Though common knowledge has him in the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota next season, officially, Christopher Bell said on Thursday at Bristol Motor Speedway that his plans for next year are not set.
Bell is under contract to Joe Gibbs Racing and knows he’ll be racing next year, just not where.
“Everybody’s wondering about 2020, but nothing is official until it comes from me or whatever team or whatever happens,” Bell said. “So I have no news to tell you guys right now. We’ll just have to wait for another day.”
Though Bell represents himself in contract negotiations, he says the decision-making power about his future lies with his car owners.
“There’s a number of different cars that I could drive next year,” Bell said. “Obviously I could still run the Xfinity Series. I could go to the Cup Series. It’s not in my hands right now, so I just have to go out there and continue to try to win races.”
About the open seat in the No. 95 LFR Toyota, which is affiliated with JGR, Bell said, “That’s tough for me to answer, because right now, I drive for Joe Gibbs Racing, and the 95 is not a Joe Gibbs Racing car.
“We’ll just have to see how it works out in the next coming weeks.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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