Joe Gibbs made a giant sacrifice when he agreed to let his Cup Series drivers race outside NASCAR. He’d prohibited them from doing so in seasons past out of the fear that they might injure themselves in one of their dirt racing escapades. However, his outlook changed last year, and Christopher Bell spent the offseason collecting victory flags.
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Following Bell’s Cup Series win at Atlanta this Sunday, he was asked how hard it was for him to let the No. 19 driver race in sprint cars and if he watched any of the races. Gibbs did not watch any of the off-season races. However, he is waiting to see what comes out of the gamble that he has taken.
He said, “I felt like that the thing that I probably made the decision on… They’re really focused just on racing. They loved it, and they talked about the offseason. Being able to get a chance to race some dirt stuff would help fill their time and get them excited about things. We’ll kind of see where he leads, but I made that decision, and we’ll kind of see what happens with it.”
Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs are equally involved with dirt racing and join Bell in Gibbs’ mind as a cause of worry. But as the benefactor expressed, their satisfaction levels outside NASCAR are directly relatable to their performance in it.
Hopefully, none of them will damage themselves in the process of having their cravings for thrill fulfilled.
Was it Ty Gibbs’ love for dirt racing that made Gibbs change his mind?
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs’ grandson, raced in the Chili Bowl Nationals for the first time this year. In the interview, he was asked if the young driver’s interest in dirt racing was what led him to lift the restriction on all his drivers. He revealed that he discussed with all three of them before coming to the decision.
He did acknowledge his grandson’s late tryst with the racing discipline and added, “Christopher obviously is always heavily involved with it. Chase right now has a team but has kind of backed off. That’s kind of where we are with all that.” Bell was the one who took full advantage of the situation as early as he could.
In the dawning days of February, he raced in the World of Outlaws at the Volusia Speedway Park. He won his heat race on the second night of racing and went on to defeat Kyle Larson in their division. It was his first World of Outlaws victory in six years. It is certain that more Victory Lanes visits await him on this front going forward.
