Christopher Bell met with a devastating incident on the tracks at Martinsville which ruined his championship hopes. While he initially did gain enough points for the Top 4, it seems as though misfortune has become his constant confidante. The closing laps of the race saw Bubba Wallace slowing down claiming a flat tire. Whether true or not, Wallace’s slowing down allowed Bell to gain that momentum and push through and secure enough points for the transfer.

However, in this endeavor, he ended up riding the wall in turn 3. This wall ride is a classic “Hail Melon” move, first successfully performed by Ross Chastain in 2022 at Martinsville after which it was subsequently banned and classified as a safety violation. Bell ended up losing his Top 4 position to William Byron, who was next in standing. 

Hendrick Motorsports legend Steve Letarte has also been quite a Bell believer and has been vocal about how he sees him gunning for a championship. However, it seems as though after the Martinsville Speedway he does have some assumptions about the Finals that he expresses with quite some skepticism. 

Will Christopher Bell Become the Problem Creator at Phoenix?

While this has created enough ruckus, one cannot help but notice that Bell is indeed infuriated. Even Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens has been of the opinion that this move by Bell does not resonate with anything that Chastain did two years back. This has contributed to speculations that Bell might be the one who avenges his fall and creates a ruckus at the Phoenix Speedway.

Hendrick Motorsports legend Steve Letarte has shared his take on Bell, even though his assumptions about Bell being the ultimate champion for 2023 did not culminate. The 2023 Phoenix race was won by Ross Chastain and Bell had ended in the 36th position with a DNF. Letarte said, “I said last year, I want him to be a championship driver no doubt. Ross, the boss, proved me wrong. I want to make the same statement again. I think one of the four with that said, you know, Bell’s a monster, Larson’s a monster, Hamlin’s a monster, but like Bell, I mean, there isn’t a Joe Gibbs car in it. I think he goes out and stomps them”

Bell managed to win at Phoenix Raceway in the Shriners Children’s 500 earlier this year. He led 50 laps to victory despite him starting from the distant 13th position. This was also his seventh career victory and the one that was worth celebrating. Given his knowledge about the track and hands-on experience at winning there, it wouldn’t be an impossible task for him to topple the charts yet again on Sunday. 

Although he is not in the battle to win the Championship anymore, it doesn’t mean that he cannot compete till the victory line. After all, this would be a good way to prove to all his critics that he has still got it. Given that he is not very happy about NASCAR’s decision to get him out of the Top 4, anything could happen on Sunday.

Reacting to the penalization from NASCAR, Christopher Bell said, “I don’t know what to say. I mean, I didn’t advance my position into the wall. I lost time on the racetrack. I never once thought that’s what I would get penalized. I didn’t think I was gonna get penalized at all. [Wallace] was sliding around like crazy. I don’t know if he was on old tires or what, but he just was sliding around really bad. As I was. That’s why I got in the wall.” Even Steve Letarte, along with his team, is of the opinion that Bell’s aggression could lead to a haywire at the Phoenix Speedway. “He’s p*ssed. I think I’d be p*ssed. I’m going to stop them. Say I wouldn’t have won the championship, and that’s it,” the podcaster said. 

Hamlin thinks that NASCAR made the right move by penalizing Christopher Bell 

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Be it for competition or just for the sake of making a mistake, it seems as though Denny Hamlin has an opinion on Bell, even though he could not himself make it to the Top 4. Given that Bell is his Joe Gibbs teammate, it might come off as a shocker for many. In an episode of Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin, he said, “In the end, I think they made the right call. I don’t like it, but they wanted to avoid us wall-riding on last laps to either gain or defend positions. C-Bell didn’t have to do it, there was probably a little bit of panic in the moment, driving it into turn 3 really deep, washes up and gets into the marbles (pieces of rubber off the tires).”

It’s not surprising that Hamlin, of all drivers, is standing with NASCAR’s call. Taking it back to the original ‘Hail Melon’ move in 2022, Ross Chastain was able to pass around 6-7 drivers with that video-game move and, most importantly, Denny Hamlin! Hamlin was competing with Chastain for the last transfer spot and comfortably ahead of him, heading into the last turn. The wall ride saw Hamlin crash out of Championship 4 while Chastain progressed.

Hamlin was seen maintaining quite a firm stance when he mentioned how this move could be, indeed, quite dangerous for both the drivers and the fans. Ruling the same out as a “safety violation” served to be quite a justification to him. He was also seen lamenting about how NASCAR has a very loose stand when it comes to the rulebook and it does not serve the purpose. Usually, there is not much explanation and context which adds to miscommunication and unnecessary debate. 

With the Phoenix Raceway Finale nearing and excitement reaching an all-time high, do you think there will be more ruckus?