Before the weekend fever starts, a little fun is mandatory. Denny Hamlin is enjoying himself, going all in with a cowboy look that fans are loving. However, we’re talking about another driver from the Joe Gibbs Racing garage.

Christopher Bell has been in the Joe Gibbs Racing fold since 2021, being a persevering force. While veterans like Denny Hamlin or Kyle Busch got the maximum spotlight, Bell harbored a reticent yet steady attitude. In 2025, the No. 20 Toyota driver has turned out to be the dominant element. At the same time, his bond with his team owner has only improved.

That may be partially due to Joe Gibbs lifting restrictions on dirt racing for his Cup Series drivers last year. That left a gleeful Christopher Bell immensely happy, as the three-time Chili Bowl winner honed his racecraft on dirt track events. But while Gibbs allowed Bell to soar on his home ground, the latter delivered a cheeky jab at Gibbs’s roots.

Well, before Joe Gibbs became a NASCAR team owner, he had a different designation. Beginning in 1981, Gibbs worked as the head coach for the Washington Redskins (now known as the Washington Commanders). During a 12-year term that ended after the 1992 season, the Gibbs-led Redskins won the NFC title in the strike-shortened 1982 season. They also picked up the NFC East Division championships in 1983, 1984, 1987, and 1991. The team compiled a 124-60-0 regular-season record and a 16-5 record in 21 postseason games. Clearly, Gibbs’ connection to the Washington Commanders runs as deep as that with his NASCAR team. Yet Christopher Bell chose to jab at his team owner in this regard.

Christopher Bell is gearing up for the Würth 400 race at Texas Motor Speedway, with support from Interstate Batteries for his car. But before Bell could gear up for the track action, his sponsor chose to ask him some fun questions alongside Joe Gibbs. During the whole interview, both driver and owner exchanged friendly jabs at each other. When Bell confessed that he’s not really a television person, Gibbs roasted him: “Gosh, it must be boring at your house.” However, Bell rolled up his sleeves for a cheeky comeback. Upon being asked what his favorite team overall is, Bell slipped out, “Dallas Cowboys,” the name of the rival of Gibbs’ former NFL team. So Gibbs was shell-shocked: “What?!” He continued, “That is going to be on the floor. That will be edited out.”

The Cowboys-Redskins rivalry has been dubbed the top NFL rivalry of all time. Both teams have played 130 times (including 2 postseason games), with the Washington Commanders winning 49 games and the Dallas Cowboys winning 79 games. Talking about the rivalry, Coach Gibbs once said, “If there’s anything I miss about the NFL, it’s this game. Redskins-Cowboys, there was nobody on the fence. You’re either one or the other, and to be quite truthful, they didn’t like each other.” Despite Christopher Bell hitting right where Joe Gibbs’ sentiment lies, the team owner soon forgave him.

Joe Gibbs went on to laud Bell’s racing prowess: “These guys, when they climb in a car, the enjoyment. You just ask Christopher. I would love to have done that. And I think a lot of us kind of picture ourselves being like, ‘We could have done that.’ And that’s the attraction to the sport. For all of us as fans, a lot of us, we can kind of say, what’s that like? There is no limit. In other words, you can put the gas down as much as you want. There is no limit that says, ‘You can’t go this fast.'”

And Christopher Bell has been playing with that limit in the best way possible. That is why Joe Gibbs suspects a champion around the corner.

A coach’s hunch is never wrong

After all, Joe Gibbs has been a seasoned NFL team coach. Besides his legendary time with the Washington Redskins, Gibbs ran his highly successful NASCAR Cup Series team since 1992. Having weathered numerous challenges in the stock car racing series, Gibbs is a veteran in this sport as well. So he can tell when the signs are pointing towards a possible championship. Christopher Bell has been on fire since the 2025 Cup Series season started. He picked up three consecutive victories at Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas, and Phoenix, creating a record in the Next-Gen era. Now, Bell holds the 5th rank in the points standings, after clinching consistent top-five finishes between Martinsville and Bristol. These positive updates can mean only one thing: that Bell may be heading towards a grand success.

After all, the No. 20 Toyota driver narrowly missed out on the Championship 4 round in 2024. This year, however, Joe Gibbs delivered a bold prediction after his COTA victory that a title is around the corner. Gibbs said that all the factors seem aligned, especially the camaraderie within the 20 team. “I think in football every now and then you have a team that really had a great feeling about themselves, were really confident, and a great chemistry,” the 84-year-old Gibbs said. “It doesn’t happen very often, and it doesn’t carry over from one year to the other. But when you kind of get that, I think it’s a great feeling when you see it as a coach or an owner. I think that’s what we have with the 20 team.”

Clearly, Joe Gibbs roots for his Cup Series drivers no matter what. A healthy round of cheeky jabs is mandatory to lighten the mood before another hectic racing weekend.