Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell is one of the most sought-after names in NASCAR now. The 31-year-old driver, who broke through the junior ranks, is regarded very highly in the Cup Series, and given his trajectory, one can expect him to be a future Cup Series champion.

His advice, in that case, can be considered the gold standard or, at the very least, practical. Appearing in Thursday's episode of Kevin Harvick's "Happy Hour" podcast, the No. 20 JGR Toyota driver explained how he never chased success and instead focused on the process.

"I think one of the biggest things that helped me to get where I was today was I never had the goal of being a NASCAR driver," Bell said. "I just had the goal of being a professional racer. So I was content with where I was so early in life in my teenage years that it allowed me to exceed in that moment and not focus on moving ahead and trying to put the cart before the horse."

Bell rose through the ranks, as he started off with dirt racing, followed by sprint racing. In 2017, he established himself in the NASCAR world as a Truck Series champion, and in 2019, he trailblazed in the Xfinity Series, with seven wins and multiple more podiums.

"That's one thing I try and tell young kids that are coming up behind me: You have to succeed in the moment," Bell further added. "You can't be looking so far ahead that you forget to win in the moment. And if you win races, winners won't be ignored, but you have to focus on your day-to-day and making sure that you don't focus too far out."

Currently, Christopher Bell is racing for Joe Gibbs Racing, one of the best teams in NASCAR. He has a full-time contract under his belt and drives the No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE. The 2026 season is his seventh in the Cup Series, and he has racked up 232 race starts and 13 wins to his name.

Christopher Bell offers injury update hours before San Diego weekend

As NASCAR is set to host its first race weekend at Coronado, in San Diego, Christopher Bell shared an update on his wrist injury. Having fractured his left wrist after the crash in Michigan, the JGR star raced at Pocono and is set to race at Coronado as well.

"This [San Diego] is gonna be a challenge for me, for sure," Bell said via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "Any time that I have to use my left hand to hold the wheel, and certainly turning while shifting is going to be the hardest part. And then road courses just have a lot more wheel movement than a track like Pocono."

Unlike Pocono's 2.5-mile oval, the San Diego street course will demand sharp turns and strength to absorb the shocks from the bumps on the track.

"Going to San Diego, where I’m going to have to be turning with my left hand and shifting with my right hand off the steering wheel, it’s going to be difficult, and I won’t know how I feel in the car until we get there and do practice," Bell added.

Bell suffered an enormous 63-G crash at Michigan and injured his foot and left wrist. While the governing body cleared him to race, the former has yet to completely recover, with an expected timeline of six weeks since the time of injury.

Follow the RFK Racing Digest for more updates!

Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Yash Kotak