Christopher Bell’s season was determined by NASCAR deliberation over the final lap of Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway, and it didn’t go his way.
It was 27 minutes of waiting before the decision was made. Bell was issued a safety violation for riding against the wall on the final lap to gain a position. The position, an 18th place finish at the time, put Bell in a tie with William Byron but Bell had the tiebreaker on finishes to take the final transfer spot.
Bell made the move around Toyota teammate Bubba Wallace going into Turn 3. The No. 20 Toyota then went to the wall in the middle of the corner and came off it at the exit of Turn 4.
Should Christopher Bell race for the NASCAR Championship?
Watch this move on the final lap. pic.twitter.com/3A3BrNe0fd
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 3, 2024
The penalty moved Bell to a 22nd-place finish. Byron was given the final spot in the Championship 4.
“It’s a bummer,” Bell said, “but in the grand scheme of things, there’s a lot of things we did poorly today that we could have done better in our control, so I don’t know.
“We accomplished a lot of things this year. The championship won’t be one of them, but we’ll try again next year.”
NASCAR outlawed any such moves — but did not add a rule to the rulebook — after Ross Chastain showed everyone it would work in 2022. Chastain went wide open into Turn 3 and rode the wall to the finish of the elimination race at Martinsville Speedway to gain the positions he needed to advance.
The incident falls under a safety violation that states, “Safety is a top priority for NASCAR and NEM. Therefore, any violations deemed to compromise the safety of an Event or otherwise pose a dangerous risk to the safety of Competitors, Officials, spectators, or others are treated with the highest degree of seriousness. Safety violations will be handled on a case-by-case basis.”
Joe Gibbs Racing representatives, including Joe Gibbs and Bell’s crew chief Adam Stevens, spoke to NASCAR in the hauler for approximately 15 minutes. Gibbs was informed that an in-race violation is not appealable.
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“It just got away from me,” Bell said of the final lap. “It got away from me and I slid into the wall, and I knew I had to have the position so I tried to get to the line as fast as I could and that’s all she wrote.”
Bell started 16th and spun in the first stage. Although it didn’t cause significant damage when he got loose and collided with Corey Lajoie in Turn 1, it put Bell behind for the rest of the afternoon. He did not earn stage points in either stage.
Under caution at the end of the second stage, Bell had to return to pit road for the team to tighten the left front wheel. He fell a lap down on lap 370, where he stayed until the final. Wallace was also one lap down and the only position Bell could gain at the finish.
Wallace denied doing anything to help Bell on the final lap. The No. 23 appeared to slow before getting to Turn 3, and Bell moved to Wallace’s inside for the position.
“I went loose or something broke and was I just nursing it,” Wallace said. “Then he tried to slide me, and I’m like, brother. [I was] just trying to bide our time and not crash and bring out a caution and jumble up the whole field, so that was it.”
Bell did not think he did anything unsafe to warrant the penalty. Nor did he think a penalty was in the cards.
“I made a mistake and I slid into the wall,” Bell said. “And unfortunately, they ruled that as a safety violation. I don’t know what to say. I didn’t advance my position into the wall. I lost time on the racetrack, but it’s not meant to be. It’s fine.”
Bell walked to Byron before leaving pit road. The two embraced and shared a brief exchange about the turn of events.
“Well, Willie, that’s not how I wanted it to go, but congratulations,” Bell told Byron. “Go get them next week.”