After a Championship 4 appearance for the second year in a row, Christopher Bell has become the most unexpected title hopeful for Joe Gibbs Racing. Team owner Joe Gibbs recognized his potential when the driver left the Xfinity team for a Cup ride at Leavine Family Racing. When LFR shut down at the end of the year, Bell was thrown a life jacket for a second Cup ride in JGR. His veteran crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, however, was not accorded the same courtesy.

Christopher Bell discloses the unfair treatment of his overlooked crew chief

Jason Ratcliff is considered one of the most successful crew chiefs in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series. In his tenure, he has been associated with current Cup stars Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell and has even taken Kyle Busch to the Championship lane in the 2009 nationwide series. Yet, his former driver Christopher Bell believes he was not awarded his due recognition by his longstanding team.

After his success with Busch, Ratcliff was briefly promoted to the Cup Series to team up with Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth. But his Cup stint suffered a massive setback when Kenseth’s #20 car failed the post-race inspection after a Kansas victory. In one of the harshest penalties awarded till then, Ratcliff was fined $200,000, along with a race suspension and a year-long probation. Relegated back to the Xfinity Series, Ratcliff played a crucial role in Bell’s career growth.

After two back-to-back appearances in the Xfinity finals, Christopher Bell and his then crew chief Jason Ratcliff moved to Leavine Family Racing’s Cup team in a tie-up with JGR in 2020. The next year, Bell began his flourishing Cup journey with JGR, but Ratcliff was once again sent back to the second-tier series, to be paired with Harrison Burton.

Acknowledging this contribution, Christopher Bell expressed his discontent in an interview with Frontstretch prior to the season finale at Phoenix. Bell confessed, “I feel so bad for Jason and the hand that he was dealt going into 2020 with everything that happened.”

He continued, “Because fortunately, I got a Mulligan year and I was able to get a second opportunity at Joe Gibbs Racing and he didn’t. He was an amazing crew chief and helped build me to where I am and he did not get a fair hand whenever we went Cup racing in 2020.”

Even NASCAR journalist Jordan Bianchi had pointed out a common theme in Joe Gibbs’s treatment of deserving crew chiefs. Bianchi had said, “Both Jason Ratcliff and Dave Rogers [then crew chief of Daniel Hemric] are good crew chiefs who’ve often been overlooked during their careers. Ratcliff played an instrumental role in Bell’s development during two full seasons together in Xfinity and one season in Cup—where Bell turned in a respectable rookie year with two top-five and seven top-10 finishes for Leavine Family Racing.”

Watch This Story: Bell’s Victory: A Twist in The Tale?

Upon his retirement at the end of the season, Jason Ratcliff has been given new responsibilities in the organization.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s iconic crew chief is set to retire after his 801st start in Phoenix

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Jason Ratcliff was the crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing’s #19 Xfinity car this season. After 18 years and 799 races with JGR, the veteran crew chief announced prior to his 800th race in Martinsville that he was ready to hang his gear. In an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Ratcliff declared that the season-ending race in Phoenix will also serve as his last race as a crew chief.

Ratcliff confirmed, “Phoenix is going to be it. This is going to be my last season as crew chief, and really, I enjoy the competition so much. So, hopefully, I can stay involved somehow on that side of it.” He got his wish fulfilled soon enough when JGR revealed he would take on a new role in the capacity of a mentor for their Xfinity and Arca Menards teams.

Jason Ratcliff’s involvement in the present success enjoyed by the #20 driver guarantees the transformation he will bring to future Joe Gibbs Racing drivers. But both Christopher Bell and Jordan Bianchi know it was perhaps too little, too late for NASCAR’s winningest Xfinity crew chief.

“I Was the One Below”- Christopher Bell Reveal’s Joe Gibbs’ Disappointed State Despite Carrying JGR’s Championship Torch