Bell’s Spotter Steps Down After All-Star Win; Keselowski Brings in Backup

PXL_20250524_181751081 — (Photo: Greg Engle CupScene.com)

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The timing seemed odd.

On Wednesday, three days after Christopher Bell won the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed that Matt Philpott has replaced Stevie Reeves as spotter on Bell’s No. 20 Toyota.

Reeves had spotted for Bell from his debut in the Cup Series in 2020 through last weekend but unexpectedly decided to leave the role.

“I was surprised as well,” Bell said. “It was all Stevie’s decision. He made the decision on his own to quit, and that’s all I’m going to say.”

Philpott is not an experienced spotter. Accordingly, he and Bell worked on an iRacing event together earlier this week, and Bell planned to spend time on the spotters’ stand with Philpott during Saturday’s Xfinity race at Charlotte.

“I’ve been around Philpott a lot as a mechanic,” Bell said. “He was on the 11 car (of Denny Hamlin) full-time, and he was on my car a couple of times throughout the course of the years.

“I have a relationship with him. I’ve listened to the feedback that we have online, but we’ll just play it week by week and see how it goes.”

Reeves has the habit of going out on top. After spotting for Jimmie Johnson during the NASCAR Hall of Famer’s second championship season in 2007, Reeves was informed with two races left in the 2008 campaign that he would not be retained in 2009.

Johnson went on to win his third straight title in 2008 and added championships the following two years with spotter Earl Barban.

Brad Keselowski will have a different spotter this weekend, too, though not by choice. Veteran spotter T.J. Majors has been sidelined because of a medical procedure that’s expected to keep him out of action for a month.

“It’s part of life, I guess,” Keselowski said on Friday during a sponsor announcement at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. “We don’t like it, but we’re doing our best to adapt for it.

“Thankfully, because there was some warning, we had ample time to prepare, and he had ample time to do his homework and share that. But we’re hopeful he’ll be back real soon.”

Keselowski’s brother, Brian Keselowski, will provide a familiar voice from the spotters’ stand during Majors’ absence.

“Yeah, very familiar,” Keselowski said. “We have some depth today.”