Drivers and fans waited with bated breath a week ago. As the NASCAR Cup Series entered Bristol Motor Speedway for the second time this season, emotions were tense. However, as the race proceeded, everybody got convinced that the spring spectacle would not be repeated. Little to no tire fall-off, no wild strategy shuffles, and only 8 lead changes—these things irked fans to the extreme. But not Christopher Bell, though.

The view from the grandstands differs majorly from within the race cars. That is why the Joe Gibbs Racing driver showered his appreciation for this race. Despite failing to topple Kyle Larson from his dominant streak, he supported his rival’s win while trashing public opinion.

Christopher Bell shuns fans’ disapproval

A fledgling 27.2%—that was the percentage of fans who voted positively on Jeff Gluck’s “Good Race Poll.” The majority of others were terribly disappointed, as they could not witness Goodyear’s tire spectacle. This overwhelming, poor reaction irked Kyle Larson—he led 462 of 500 laps in Bristol. He engaged in a social media battle with fans, citing earlier races where no tire spectacle was recorded, and yet fans loved them. “There’s only one race where we had tire wear in the last 10 or 11 years that I’ve been going there,” he opined about the Spring phenomenon.

But as a brownie point to Larson’s backlash, Christopher Bell also toned down the importance of the tire management race. He won the pole at Kansas and let his cheerful mood spill into the Bristol discussion. The JGR driver admitted to thoroughly enjoying the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. He said, “I was laughing. Because literally from my seat in the race car, I felt like it was an amazing race. And I had no idea that everyone hated it until a couple of hours after that interview. Yeah, I mean, I go back to the start of stage 3…I literally watched guys run around there three-wide. And I was mindblown whenever people said it was a terrible race…Because from my seat, I thought it was a great race.”

Then again, wheeling a race car and watching cars thunder around racetracks like little toys are two entirely different experiences. So Christopher Bell emphasized how opinions will never align among drivers and fans. He said, “I mean, it just goes back to what the definition of a good race is…How the race car drivers and fans are never going to agree on what a good race is. And the drivers are always gonna push for something different that is good from our seats. And then the fans are gonna push for something that’s not good from our seats.” 

As it turns out, Christopher Bell is not alone in believing in the Bristol magic.

Opinions match across the Cup Series garage

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Well, at first glance, Kyle Larson sweeping most of the Bristol race seemed a bad racing product. Then there was Martin Truex Jr.’s painful exit as he crashed out despite hanging around in the top five. But these factors disguise the real factors present. Larson emphasized how Bristol has always been difficult to get around in. “I think Bristol’s Bristol. It’s always fast-paced, really hard to pass. Even guys that have good cars and get stuck [in the back] know it.” Larson’s defensive argument was taken a notch further by Christopher Bell, who declared that he loved this race even more.

And that is where Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports struck an alliance. Even Chase Elliott agreed with Christopher Bell, as he downplayed the spring spectacle and heaped praise on the fall race. “I thought it was fun,” Elliott said. “From my perspective, it wasn’t any different than the last however many Bristol races I’ve run except the spring; that was the one that was different. Outside of that, I thought it was just like the other [races] that we’ve had there the past nine seasons for me.” 

Even Denny Hamlin opined that the race’s apparent boring nature was wrought not by the tires but by NASCAR’s Next-Gen car.

Evidently, the drivers are defending the fall race. Yet the tremendous lack of interest shown on the part of fans prompts worries for NASCAR, which will need to look into uplifting the racing product.