 at Talladega, he currently leads the point standings with five race wins and seven stage wins providing him a series high 47 points.
With 48 starts to his credit, Bell has earned three poles, seven wins, 23 top-five and 36 top-10 finishes in three seasons of competition.
In addition to his truck series duties, Bell has also competed in four XFINITY Series races this season earning a fourth-place finish in his debut at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and posted a sixth-place effort in his most recent race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
Bell is slated to compete in four additional XFINITY races in 2017 including next Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway, as well the final the three races of the season at Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix Raceway and Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway.
“Christopher has proven himself at every level of racing and we are excited to have him run full time in our XFINITY Series program starting in 2018,” said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. “He has shown great maturity both on and off the track and we think he is ready for this opportunity. We look forward to watching his continued progress in the sport.”
Bell started 2017 on point by winning one of Motorsports’ marquee events, the Chili Bowl, and followed it up by dominating and winning in the Camping World Truck Series at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway in addition to his other wins at Texas (June), Kentucky, Pocono and New Hampshire.
Outside of NASCAR, Bell has also enjoyed success in Super Late Models, winning prestigious races at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway, South Alabama Speedway and South National (N.C.) Motorsports Park. He also has earned three wins, four top-five and six top-10 finishes in six ARCA Racing Series between 2016 and 2017 with Venturini Motorsports.
Joe Gibbs Racing will announce additional details for Bell’s XFINITY Series program, including sponsors, car number and crew chief assignments at a later date.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
