NASCAR NEWS: David Pearson Has Officially announced His is departing from NASCAR and Why…..

NASCAR NEWS: David Pearson Has Officially announced His is departing from NASCAR and Why…..

The No. 19 car at Joe Gibbs Racing is in need of a driver next season following Martin Truex Jr.’s retirement announcement last week.

With Stewart-Haas Racing shutting down at the end of the season, no official announcement has been made about Truex’s replacement, but Chase Briscoe has been mentioned as the likely candidate to replace Truex.

And Bell made that very clear on Friday before catching himself during a news conference at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

With Chase Elliott the only other “Chase” in the Cup Series field, Kyle Larson had some fun with Bell’s slip-up. No, Elliott isn’t leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the season.

Truex, 43, has been one of the best drivers of the last decade in the Cup Series.

He’s won 33 races since the start of the 2016 season and won the 2017 Cup Series title.

He’s spent the last six seasons of his career at JGR after the closure of Furniture Row Motorsports and he and Bell have been teammates at the Cup Series level for the past five seasons.

With Truex’s retirement, there are set to be just three full-time drivers in their 40s when the 2025 Cup Series season begins in February.

Briscoe, 30, has one career victory and is 17th in the points standings this season. He was ninth in 2022 before a bad season in 2023 that was hampered by a massive points penalty assessed to his team.

Briscoe is currently the highest-ranked SHR driver in the points standings ahead of Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece.

Neither of those three drivers have rides officially lined up for next season either.