It’s not out of the normal that Christopher Bell often appeared in the conversation regarding who the probable winner of the 2023 Champion 4 would be. This young Joe Gibbs Racing sensation has been a qualifying machine, grabbing six poles just in the current season. Hence, speed has never been a problem for Bell.
However, the problem was in his brakes. Which was unusual. The #20 Toyota Camry has always been strong as far as mechanical elements are concerned and when its brakes stood between the driver and his championship shot, even Bell was shocked.
What’s done cannot be undone for Christopher Bell
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Bell started 13th, and it didn’t take him long to scoot forward inside the top 5. He was running second-best amongst the championship-eligible drivers. However, he had been conveying an issue for quite some time to his team, which ultimately snowballed into a major hindrance.
Bell claimed that his brakes were getting longer and longer to work with every lap; meaning he had to press harder to reduce the throttle on his machine. During the second stage of the 312-lap contest, Bell’s right front brake rotor blew off, which swerved his car into the outside wall, leaving him disappointed as a 36th-place finisher.
As Bell watched the remaining laps of the race unfold from the infield care center, he was in absolute shock. “We’ve had really strong brakes all year long and haven’t had any issues,” he said, “So it’s quite surprising a brake issue at a track where…they are important but not as important as some of the others.”
“Right now, I’m probably a little shocked and it probably hasn’t sink in yet. Can only change what’s ahead,” he added.
According to Bell, their playoff journey has been quite good, but he also mentioned that the #20 team has left a lot on the table to accomplish. However, he looked excited about the upcoming season as he said, “I still don’t think we performed up to our potential in 2023, so I’m excited about the future and trying to build on this and become better.”
Watch this story: NASCAR’s Future: A Power Struggle Brewing?
But how did his brakes explode? Many might wonder. The good news is that, Steve Letarte and NBC Sports collaborated to animate the inside of the Next-gen car clearly showing what exactly happened inside Bell’s car. And the fans loved it.
NBC Sports’ latest animation was enough to impress even people totally stranger to NASCAR
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Famous pit reporter and Xfinity Series driver for Big Machine Racing, Parker Kligerman tweeted, “I don’t know how the Emmy’s work, but I feel like this should win something. To have this prepared and ready to go for such a pivotal moment. Then perfectly explain something so complex, so succinctly.
Even the fans on Reddit agreed.
Someone wrote, “I’m glad I’m not the only one that was impressed by that. Super cool needs to be a regular thing for next years races.”
Another fan commented, “It’s all super informative, answered all questions, all while staying at 60 seconds. No pause, no wasted breaths, just pure, understandable information.”
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Even fans who don’t normally like Steve Letarte loved this recent creation. One such fan wrote, “I normally can’t stand Steve, but that was a great explanation. Anyone who doesn’t even follow motorsports or cars in general could have easily understood the explanation. More of that content please.”
“We need a mini series featuring the NBC cut away car and the engineering and design behind the Next-Gen car,” added another.
A motorsport enthusiast wrote, “It’s so funny.. My husband.. Not a NASCAR fan.. Was in the room when this came on and he was like.. “That was really awesome what they just showed”..”
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Perhaps, NBC Sports will get back to the good books of the NASCAR fans after it received the hate for turning a blind eye to Ross Chastain’s victory celebration. Let us know what you think about the video!
Read more: Christopher Bell Explains How Joe Gibbs’s Team Is More Than Ready for the Finale at Phoenix