Bell: ‘I Feel Cheated’ Out of Championship 4 Appearance

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Nearly a week after the conclusion of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway that saw him bumped out of the Championship 4, Christopher Bell is still processing everything that transpired that night in Virginia.

In the final run to the finish at Martinsville, Bell found himself outside the top-four in points running a lap down to the leaders with his closest competitor to take the final transfer spot on points, William Byron, struggling with the handle on his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and in danger of losing enough track position to fall out of that transfer spot.

A pair of Chevrolets in Austin Dillon from Richard Childress Racing and Ross Chastain from Trackhouse Racing essentially ran a blockade for Byron over those closing laps keeping any other drivers that could pass him at bay.

With limited options for advancement, Bell was able to take advantage of the fading Toyota of Bubba Wallace out of the 23XI Racing stable on the final lap, blasting past him in Turn 3 to move into a tie with Byron in the points, which would have seen Bell advance.

However, Bell’s momentum carried him into the Turn 3 wall, where he buried the throttle after impact, riding the wall to the frontstretch and on to the finish line in a move similar to the infamous “Hail Melon” by Chastain in 2022.

NASCAR would rule that illegal on the basis of a “safety violation,” which dropped Bell to the last car one lap down, causing him to lose enough points to miss out on the Championship 4.

On Tuesday, NASCAR handed down penalties to 23XI, Trackhouse, and RCR for “race manipulation.”

Amid championship weekend at Phoenix Raceway, where Bell was considered to be the favorite should he make it to the championship race still eligible for the title, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota didn’t mince words about his feelings on the matter.

“I feel cheated. I feel cheated out of a chance to compete for a championship,” said Bell. “It all stems from what happened earlier – 15, 20 to go, whenever the race got fixed, and manipulated by Chevrolet, that forced our hands to do what we did and ultimately, it forced me into a mistake on the last lap to get into the wall.

“I feel like I should have never been in that situation had the race been ran fairly, the 24 (William Bryon) would have lost enough spots to get me into the final race.”

Still ruminating on the penalty he was handed post-race at Martinsville, Bell remains adamant that he shouldn’t have received a penalty and should be racing for a championship on Sunday instead of watching from the outside looking in.

“I hate calling the last lap a move, because it was not a move. My intentions were never to ride the wall. I didn’t gain an advantage riding the wall, so it was not a move. I don’t believe that I broke the rule,” said Bell.

As Bell continued to stew over being at the season finale without a shot at the title, he circled back to the domino effect of the actions by the Chevrolet drivers that forced the hand of Wallace and Bell to have to do what they did in those closing laps.

“We shouldn’t have ever been in that spot in the first place, and that is what I go back to,” said Bell. “If the race had been run fairly, there would not have been any manipulation on either side. Our hands were forced by hands of our other competitors.”

Should Bell be able to complete the season sweep and win on Sunday at Phoenix, he admitted it will be a bittersweet feeling, knowing that if things had gone a different way last week, he would have been the one hoisting the championship trophy.

“It is definitely going to be tough. No matter how it goes,” Bell said.

“You want to do well, and we are going to put our best foot forward to do well, but if we do well, and have a successful weekend, then it is going to be even more of bummer and a disappointment, so yeah, it is a very perplexing feeling going into this weekend, and one that I hope I never have again.”