Christopher Bell missed the playoffs after a call from NASCAR at Martinsville Speedway last week
Last week at Martinsville Speedway, Christopher Bell and William Byron were separated by just 1 point in the closing laps at Martinsville Speedway. They were in a battle for the final of four championship spots in this weekend’s finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Team Chevrolet drivers Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon lined up side by side behind Byron. It appeared they both had the pace to pass Byron, who was on worn tires.
On the final lap, Toyota driver Bubba Wallace stated that he thought he had a tire going down. He slowed significantly and Bell was able to pass him for position.
In the pass, Bell rode the outside wall. Wall riding has recently been made illegal in NASCAR since Chastain pulled a similar move at Martinsville in the past.
Chastain rides wall at Martinsville; Passes 5 cars (Video)
Following a 27 minute review of the finish, NASCAR declared Bell was in violation for riding the wall. They docked him several positions.
After the penalty, Bell was removed from the playoffs. Byron is now racing for a championship this weekend.
In the middle of the week, NASCAR issued $300,000 in fines to teams of Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain.
Christopher Bell penalized; Removed from NASCAR championship (Video)
NASCAR penalizes Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon
Christopher Bell comments
“Uh, yeah I mean, I think that uh – I hate calling the last lap ‘a move.’ Because it was not a ‘move,’ ” Bell opened during his media availability.
“You know, my intentions were never to ride the wall, I didn’t gain an advantage riding the wall, so it was not a move, and I don’t believe I broke the rule.”
“I just, I feel cheated. I feel cheated out of a chance to compete for a championship,” Bell added.
“Yeah, it all stems from what happened, er, 15, 20 to go whenever the race got fixed and manipulated by Chevrolet. That forced our hands to do what we did and ultimately it forced me into a mistake on the last lap to get into the wall.”
“And I feel like I should never have been in that position had the race been ran fairly the 24 car would have lost enough spots to get me into the final race.”
Christopher Bell penalized; Removed from NASCAR championship (Video)
