“There’s Nothing We Were Gonna Do”- Christopher Bell’s Disheartened Crew Chief Makes Painful Admission Moments After Phoenix Disaster

Stage 2 of Sunday’s Cup Series Championship race witnessed Joe Gibbs Racing‘s sole Championship survivor getting ousted from the contention without any fault of his own. Christopher Bell had a lot of potential to win this coveted race and yet, it was Ryan Blaney who took home the championship trophy. Alas, there was nothing that Bell could do.

It’s funny how unpredictable the sport of NASCAR is. A few weeks back, people were criticizing Christopher Bell for not trying hard enough to beat Kyle Larson in Las Vegas. A week forward, Christopher Bell silenced every one by punching his tickets into the Championship 4. And two weeks later, he was out of the race that he worked so hard for. Unfortunately, Bell’s helplessness resonated from the voice of his crew chief, as the latter revealed what went wrong.

Even with one of the best crew out there, Adam Stevens failed to salvage Christopher Bell’s day

As Christopher Bell stomped on his brakes on the turns of the 1-mile-long tri-oval track of Phoenix Raceway, he felt like it was taking extra force on the pedal and more time for his car to slow down. The right-front brake rotor on Bell’s #20 Toyota Camry blew off on lap 109, just as he was about to enter turn 3.

As a result, his machine lost control and went straight into the safety barriers. The hard hit baked with the mechanical failure was enough to put an end to Christopher Bell’s run and make him limp out of the race with a disappointing 36th place finish, in his second straight Championship 4 appearance. Moments after the race was over, Frontstretch’s Michael Massie took the opportunity to walk up to Adam Stevens and interview him about what actually went wrong.

Joe Gibbs Racing has been really consistent with their cars all year round. To see the brakes of their Toyota fail is indeed a sorry sight to behold. But it was not out of the blue. Stevens admitted that there were indications of a disaster when Bell was suffering from braking issues earlier in the race. “He (Bell) said he was having a little bit of fade earlier in the run,” said Stevens, “I mean, we didn’t have any tape on the right front brake so there’s nothing we were gonna do. We tried to have him move the bias to the rear and back his entry up and just two laps later, it blew apart.”

As reported by NASCAR, the brakes of Christopher Bell’s car kept getting longer and longer, which meant he had to apply more and more pressure with every passing lap to maintain control over his car. When Frontstretch’s Stephen Stumpf talked to Bell, he appeared to be still in shock.

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Amidst his Phoenix woes, Christopher Bell looks forward to a better future

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Christopher Bell’s frustration at the way his championship chase and overall season ended was quite understandable. Two wins, 10 top fives, 19 top-10 finishes, besides an array of pole awards; 6 to be exact. Moreover, he led a career-high 599 laps this year. But all that translated into nothing more than him watching the rest of the race from the infield care center.

During a post-race interview, the Oklahoma native admitted that the #20 JGR team had not performed to their fullest potential and, hence, he is excited about how they could build on this year’s performance and become better. Appearing in the Championship 4 alone is indeed a hard nut to crack. “I’m proud of the efforts, especially in the playoffs, to make the final four,” he said.

However, he was still in utter disbelief that out of all things that could have gone wrong; it was his brakes that betrayed him. Ironically, it was their strong point throughout the entire year. Bell said “We’ve had really strong brakes all year long. Haven’t had any issues so it’s quite surprising. A brake issue at a track where…they are important, but not as important as some of the others.”

When asked about his feelings, Bell revealed that he wasn’t upset but just disappointed. And a little shocked. “Everyone’s trying their hardest; it’s just a part of it. Right now, I’m still probably a little shocked and it hasn’t sunk in yet but can only change what’s ahead,” he added.

Read more: Christopher Bell Makes Painful 9-Word Admission After Falling 0.082 Seconds Short of Appeasing Joe Gibbs