Bell: NASCAR robbed me of playoff spot through race manipulation

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Christopher Bell made it clear Saturday that he believes NASCAR cheated him out of a shot at the Cup Series title when he was punished for reacting to race manipulation in the final playoff qualifying race.

Bell moved out of fellow Toyota driver Bubba Wallace’s way last Sunday because Wallace had an allegedly flat tire. That caused him to hit the wall on the final lap at Martinsville Speedway and he rode it a bit for momentum — a move that had been banned after Ross Chastain did it in 2022 to claim the final spot in NASCAR’s winner-take-all championship finale.

“My intentions were never to ride the wall; I didn’t gain an advantage riding the wall,” Bell said. “I don’t believe I broke a rule. I feel cheated. I feel cheated out of the chance to compete for a championship and it all started whenever the race got fixed and manipulated by Chevrolet.

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

It took NASCAR nearly 30 minutes after the race at Martinsville to decide if Bell had committed a safety violation and if he or Byron was going to receive the final spot in the finale. Both drivers waited by their cars, with NASCAR finally giving Byron the spot.

That denied Bell a third consecutive trip to the championship four.

“I understood his comments and I understand how he feels,” team owner Joe Gibbs said. “I think what happened could have been handled much differently.”

Bell insisted Saturday he was forced into hitting the wall because Chevrolet drivers Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon were blatantly blocking cars from passing Byron, whom Bell was fighting for the final position in the championship race.

“I could very clearly see the race manipulation and the race fixing that was going on,” Bell said.

NASCAR issued $600,000 in fines and suspended nine team members from Chastain's, Dillon's and Wallace’s crews for Sunday’s season finale. In Friday’s annual state of the sport address, chief operating officer Steve O’Donnell said the racing at Martinsville “pissed me off, and it pissed everyone off at NASCAR because we all know better.”

NASCAR has had a call with Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota and assured them there will “1,000%” be a rule next year prohibiting race manipulation, and a private driver meeting was held early Saturday at Phoenix with NASCAR executives to discuss the issue.

“I feel like I should be in the championship four, yes,” Bell said. “So, in the race, when the manipulation happened — it was clear that I needed a position. With (Wallace) falling back, we got that position and whenever we crossed the finish line, (I) was in. So, with the cards that were dealt, (I) was in position to make the championship event, and we are not in it.”

NASCAR said it strongly considered suspending the drivers involved in the race manipulation — a penalty Bell wasn’t sure he agreed with. But he noted that manufacturers traditionally have worked together at Daytona and Talladega in the draft when pitting and in deciding who to push in traffic.

Bell pointed out that Kyle Larson did not push Ford driver Brad Keselowski to the win in the closing laps at Talladega Superspeedway and that win went to fellow Chevrolet driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

“I don’t envy the situation that we are in because talking about team racing, that has been a staple of speedway racing for a long time, and I don’t know what the answer is, especially when it comes to the superspeedway races,” Bell said. “There is a lot of it that goes behind the scenes.”

Denny Hamlin, meanwhile, said that Wallace’s tire was “completely bald” when inspected postrace. Hamlin owns Wallace’s car at 23XI Racing but is Bell’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Wallace — one of the three drivers whose teams were penalized by NASCAR in the aftermath of the Martinsville fiasco — made it clear that he doesn't believe he did anything wrong on the racetrack.

“We can all agree to disagree,” Wallace said. “It is what it is, but we're here in Phoenix.”

Wallace said that he was disappointed that the 23XI team didn't appeal his team's penalty, but also understands the decision since his teammate Tyler Reddick is racing for a championship on Sunday.

“We have to have all of our eggs in the same basket, and the time invested in the right things,” Wallace said.

Wallace added that he was upset crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker would be suspended for their final race together. 23XI made the announcement that Barker was moving into an executive role in 2025.

Brad Keselowski said he understands all the dynamics involved in the Martinsville finish make it a complicated situation, but ultimately, behavior won't change until drivers are suspended for rules violations.

“The message never seems to get across until it gets across,” Keselowski said. “We're no different than children in that regard. Until you ground them, they're just going to continue pushing the envelope.”

RFK Racing made an announcement earlier this week that Matt McCall won't return as Keselowski's crew chief in 2025.

Keselowski said it was a mutual decision to make a change, but praised McCall's leadership over the past three years.

“He helped turn our company around,” Keselowski said. “He's been a big part of that. Probably doesn't get enough credit for it. Everything hasn't gone perfect and I think he'd be the first to tell you that, but I'm really proud of what he helped us achieve.”

Keselowski said there hasn’t been a decision on McCall's replacement, though he said he expected “a lot of things will come together in the next two or three weeks.”

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