By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer
A battle for second turned harrowing for Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott.
On the 149th lap of Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, the race was red-flagged for over 20 minutes after the two tangled hard into the Turn 3 wall.
Entering the third turn, Elliott and Bell were chasing down race leader William Byron. Bell was running side-by-side with Elliott before the latter’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet snapped loose.
From there, there was little real estate for both drivers as Elliott’s car made a sharp right turn onto the path of Bell, sending them into the barrier with tremendous force.
Contact between @chaseelliott and @CBellRacing brings out the yellow on Lap 148. pic.twitter.com/R4qc5Fv61k
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 7, 2026
The severity of the impact saw Bell’s passenger windshield fly onto the direction of Kyle Larson and hit the roof. It damaged both the roof cam and antenna of Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet which eliminated the onboard feed.
While Larson went on to finish fifth, both Elliott and Bell’s days were over as the 10th caution of the afternoon came out. The two will be credited with a 31st and 32nd place finish respectively.
Elliott’s wounded car came to rest after making contact into the inside tire barriers near an access road for the AMR safety truck to come into his aid. Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota caught fire and parked his car adjacent to Elliott.
Fortunately, both drivers got out of their cars under their own power with Elliott checking in on Bell, who he apologized for the accident and gave him a pat on the back as a sign of respect.
Chase Elliott checks in on Christopher Bell after a hard wreck at Michigan. #NASCARonPrime pic.twitter.com/kOF0G3GPJ1
— Sports on Prime (@SportsonPrime) June 7, 2026
The impact caused significant damage to a portion of the SAFER barrier, requiring NASCAR to repair the wall which resulted in the 10th overall red flag of the 2026 Cup season.
Elliott was checked and released from the infield care center where he explained the mistake that ended his and Bell’s aspirations of a race win at the two-mile circuit.
“Totally my fault and felt pretty bad for Bell,” said Elliott. “I was trying to run in the bottom and kind of make use of our fresh tires and try at least get to second. Hoping to stay side-by-side with him, but I got free and thought I was going to spin.
“I was kind of committing to spinning out and as soon as I started to commit to spinning, it just hook up and unfortunately sent Christopher into the wall super hard and me shortly there behind.
“I was racing really hard and thought it was a turning point in the race where we needed to make something happen. I stepped over the line again and I paid for it.”
Elliott added that the wreck with Bell wasn’t on purpose and knew it was a series of big hits.
“I knew that was a big hit for both of us and I think he took the brunt of it honestly, probably two really big hits,” Elliott commented. “I have a lot of respect for Bell. We always race each other with a lot of respect on track. Not that you want that to happen to anyone but certainly knew it was a big one. Nothing intentional.”
Joe Gibbs, Bell’s car owner, arrived at the infield care center to check up on him. However, there wasn’t immediate word on Bell’s condition until the race reached less than 20 laps remaining.
Bell was unavailable with the press to share his perspective of the accident.
NASCAR states Christopher Bell has been “evaluated and released from the infield care center.” Have not seen him come out but Gibbs left and they’re indicating Bell will not be speaking. So there you have it.
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) June 7, 2026
After Denny Hamlin won the Cup race, Gibbs said during the winning car owner press conference that Bell is dealing with wrist and ankle injuries, requiring further evaluation throughout the week.
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