NASCAR investigated, reviewed late Christopher Bell actions at Brickyard 400

NASCAR investigated and reviewed Christopher Bell hitting Zane Smith late in the Brickyard 400 this past weekend. Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports went to X/Twitter on Thursday morning to announce that NASCAR determined that Bell’s hit was “not a move of retaliation.”

“For those asking about Christopher Bell and his contact with Zane Smith: That incident was reviewed and NASCAR viewed it as an aggressive, but mistimed, racing move by Bell and not a move of retaliation that rose to the level of a penalty,” Pockrass wrote. Smith was not happy with Bell after the Brickyard 400, as he felt like he was hooked in the right-rear in overtime.

Smith went to social media to express his frustration. “2 weeks in a row getting hooked in the RR in the closing laps of the race. This one was brutal,” Smith wrote. “We are atleast running good when it happens and there are a lot of positives to take away from today. Our day will come. Try again in Iowa!”

The contact led to a second overtime. Smith earned a P31 finish, while Bell finished eighth to earn his second top-five finish in the last three races. Bell is having a strong 2025 season, but he has had his issues recently. At Dover last week, Bell spun out twice, which led to a P18 finish.

Can Christopher Bell take that next step?

“This is the difference between Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell. Denny’s going to go as fast as he can go and not spin out,” Kevin Harvick said on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour last week. “You look at a Bell and you look at [Kyle] Larson and some of those guys. They get themselves into these positions. It’s the dirt car mentality. It’s like drive it to the edge, and if it spins out, okay. If it doesn’t, I guess it works.

“I think in these scenarios, this is still one of Bell’s weaknesses, in my opinion. …When you’re racing for the win, you’ve got to be able to capitalize on if you don’t win, finish second and being able to do that, not step over the edge. That’s just one of the things that Bell needs to get better at, in my opinion, of not stepping over the edge. We’ve seen it happen a number of times, and it puts him in a bad spot. I think that makes it harder to win a championship, because you’re going to make those mistakes in pressure moments of not finishing second.”

Bell has won three races this year and has finished in the top 10 13 times. He is currently sixth in the Cup point standings with 664.