CONCORD, N.C. – Despite winning last week’s All-Star Race, Christopher Bell began his week surprised. Longtime spotter Stevie Reeves quit the No. 20 team amid a successful start to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, ranking third in the regular-season championship battle and tied for the most wins (three) through 12 races.
“It was all Steevie’s decision,” Bell said on Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “He made the decision on his own to quit, and that’s all I’m going to say.”
Enter Matt Philpott, former mechanic for Joe Gibbs Racing with the Nos. 11 and 20 Toyotas. He broke into the spotting scene recently, which included a start in this year’s Daytona 500 with Martin Truex Jr.’s in Tricon Garage’s inaugural start at the Cup level.
To gain spotting experience, Philpott has picked up additional gigs in the Xfinity Series, beginning the season with Joey Gase Motorsports. During the two-week break for the Xfinity Series, he picked up another role with Joe Gibbs Racing as the No. 19 spotter to replace Reeves. He will spot for Chase Briscoe in Saturday’s BetMGM 300.
Bell competed on iRacing earlier this week with Philpott spotting to learn his lingo. He will spectate Saturday’s Xfinity race from the spotter’s stand to visually learn how Philpott calls a race. This is the first time Bell has changed spotters during the season, and it’s the first time he won’t have Reeves as his primary spotter since joining the Cup Series in 2020.
“I’ve never done it before,” Bell stated. “I have a relationship with [Philpott]. I’ve listened to him on the feedback that we have online. I don’t know how to answer that other than we’ll play it week by week and see how it goes.”
Once Reeves made his decision, there weren’t many replacement options for the No. 20 team given the Cup Series is in the middle of a 28-week stretch to conclude the 2025 season. If there were alternative choices, admittedly, Philpott would have been down on the list, Bell noted.
“Nothing against Philpott, but he definitely wouldn’t have been high on the list with his experience level if we weren’t in this situation,” Bell added. “With that being said, he’s trying to get into the spotter scene and it made sense to go in that direction. It made sense to give him a shot. I think it’s important to say that he’s doing us a favor. We’re not doing him a favor. He’s doing us a favor by filling in.”
Bell is the defending winner of the Coca-Cola 600, leading a race-high 90 laps in last year’s rain-shortened event. It marked his first crown jewel victory at the Cup level.