Insider scrutinizes Christopher Bell's controversial move as not 'necessary,' deems NASCAR 'lucky' for JGR's loss

NASCAR driver Christopher Bell made a controversial move in the final lap of the Xfinity 500 playoff race at Martinsville Speedway. A NASCAR insider recently gave his verdict on Bell's move in the penultimate race in the 2024 Cup Series campaign.

Driving Joe Gibbs Racing’s #20 Toyota, Christopher Bell started the Xfinity 500 in P16 and climbed into contention by Stage 2. However, a pit road issue sent him to the back, jeopardizing his playoff hopes. Bell’s attempt to use a last-lap wall ride maneuver, reminiscent of Ross Chastain’s famous 2022 move, led to a NASCAR penalty, ultimately ending his Championship 4 aspirations.

In a recent episode of Dirty Mo Media's 'The Teardown' podcast, The Athletic's journalists Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi discussed Bell's heavily disputed move at Martinsville Speedway.

"Christopher Bell comes out at Phoenix and says, I feel cheated. I understand why because the wall ride thing, again, that would not have been necessary. If the Chevy cars are not forming the blockade, they penalize Bell because of the wall ride, which is obviously a mistake. He panicked in the moment," Jeff Gluck said

"He wasn't going in there trying to do the wall ride, of course, but he did. It's the same as things. You have a toe out of bounds and it sucks, but he did. I do think NASCAR is lucky that Bell did not win in that race. It looked like he was going to for a while. The controversy for Bell after missing a championship race the way he did would have been, oof yikes," he added

However, NASCAR penalized Bell for his alleged wall ride, which got him into the championship 4. His penalty removed him from the title chase and instead, HMS driver William Byron took his spot by default.

Christopher Bell was statistically the most consistent driver throughout the 2024 Cup Series campaign. His not being in the playoffs and Joey Logano securing his third title have sparked much controversy on the current playoff format.

---

“I hate calling the last lap a move”: Christopher Bell extremely clear about his ‘intentions’ as he reveals going by the NASCAR rulebook

The Cup Series race was not shy of controversy. Besides Bell being penalized for his wall ride maneuver, allegedly, Chevrolet drivers tried to manipulate the results of the race by doing everything they could to help get William Byron in the final four.

Christopher Bell expressed that his last lap move was the product of misjudgment, and believes that he didn't break any rules. He said (via Frontstretch):

"I hate calling the last lap a move because it was not a move you know. My intentions were never to ride the wall, I didn't gain an advantage riding the wall, so it was it was not a move and I don't believe that I broke the rule.

Byron was the best-performing playoff Chevy in the Xfinity 500 and reached the final four eventually. However, heavy penalties were sanctioned on Trackhouse's Ross Chastain, RCR's Austin Dillon, and 23XI's Bubba Wallace, for trying to manipulate race results.