Following NASCAR’s decision to penalize him during the Cup Series playoff race at Martinsville last season, Christopher Bell has acknowledged that he was devastated. In the penultimate race of the season, the Xfinity 500, the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 rode the wall on the last lap, a move that would ultimately cost Bell dearly. Bell proceeded to grab a position that would have qualified him for the Championship 4 while riding the wall. After losing traction on the last lap, the 30-year-old attempted to pass Bubba Wallace in a move that remarkably mirrored one done by Ross Chastain in 2022. Bell believed he had done enough to defeat William Byron in a tiebreaker and go to the Championship 4.
But after NASCAR declared Bell’s move unlawful, the JGR driver was kicked out of the Championship 4 at Phoenix, and Byron replaced him. The second season of the NASCAR documentary series ‘NASCAR: Full Speed’ was just made available on Netflix. Additionally, Bell stated in the second season that he thought the decision to punish him could have been “life-changing” and that he thought he might have been denied a chance to win the Cup Series, which Joey Logano would go on to win the following weekend in 2024. As we approach the final lap, Bell stated: “I think I’m out.
I lose rear grip entering turn three after receiving a radio transfer stating that we must pass the 23 car. And after I did, I entered a complete death slide all the way into the wall, and I did what any driver would’ve done and accelerated to the finish line. I didn’t believe my actions were punishable. “That NASCAR judgment call was a life-altering call,” he continued.
I lost what would have been a championship because of it. I simply didn’t realize that hitting the wall would result in consequences. ‘Full Speed’ questioned Bell’s wife Morgan Kemenah, who clarified: “We are both at zero, but we have the tie-break over William. Then I see that no one is having a party. “It was a choice,” Kemenah continued, referring to NASCAR’s choice. “A pure choice took something away from you. It’s really awful. Although it is what it is, you never want to see them depressed over what they have worked so hard to achieve.”
