"Taking the Larson route": Fans react to former Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spotter joining Christopher Bell for Atlanta race

Christopher Bell is about to be paired with Hyak Motorsports driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s former spotter, Tab Boyd. Back in May, ahead of this year’s running of the Coca-Cola 600, Bell got paired with Matt Philpott, as his old spotter, Stevie Reeves, walked away from his job.

Per reports, Boyd will call this coming week’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Relaying the news via X, veteran journalist Bob Pockrass wrote,

“Former Stenhouse spotter Tab Boyd is on the roster as spotter for Christopher Bell this weekend at Atlanta.”

Fans promptly reacted to the news. Reflecting on how Kyle Larson lost his spotter to Joey Logano’s No. 22 team ahead of the 2025 season, one of them wrote,

“Taking the Larson route I see lmao.”

Another wrote,

“Can’t wait to see the hot takes on this from the furries.”

Here are a few other reactions to Pockrass’ post stating the addition of Tab Boyd to Joe Gibbs Racing’s Cup Series roster:

“What happened to Bell's normal spotter?” a fan wondered. “I just wanna see the pansies on here crying about it,” spotter Brett Griffin wrote. “That's good news,” someone added. "When you know what you’re doing, someone will hire you." another wrote.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s team fired Boyd following his comments during NASCAR’s visit to Mexico. Apparently, he got scammed outside of his hotel room. Later, he wrote on social media,

“I'm ready to go home, screw this place, people can talk it up all they want...can't even walk out the front door of the hotel without getting hustled and money snatched...in less than 5 minutes. Good area my (expletive).”

All eyes are on Echopark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) for the upcoming race scheduled for Saturday, June 28. Named the Quaker State 400, the 260-lap race will be televised on TNT Sports (7 pm ET onwards). Fans can also listen to live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

---

“Honestly, tired of talking about the kid”- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fires shots at his Cup Series rival

A new drama has unfolded between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Cup Series newcomer Carson Hocevar. They tangled at Nashville and then at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, breeding a newfound rivalry.

So much so that following NASCAR’s first race outside of the US since 1958, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. walked up to Hocevar and yelled,

“I'm going to beat your a** when we get back to the States."

Well, nothing of that sort happened last week at Pocono Raceway. However, ahead of this coming weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Stenhouse Jr. told NBC,

“Honestly, tired of talking about the kid. Eventually, it will come to a head. In the right place in the right time, eventually. We'll cross that bridge when we get there, but he probably will be looking over his shoulder for a long time. We'll see how that goes.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will enter the race 24th on points. 17 races into the season, the driver has amassed one top five and a pair of top 10s. As things stand, he is one of the drivers vying for their maiden win of the 2025 season.

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

Edited by Tushhita Barua