Calm-Mannered Christopher Bell Reveals the One Thing That Always Gets Under His Skin

Toyota had a rollercoaster of a weekend this time around. While Ty Gibbs got his career-best finish in Cup and Christopher Bell drove to victory lane, Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones finished the race in a humiliating 31st place after contact with Chase Briscoe. As Jones and Briscoe called each other after the race to work out the issue, this was something that didn’t sit well with Dale Earnhardt Jr. However, Christopher Bell, who Dale was in conversation with recently, had a very different stance on the incident. 

Christopher Bell talks about the time he once wrecked someone intentionally

The incident between Chase Briscoe and Erik Jones in Phoenix came up during the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast. Chase Briscoe’s contact following a restart turned the race around for the #43 driver, who ended his day by crashing into the wall. Dale Jr was annoyed that Jones and Briscoe chose to call off the argument rather than allowing it to stoke their rivalry after the race. But Christopher Bell, who had joined the conversation virtually, not only revealed something unexpected, but he also disagreed with Earnhardt, giving him a new perspective. 

The NASCAR veteran sought Bell’s opinion on whether drivers should reach out to each other to apologize after such wrecks. The 29-year-old was clear about his stance and spoke as to how the situation changes based on the contact being intentional or unintentional. But before we got to that, the driver made a surprising revelation, as no one expected the ‘baby-faced’ Christopher Bell to wreck someone intentionally.

The Phoenix victor confessed, “If I’m on the giving side of it, if it’s intentional, then I just let it ride [do not reach out to the other driver]. I can honestly think of maybe once in my career where I like intentionally wrecked someone or spun them out or something like that. So it doesn’t happen often.”

But to answer Dale’s question, he said, “If it’s unintentional, then I am the first thing, either post-race or if I don’t see them post-race, then I’m trying to call them and be like, ‘hey, dude, I really didn’t need to do that. That was not my intention.” 

Having a very different stance from the 49-year-old on why drivers need to talk to each other after such incidents, Bell continued, “But yeah, if you are on the receiving side of it, and they don’t reach out to you, it is underneath your skin, buddy!”

Rethinking his earlier stance, Earnhardt noted, “Maybe I did like the call. If I was on the receiving end and I was ticked off, maybe I did want the guy to at least acknowledge it in a conversation.”

Junior’s comments do remind us of Dale Earnhardt Sr, who was notorious for his daring antics on the track. He didn’t like his car being hit. And when something like that would happen, he didn’t care for apologies. And well, it seems his son also picked up the same traits, so much so that he once went against his own father. Even today, NASCAR fans sometimes remember their father-son vengeance tale.

When Junior decided he would not let his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr, get away so easily

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During a race at Martinsville Speedway in 2000, Senior collided with Elliott Sadler’s car, causing a chain reaction that wrecked both Sadler and his son. Speaking about this incident, back in 2018, Dale Jr revealed on his podcast, “We dropped the green flag, went down into turn one, Dad ran into the back of Elliott Sadler, turned him sideways, and he backed up the track into the front of my car and crashed us both. I was so p*ssed.”

However, it was not over for Junior. He wanted payback and eventually got it. In his own words, “Dad comes by, and I just turned right and dragged the right front tire all down the side of his car. And (I) just was so mad”

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Even though Dale has now retired, his racing principles have not gone away at all, as seen during the conversation on his latest podcast episode.