NASCAR Cup Series: Christopher Bell’s Crew Chief To Miss Richmond Raceway Due To Surgery

Christopher Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, will miss the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series Richmond Raceway Cook Out 400 due to recent knee surgery. Stevens, who oversees Bell’s No. 20 Toyota team, sustained a double knee injury during a family vacation, leading to a successful surgical intervention.

While Stevens recuperates, his at-track duties will be temporarily assumed by car chief Chris Sherwood. From the “war room” at Joe Gibbs Racing headquarters, Stevens will continue to facilitate his responsibilities remotely—a shift that begins with the race at Richmond. Stevens revealed in a statement, as quoted by Motorsport:

“I hate that I won’t be at the track for a few weeks, but I will be fully engaged remotely. I am very thankful for the depth and strength of this No. 20 team and don’t anticipate my physical absence having any effect on our performance.

“The surgery went well, and I will be back at the track in a few weeks.”

Christopher Bell, who has had a solid season with wins at Phoenix, Charlotte, and New Hampshire, finds himself eighth in the series standings. Speaking about the upcoming race, Bell commented:

“Richmond is going to be a little bit different this time around with the option tire being introduced to points racing. Nobody is quite sure how it’s going to go, but I’m sure we will learn a lot in our practice session on Saturday.”

The Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, Virginia, is set to take place on Sunday 11 August at 6pm ET. The race will be streamed on USA Network.

Current 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Standings Ahead of The Cook Out 400 At Richmond

1. Kyle Larson – 749 points
2. Denny Hamlin – 706 points
3. William Byron – 654 points
4. Christopher Bell – 651 points
5. Ryan Blaney – 676 points
6. Chase Elliott – 739 points
7. Tyler Reddick – 734 points
8. Brad Keselowski – 615 points
9. Alex Bowman – 606 points
10. Joey Logano – 525 points
11. Daniel Suarez – 460 points
12. Austin Cindric – 438 points
13. Martin Truex Jr. – 653 points
14. Ty Gibbs – 587 points
15. Chris Buescher – 562 points
16. Ross Chastain – 552 points
17. Bubba Wallace – 545 points
18. Chase Briscoe – 469 points
19. Kyle Busch – 440 points
20. Todd Gilliland – 434 points
21. Michael McDowell – 404 points
22. Josh Berry – 388 points
23. Noah Gragson – 383 points
24. Carson Hocevar – 383 points
25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 375 points
26. Ryan Preece – 329 points
27. Erik Jones – 329 points
28. Corey LaJoie – 324 points
29. Justin Haley – 319 points
30. Daniel Hemric – 316 points
31. John Hunter Nemechek – 307 points
32. Austin Dillon – 294 points
33. Zane Smith – 248 points
34. Harrison Burton – 238 points
35. Kaz Grala – 166 points
36. Cody Ware – 47 points
37. Joey Hand – 43 points
38. Jimmie Johnson – 39 points
39. Derek Kraus – 32 points
40. David Ragan – 17 points
41. Kamui Kobayashi – 8 points
42. Will Brown – 6 points
43. Cam Waters – 2 points