Christopher Bell: 'I feel cheated' out of championship berth
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Christopher Bell isn't racing for a Cup championship this weekend at Phoenix Raceway. He feels he should, and he feels NASCAR could have made decisions to make him one of the four finalists.
The typically reserved Joe Gibbs Racing driver said Saturday that NASCAR penalizing him for an unsafe move on the final lap Sunday at Martinsville Speedway was wrong, and he never would have been in that position if Chevrolet teams weren't attempting to manipulate the race.
"I feel cheated," Bell said prior to qualifying for the season finale at Phoenix.
Bell crossed the finish line appearing to have made the playoffs by one position ahead of William Byron, but Bell was penalized for making an unsafe move on the final lap as he used the wall to help direct his car while in the gas in the final turn. He lost four spots because of the penalty and Byron earned the final Championship 4 spot.
What has Bell felling cheated occurred about 15 laps before the finish and lasted to the checkered flag. Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain, the two cars behind Byron, never lost spots but held up Brad Keselowski and never passed Byron despite appearing to have stronger cars near the end of the race. On the final lap, Bubba Wallace dropped back, saying he had an issue with the car, which allowed Bell to pass him before getting loose and skidding up the track into the wall.
"[My feeling] all stems from what happened, 15-20 [laps] 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," Bell said.
"And I feel like I should never have been in that position. Had the race been ran fairly, the 24 car [of Byron] would have lost enough spots to get me into the final race."
NASCAR issued hefty penalties to the Dillon, Chastain and Wallace teams for race manipulation. NASCAR fined each of the drivers and each of the teams $100,000 and docked the drivers and teams 50 points apiece. NASCAR also suspended the crew chief, spotter and competition director from each of those cars for the season finale at Phoenix.
NASCAR did not penalize Byron.
"I feel like I should be in the Championship 4, yes," Bell said., "In the race, when the manipulation happened. It was clear that I needed a position. And with the 23 [of Wallace] dropping back, we got that position and whenever we crossed the finish line, the 20 car [of me] was in.
"With the cards that were dealt, the 20 car was in position to make the championship event, and we're not in it."
Dillon's team talked on its in-car radio about a plan prior to and during the race and at one point asked if Chastain's team knew the plan. Chastain's team did tell him what Byron needed to make the playoffs but there wasn't any talk of a plan on his channel.
Dillon said Friday there was no plan to block for Byron.
"The deal [mentioned on the radio] was that Ross knows what the situation is – what William is racing for," Dillon said. "I just know [Chastain] was coming fast and I didn't want to get in that because I was going to be an a—hole if I passed him or didn't."
While there was not any overt radio communications about Bell's situation, Wallace complained of a flat tire near the end of the race. His team owner, Denny Hamlin, said the tires were worn out at that point in the event.
"I went loose or something broke and was nursing it," Wallace said after the race. "He tried to slide me, and I was like, ‘Brother, I'm just trying to bide our time and not crash.'"
NASCAR instituted rules on manipulating the finish of the race after the 2013 "spingate" scandal in 2013 when a series of events by Michael Waltrip Racing drivers were determined to have manipulated the finish to get Martin Truex Jr. into the playoffs. NASCAR docked each of the drivers 50 points (knocking Truex out of the playoffs) and fined the organization $300,000. The impact of the penalty cost the team sponsorship and the organization eventually closed.
The rule as it exists today, reads:
"NASCAR requires its Competitor(s) to race at 100% of their ability with the goal of achieving their best possible finishing position in the Event. Any Competitor(s) who takes action with the intent to Artificially Alter the finishing positions of the Event or encourages, persuades or induces others to Artificially Alter the finishing positions of the Event shall be subject to a penalty from NASCAR. ... ‘Artificially Alter' shall be defined as actions by any Competitor(s) that show or suggest that the Competitor(s) did not race at 100% of their ability for the purpose of changing finishing positions in the Event, in NASCAR's sole discretion."
The designated penalty for manipulating the race is a loss of 25-50 points, a fine of $50,000-$100,000 fine as well as possible suspension.
The rule is written loosely in the sense that it allows NASCAR to make these decisions on a case-by-case basis.
NASCAR typically will use video and radio communications between the teams and drivers to make a determination. They did not feel Byron participated in the race manipulation so it did not penalize him.
"What I saw in Martinsville pissed me off, and it pissed everyone off at NASCAR because we all know better, and we know what happens," NASCAR COO Steve O'Donnell said Friday.
"We do have rules in the rule book where we can address it, and we did."
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.