Christopher Bell shares update on crew chief Adam Stevens’ recovery, initial reaction to injury

It’s not easy racing without your full team, but NASCAR driver Christopher Bell has been making do with a temporary crew chief while his primary one is out with an injury.

Adam Stevens, Bell’s crew chief, suffered a brutal injury in a diving accident while the sport was on break for the Olympics.

Christopher Bell addressed Stevens’ recovery recently in an interview with journalists Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck.

“He is doing well. He’s doing really good,” Bell said of Stevens. “And the whole time he’s been far and above what I expected him to be doing. Each week he gets more and more mobile. He still has the peg-leg walk where he’s heel striking, but he gets around pretty good.”

Stevens suffered an injury while at the pool with his family during the break. He suffered two ruptured patellar tendons when he attempted a dive, an injury that required a double surgery.

Now he’s just trying to get by while he heals.

“He can’t bend his knees, but he was walking since Day 1 whenever I saw him,” Christopher Bell explained. “So yeah, I expected him to be, heck, I didn’t know if he was going to be in a wheelchair or what. So yeah, he can’t bend his knees, so it is a little funny to watch him walk. But he can get around good.”

The injury put Bell in a bit of an awkward spot, having to change crew chiefs right at the most important point of the season. But he has managed quite well so far.

Christopher Bell finished P4 at Atlanta on Sunday, putting him in excellent position in the playoff standings.

As far as the injury, Bell has just done his best to keep on trucking. He was floored when he found out at first.

“I was just shocked. I was like, ‘Wait are you screwing with us or is this for real?'” Bell said. “We had just got two weeks off, it was after Indy. And I think it was like the Sunday before so I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, you’re serious? You’re not screwing with us?’ But honestly his mobility has been way better since the injury than I thought he would be.”

So far, Christopher Bell’s crew has helped him continue his high-level success.

“I haven’t been able to tell a difference from him being there or not, so our team has been really good,” Bell said.