Brutal Crash Ends Bell’s Dash 4 Cash Hopes

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Christopher Bell’s Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 came to an abrupt end on lap 140. Bell got collected in a wreck, destroying his and what was left of two other cars.

At Bristol Motor Speedway, things happen fast, and Bell found that out in a brutal crash on lap 140. Cody Ware and Vinnie Miller had made contact, spinning in turns three and four. When Bell slammed on the brakes, his car whipped around, slamming into Miller with the driver’s door. The impact was so violent it buckled the roof of Bell’s car. The clean-up forced NASCAR to red flag the race for just over seven minutes.

“That’s the second time this weekend that I’ve crashed from guys going seconds off the pace,” said a frustrated Bell. “Can’t slow down whenever they spin out and it’s frustrating. We had a really fast GameStop Camry and I don’t know, just trying to get the top in pretty much all race long. That was our worst run of the day handling wise and we were still up there. Unfortunate.”

This is just the third DNF in Bell’s NASCAR Xfinity Series career and his first since the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Prior to the accident, Bell had been battling for the lead. The Dash 4 Cash competitor bounced off the wall on lap four, setting off a nine-car pile-up. After restarting 31^st, Bell climbed all the way back to the lead to win Stage 1.

“Well, I led for 30 laps or whatever it was after we got back up there,” Bell said about the kind of racecar he had. “That was our worst run handling-wise. I thought we had a car that was capable of doing it and then a guy that’s a couple seconds off the pace spins out in front of me.”

The wreck effectively eliminates Bell’s chances for the Dash 4 Cash at both Bristol and next weekend at Richmond Raceway. He was uninjured in the incident.