Christopher Bell draws comparison to Kyle Busch-Chase Elliott 2020 Darlington wreck after hooking Zane Smith at IMS

NASCAR: Toyota / Save Mart 350 - Source: Imagn
NASCAR: Toyota / Save Mart 350 - Source: Imagn

Last Sunday (July 27) at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell right-hooked Front Row Motorsports driver Zane Smith on Lap 162 during the second-to-last overtime restart. Although there have been plenty of right-hook cases penalized by NASCAR, this one was let slide.

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Fast-forward to this weekend, and Bell addressed the incident during an interview with Bob Pockrass of FOX. He wasn’t sure at first how things were going to go or if he would receive a penalty, but one thing the Oklahoma native knew: he had messed up.

“I mean, it sucks because it was, I did hook him to the right,” Bell said. “There’s been plenty of cases where people have done that exact same mistake, but it’s been to the inside.”
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He recalled the 2020 incident between former NASCAR Cup Series champions Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott at Darlington Raceway. Bell saw it as exactly like what happened between him and Smith.

“Kyle was just trying to squeeze up into a gap and misjudged it, exactly like I did, and hooked Chase. His car went left instead of right. I mean, that was the exact same thing I did. It just, he turned right, and the right turn has been a talking point over the last couple of years,” he added.
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But Christopher Bell made amends afterwards. He walked over to Smith’s crew and apologized to everyone. He even tried calling Smith, but left him a voicemail after being unable to catch him. All things considered, one could say that it was an honest mistake on Bell’s part.

Christopher Bell to replace an injured Stewart Friesen next weekend at Watkins Glen

Christopher Bell will fill in for Stewart Friesen behind the wheel of the No. 54 Halmar Friesen Racing truck for the upcoming NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Watkins Glen International. Scheduled for Friday, August 8, the 72-lap event will mark the 17th race of the season.

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Friesen suffered serious injuries to his pelvis and leg, fracturing them both in a crash that he got into earlier this week at the Autodrome Drummond dirt track. After having undergone several surgeries, he is now recovering at a hospital in New York. Needless to say, Friesen is not in a condition to race at least for the remainder of the season.

However, he is out of danger and hyped up to watch Christopher Bell take his spot.

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“I want to thank everyone for their outreach and support as I continue to recover,” Friesen said in a statement. “I know Christopher will give our truck a great run. We will be watching and cheering the team on this Friday.”

Fans can watch the race 5 p.m. ET onwards on FS1 or listen to its live radio coverage on NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

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Edited by Samya Majumdar
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