“Every F***ing Week”: Joe Gibbs’ NASCAR Driver Exposes Gateway Blunders in Fiery Radio Rant

“Last year, we came so close to winning at WWT Raceway. So yeah, I’m excited about it being in the playoffs.” Christopher Bell’s words of enthusiasm going into Gateway made sense. Joe Gibbs’ stellar driver put up an excellent performance in 2024, finishing in 5th place. With a solid average finish of 9.0 in three Gateway starts, a lot of eyes were on Bell to perform well in the second race of the 2025 Cup Series playoffs. However, Bell’s team could not build on its momentum last year.

Christopher Bell was fresh off a disastrous outing at Darlington Raceway. Twin incidents of tangling with Carson Hocevar left him nursing his wounds from a 29th-place finish. That is why the pain of not being able to compensate properly threw Bell into a fit of rage.

Christopher Bell takes it out on his team

A week ago in Darlington, mistakes plagued two of Joe Gibbs’ brightest. Denny Hamlin, the highest prospect entering the egg-shaped oval, faced an issue with his back right tire. That cost him his pole-sitting position, and Hamlin had to start from the rear. Similarly, Christopher Bell collided with Carson Hocevar on lap 152, and then again a few laps later, which damaged the No. 20 Toyota’s right side. Bell could never recover from that setback – not even in Gateway. While Hamlin made up for his Darlington woes with a win in Gateway, Bell found himself running 7th – hardly ideal for the top championship prospect.

Hence, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver lashed out at his team for taking things lightly. Christopher Bell started the Enjoy Illinois 300 race in 8th place and ran in the top ten all day. He briefly cracked the top five in Stage 2, but ultimately slipped back to 7th by the end. This finish improved his position in the standings from 10th to 8th, prompting crew chief Adam Stevens to say, “That’s what we needed today.” However, Bell snapped back in a fit of fury, “EVERY F—— WEEK it’s the same s—! We’re the last car to pit road! I’M OVER IT!”

This reaction made sense, as Christopher Bell had expressed how important Gateway is for him. Besides his good history of top ten finishes, a Craftsman Truck Series victory at the track was close to his heart. Bell said before the race, “It (Gateway) definitely feels like a home track. I’ve just spent so much time in St. Louis racing around the dirt tracks in the area that it definitely feels like you’re racing at home. I go back to that 2016 NASCAR Truck Series race where I got my first asphalt win in the sport. That was really special. My dad and mom were, and my family was able to be there for that one.”

Evidently, the poor finish at Gateway hurt Christopher Bell harder than his team expected. Hopefully, the JGR driver can move on to the next challenge and look for redemption there. Meanwhile, Bell can relax about Darlington.

Settling differences without trouble

If a NASCAR driver can personify ‘trouble,’ it would definitely be Carson Hocevar. The Spire Motorsports sophomore driver has been in the thick of controversy since the beginning of the 2025 Cup Series season. Hocevar enraged veterans like Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney in Atlanta’s February race, which Christopher Bell won. Then, the Spire driver’s brush-up with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in Nashville created a wild sensation in the headlines. In last week’s Darlington race, it was Bell’s turn – but Hocevar opted to settle differences without trouble with Joe Gibbs’ driver. During a press conference on Saturday at the World Wide Technology Raceway, Hocevar broached the topic. He said his crew chief, Luke Lambert, spoke with JGR 20 crew chief Adam Stevens and got on the same page about the incident.

Carson Hocevar mostly shaved off blame from both him and Christopher Bell, putting the onus on the crew chiefs. He said that despite the twin incidents, the two teams are now cool. “Yeah, my crew chief and Adam Stevens talked, and they were all good. Obviously, you know heat of the moment, everybody can share their frustration, but they talked and they were all good. Drivers, most of the time on pit road, are kind of just blind, per se, right? It’s more on the crew chiefs from that aspect to guide us in and out, so they had that conversation, and I think they’re plenty good moving forward.”

If nothing else, this can at least numb Christopher Bell’s Darlington misery a little bit. Let us wait and see if Joe Gibbs’ top prospect can make up for his team’s shortfalls in the following races.