Christopher Bell reacts to NASCAR investigation, review of incident with Zane Smith at Indy

Last week at the end of the Brickyard 400, Christopher Bell turned Zane Smith in what looked like a right rear hook. After investigating the incident, NASCAR decided not to take any action against Bell and his team.

Right rear hooks are a touchy subject in NASCAR. After Austin Hill turned Aric Almirola on Saturday in Indy, it was clear that officials weren’t taking it lightly. Christopher Bell had a similar-looking incident with Zane Smith.

So, there was a moment it looked as if Bell would be hit with a penalty. NASCAR decided not to do that, though.

“I honestly didn’t know how it was going to go,” Christopher Bell said, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “I felt like it probably could go either way. Obviously, it was a mistake, and I think the general consensus was the 21 deal wasn’t a mistake. Yeah, I mean, it sucks because it was, I did hook him to the right. There’s been plenty of cases where people have done that exact same mistake, but it’s been to the inside. The one that comes to mind is Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott in 2020 at Darlington.

“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. Yeah, I didn’t know what was going to come of it. I called Zane immediately as soon as I could on Sunday, whenever we landed, and I didn’t catch him, but I left him a voicemail, and you know, talked to his team. So, I just like, alright, it is what it is.”

Christopher Bell did receive a call from NASCAR. He told them what he saw from his perspective and what went through his mind.

“I didn’t know, and I was just telling them, he [from NASCAR] asked me, ‘What happened?’ I said, ‘Man, I don’t know.’ Like I just, I thought I could sweep underneath of him. Clearly, you want to be on the inside at Indy, so I tried to sweep underneath of him and I tried to make it as last-minute as possible so he couldn’t counter my move, and I misjudged my run and ran into the back of him and turned him to the right.”

Despite his mistake, Christopher Bell didn’t receive a penalty. He is hoping to get a win at Iowa Speedway this weekend. He has gone winless since Phoenix earlier this season.