Denny Hamlin’s JGR ally gives his take on major Talladega revamp after Christopher Bell’s wreck

Denny Hamlin’s spotter, Chris Lambert, reacted to NASCAR's decision to revamp Talladega’s inside wall at the exit of Turn 2. This happened days after Christopher Bell’s nerve-chilling wreck during last Sunday’s race at the iconic 2.66-mile superspeedway.

The front of Bell’s No. 20 Toyota was destroyed from the impact, forcing the driver to exit the race early. The 30-year-old was awarded a P35 finish and his second DNF of the 2025 season. Here is a view of the crash (via motorsport.com),

Recently, on the Hauler Talk podcast, senior director of racing communications at NASCAR, Amanda Ellis, said that the backstretch wall would be given a new and improved form before NASCAR returns to Talladega for the playoffs in October.

Reacting to this, Lambert wrote (on X, formerly Twitter),

“Great news, but it should’ve been fixed after @J_Allgaier pounded it in exact same spot LAST year.”

As the NASCAR fans would know, Lambert was talking about reigning Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier’s crash during last year’s Ag-Pro 300 playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway. Thankfully, Bell was later checked and released from the infield care center.

“I think I feel really good," he said during an interview right after. “I don’t know, my HANS device, my seat, my belts, everything seemed like it did well. It was a big one, that’s for sure.”

Christopher Bell is now ahead of the Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. The 268-lap race is scheduled for this coming Sunday, May 4. Denny Hamlin won the event in 2024, and this year, he is going for a back-to-back sweep.

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Christopher Bell acquits Denny Hamlin following Stage 1 push at Talladega

Moments before the hit, Christopher Bell received a push from his JGR teammate Denny Hamlin. On a restart late in the opening stage on lap 52, Bell was running the outside lane when Hamlin’s No. 11 slightly nudged the rear bumper of the No. 20 as they exited Turn 2.

Some would say that Denny Hamlin, a 56-time winner in the NASCAR Cup Series, wrecked his teammate. But Bell knew that was not the case. During an interview, the Oklahoma native addressed the incident and said,

“You know, (Denny Hamlin) didn’t do anything wrong. You have to push, you have to push to be successful. It’s a product of the cars we race with this rules package."

However, Denny Hamlin was quick to apologize. As reported by Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, the Tampa, Florida, native radioed to his team,

“Man...apologies if that's on me. We weren't even up to speed yet. I don't know why that would have wrecked him. When he shot down to the bottom, I wasn't even sure I was actually on him."

10 races into the season, Hamlin sits third in the driver standings. So far, Hamlin has picked five top-fives, six top-10s, and a pair of wins. Bell, on the other hand, is fifth and 30 points behind Hamlin.