Christopher Bell jokes with Dale Earnhardt Jr. about Martin Truex Jr., gets serious about what he's meant to him

Christopher Bell came to a tough realization when he spoke to Dale Earnhardt Jr. about his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. On the latest episode of Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt asked Bell what he’s going to miss about Truex who recently announced his retirement.

“He is my idol, my role model and he’s the guy that I want to be similar to whenever I get to be 30-40 years old. I guess I already am 30. That’s depressing,” Bell said while laughing. “But whenever I get to be older in my Cup career, I’ve told Martin this time and time again, but what I respect the heck out of him for is he does himself. He cares about winning races, being the best driver that he can be and that’s it. He’s doing it for himself at his own way, and I just think that’s awesome.”

Bell continued: “In this new day of age where we’re in, social media and all this building your brand, which building is important, don’t get me wrong. But myself, Christopher Bell, I want to be known as the race car driver Christopher Bell, how good of a race car driver I am. I don’t want to be known for selling myself on social media. I want to be a race car driver. That’s who I am, that’s who I want to be. I respect Martin because that’s who Martin is.”

Christopher Bell is ready to win more races this year

Bell’s comments come after winning the Cup Series race in New Hampshire. He has now won three Cup Series races this year and is looking to win more.

“Well, we’re certainly on our way,” Bell said during the post-race press conference on Sunday. “What sucks is looking back at the races that have slipped away so far in this year. You look at COTA. You look at Richmond. I mean, those are the two that really come to mind. It’s pretty easy to start stacking the wins up, right? So it’s been a fun ride, and I feel like we’re close to hitting our stride. I’m excited about what’s to come. That’s for sure.”

Bell also talked about how the race was entertaining due to the rain and the drivers placing wet tires on the cars. “That’s what the key is to having successful races and entertainment,” he said. “Hopefully, that was entertaining because it was something different, something new, and nobody knew what to expect and what to do. The guys that figured it out the quickest were the most successful.”